What We Believe

• Scripture– We believe in the inspiration, authority, and infallibility of scripture.  All 66 books of the Old and New Testament are God’s Word, and sufficient for instruction in life and godliness.
• God- There is only one true God who is the eternal King, Creator and Redeemer.  He is perfect, holy, just, loving, and truthful.  We affirm that God has revealed Himself as Trinity, that there is one God eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- one in essence, but distinct in personhood. 
• Mankind– We affirm that all men and women were created in the image of God and therefore have worth and dignity, but that in the fall when we willfully rejected God’s way in disobedience, mankind was marred and broken and are now sinners by nature and by action and therefore under the judgment of God.  Sickness, death, and judgment entered the world because of this disobedience. Now creation experiences the effects and consequences of sin.
• The Lord Jesus Christ– We affirm that He is the one and only Son of God, was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is God’s Anointed One, empowered by the Holy Spirit to inaugurate God’s kingdom on earth. Jesus lived a sinless life. He was crucified for our sins, died, was buried, resurrected, and ascended into heaven. He is now alive today in the presence of God the Father and in His people. He is “true God” and “true man.”
• Salvation– We affirm the sufficiency of Christ for Salvation.  It is through His perfect life, atoning death, and resurrection to glory that we can have salvation.  We affirm the doctrine of substitutionary atonement, that Christ stood in our place and took on the wrath of God so that we could be spared.  We affirm that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in the finished work of Christ alone.  We therefore affirm that because it is Christ’s work alone that saves us, we are eternally secure in Him. 
• The Holy Spirit– The Holy Spirit is a person and is fully God. He convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. He causes new birth through regeneration, baptizes into the body of Christ. He seals and indwells every Christ-follower at the moment of conversion. He empowers, guides, teaches, sanctifies and gives spiritual gifts to all God’s children.
• The Church– We affirm that all those who put their faith in Christ make up the Church universal.  We affirm that the Holy Spirit dwells in every Christian and has gifted every Christian for service to the body of Christ. The Church exists to carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ and further advance His kingdom by standing against the schemes of the enemy, by demonstrating and living the good news of God’s love, and by discipling the nations.
• The Second Coming- We affirm the personal, visible, return of Christ for His people.  We affirm that when He returns, Christ will judge the living and the dead, and the righteous will spend eternity with Christ, while the unrighteous will spend eternity separated from Christ in a literal place of torment called Hell.
• Marriage and Sexuality– We affirm that marriage was designed by God to be a holy covenant relationship between one man and one woman for life, designed to reflect the Gospel relationship between Christ and the Church.  We affirm that God has made us all either male or female, to reflect His design for sexuality.
• The Ordinances of the Church– We believe God has called us to practice the ordinances of Believer’s Baptism (as a sign of salvation for believers) and Communion (as a memorial of remembrance).