Beliefs

WHAT WE BELIEVE

THE SCRIPTURES:

We teach the entire bible. All 66 books of the combined Old and New Testaments are verbally inspired by God and are inerrant in the original writings. Through the providence of God, the Word of God has been protected and preserved, and is the only infallible and authoritative rule of faith and practice.

GOD:

We teach that there is only one true, living sovereign, holy, and eternally existent God. He exists in three co-equal persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – each being a distinct person and with a distinct function, but all of one essence and all possessing the same nature, perfection, and attributes. The triune God is the creator and sustainer of all things, the source of all truth, and is worthy of worship, confidence and obedience.

JESUS CHRIST:

We teach that Jesus Christ is God. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed many miracles, shed His blood on the cross as a vicarious substitute, was buried, bodily resurrected, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return literally, visibly, and personally in glory and power.

THE HOLY SPIRIT:

We teach that the Holy Spirit is God, co-equal and co-existent with the Father and the Son. He convicts of sin, brings a person into new life and guides the believer become more like Christ. Through His gift of the Holy Spirit, God graces every believer with spiritual gifts, which are sovereignly-given abilities graciously bestowed upon every believer at salvation to enable him to perform a function effectively within the church, the Body of Christ.

MANKIND:

We teach that in the beginning God created mankind in His image. Mankind was originally created with the ability to live perfectly for God’s glory.

SIN:

We teach that Adam, the first man, sinned by disobedience. This act resulted in the fall of all mankind, therefore, all people have sinned and lost their ability to live for the glory of God. Mankind’s fall has incurred both physical and spiritual death on all until there is forgiveness and salvation by the grace of God.

SALVATION:

We teach that salvation of lost and sinful mankind is a free gift of God’s grace apart from human works, based solely upon Christ’s vicarious and atoning death, effected by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, and received only through faith in the person and finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

THE CHURCH:

We teach that the local church is the body of Christ and the family of God. It is made up of saved and baptized believers, who regularly join together on the Lord’s Day for worship, fellowship, and ministry. The New Testament speaks also of the Church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed from every nation throughout the ages.

THE HOME:

In addition to these important beliefs, we also teach that God has given the parents and the home the responsibility to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We believe that a consistent and whole education will occur when home and the church work closely together and are in agreement on the basic concepts of life.

ETERNITY:

We teach that man was created to exist forever. He will either exist eternally separated from God by sin or in union with God through salvation. To be eternally separated from God is hell. To be eternally with God is heaven. Heaven and hell are places of eternal existence.

BAPTISM AND LORD’S SUPPER:

We teach that Jesus instructed His followers to remember His death and resurrection. He gave the Church two visible symbols (called “ordinances”) as reminders. These two ordinances are baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Communion). Neither of these ordinances contains any saving grace. Baptism by immersion is a act of obedient identification with Jesus as Lord. It serves as an outward sign of conscious confession of repentance and faith. The Lord’s Supper is an ongoing symbol remembering our Lord’s death, burial, resurrection, and promised return.