• Statement of Faith
  

What We Believe

The sole authority for our faith and practice is the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. The following is not intended to add or take away anything from the Holy Scriptures. Neither is it a complete statement of our faith. We profess a living faith that is is rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ. This statement is not regarded as an official creed carrying mandatory authority. Therefore, we hold that the sole and final authority for faith and practice is Jesus Christ whose will is revealed in the Holy Scriptures through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

The SCRIPTURES

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to Humanity. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without error, for its matter. It reveals the principles by which God judges us and guides us to live his way of life. Jesus Christ is the underlining principle that interprets the Bible.

GOD

There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. To Him we owe our highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

1.  God the Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures and human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all-powerful, all loving and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all humanity.

2.  God the Son is the eternal Son of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, partaking of the nature of God and of man, taking upon Himself human nature and identifying completely with humankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience and in His death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of humanity from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of God where He is our Mediator. He will come again in glory to judge the world and to accomplish His redemptive mission.

3.  God the Holy Spirit inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures and illuminates its truth to his followers enabling understanding. He exalts Christ, convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He calls humanity to Jesus effecting regeneration. He nurtures Godly character, comforts believers, gives spiritual gifts to strengthen His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. He brings followers into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

THE HUMAN RACE

The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created them in His own image and in that Christ died for them; therefore every person possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and love and is the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning humanity was innocent of sin and was endowed by the Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice Adam sinned against God and brought sin into the human race, consequently their descendents inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin and as soon as they are capable of moral action become transgressors and are under condemnation. God is calling out of humanity sons and daughters, in whom God will place his spiritual traits through fellowship with him.

SALVATION

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole person, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as the Manager of their life and Rescuer from sin's grip. In the broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, sanctification and glorification.

A.  Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ as their life manager.

B.  Repentance and faith are inseparable results of grace. Repentance is an honest turning from sin toward God. Faith is the commitment of the entire personality to Jesus as manager of their life. Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who turn to and trust in Christ, bringing the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God.

C.  Sanctification begins with regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes and enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual perfection through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person’s life.

D.  Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.

GOD’S PURPOSE OF GRACE

Election is the gracious purpose of God, where He regenerates, sanctifies and glorifies sinners. It harmonizes with humanitie's free will. God elects to reach men through the church, through evangelism, through education and missionary endeavors. All these elements are included in election. Since God does the does the work all self effort is excluded promoting humility. All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin, whereby they grieve the Spirit, bringing reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they are kept in the hands of God by His power.

The CHURCH

The church is a gathering of a local body of baptized believers who are connected by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, to join in public worship, to share the good news of Jesus Christ, to serve unselfishly, to help members develop toward spiritual maturity, to observe the two ordinances of Christ. They will be committed to His teachings, exercising their talents, spiritual gifts and rights invested in them by His Word and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.

This church is an autonomous body, operating through democratic processes accountable only to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Each member is equally responsible. Its Scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. The New Testament defines the church as the body of Christ that includes all of the redeemed of all the ages.

BAPTISM and the LORD’S SUPPER

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Since the New Testament made baptism a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership, we too will follow that same pattern. 

The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the wine, remember the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

EVANGELISM and MISSIONS

It is the responsibility and privilege of every follower of Christ and this local corporate gathering of the family of God to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. It is the responsibility of every child of God to constantly search for opportunities to introduce pre-followers to Christ by personal effort and by all other methods that are in harmony with Holy Scriptures. Missionary effort on the part of all rests consequently upon the command in the teachings of Christ. 

LAST THINGS

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge everyone in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.