WHAT WE BELIEVE

We believe the Bible, consisting of the 66 books of the Old and New Testament, is God’s perfect, infallible, inspired, and authoritative word in the original manuscripts. Because the Bible is God’s Word, every part is useful and necessary for life and godliness. The Scriptures provide us with divine instruction, spiritual insight, and the normative lens through which to see the world God has made. God’s word is the regulative guide for worshipping, encountering, and responding to God by the Holy Spirit.

2 Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 55:10-11; Hebrews 4:12-13; 1 Peter 1:10-12;
2 Peter 2:16-21; John 12:41

We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in unity: neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance. God eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as revealed in His Word. The Son is begotten of the Father and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. God is holy, creator, almighty, all-knowing, eternal, immutable, and indivisible. The supreme value and purpose of the universe is to bring glory to God eternally.

Exodus 3:6; Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 1:19-20; 1 Corinthians 8:6; John 3:16

We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, the same essence as the Father and Spirit, fully God and fully man. He was born of a virgin, took on flesh, including a human nature and will in one person, and lived a sinless life in accordance with the Scriptures. He was delivered under Pontius Pilate, suffered, died on the cross, and on the third day, rose bodily from the dead. He then appeared to his disciples and followers, commissioned them to make disciples of all the nations, and ascended into Heaven at the right hand of the Father. He is presently reigning over his kingdom, interceding for the saints, and purifying his church.
Jesus Christ will come again to judge the righteous and unrighteous, to raise the dead, and finally conquer sin and death. He is the head of the church, the firstborn from the dead, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

John 1:1-3, 14; Luke 24:27; Colossians 1:15-20, 2:8-9; Hebrews 1:1-3; Ephesians 1:20-22

We believe that the Holy Spirit is fully God, proceeding from the Father and the Son. God’s Spirit is a seal for all believers of God’s faithfulness to his promises and a promise of the coming inheritance for all the saints. The Spirit guides, reminds, convicts, empowers, and compels Christians to live a life worthy of the Gospel and conforms them to the image of Christ.

The Spirit also gives gifts to the church to bring about God’s purposes and kingdom on earth. These gifts are designed to testify to the presence of the kingdom and to empower and edify the church to fulfill its calling and mission. For this reason, all of the gifts are to be earnestly desired and practiced under the authority and according to the guiding principles of God’s word.

John 14-15; Acts 2:14-21, 4:29-30; Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12-14; Galatians 3:1-5; Ephesians 1:14

We believe that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Though every person is created in the image of God, sin permanently separates every human being from God. Without an atonement, all human beings deserve the punishment for their sins, eternal torment in Hell away from God.

Jesus Christ took on flesh to give his life as a substitutionary atonement for sin. This means his death is sufficient to pay for sin and restore anyone who believes in Him to fellowship with God. Anyone who trusts in him will be forgiven, restored, and reconciled to God. Christians are those who trust completely and solely in the work of Christ; He takes on their sin and they take on His righteousness. In his death, they have died and in his life, they now live, no longer for themselves, but for God, by the Spirit, conforming into the image of the Son. Salvation is evidenced by the fruits of the Spirit, a love for God, a hatred of sin,

Romans 3:23, 5:1-2, 6:23; Isaiah 53:4-6; Galatians 2:20;
2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Eph. 5:1-2

We believe that God created all things, both visible and invisible, to display the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness and that the creation of the first man, Adam, from the dust of the earth, and Eve from Adam, was the culmination of his creative work. Both Adam and Eve were created equally in the image of God, without sin, with God’s natural law written on their hearts, with the ability to completely refrain from sin, and God called this creation very good.

We believe that God created men and women as gendered beings, each created in the image of God, fully equal in value, dignity, and worth, with complementary roles in the created order, specifically in the covenants of the church and the family. Because of God’s good design of men and women in his image, blurring the boundary between maleness and femaleness violates the boundaries God has set for the good and glory of his people.

Genesis 1:1, 18-28, 2:24; Galatians 3:28; Psalm 8:3-9; Isaiah 42:5-6

We believe that the church is the people of God, the bride of Christ, the primary instrument through which the triune God is fulfilling his redemptive purposes in the earth. The Church is made up of those throughout the earth, both living and dead, who have become followers of Jesus, by grace through faith.

Churches are gatherings of God’s people, reunited to Him in Christ, brought together in the covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel, worshipping together, exercising spiritual gifts for God’s glory in relation to one another and the world, and fulfilling the Great Commission. In the context of the church, God calls sinful men and women to live as a community reflecting the household economy and kingdom of God. The church demonstrates the reality of God’s kingdom through the proclamation of the gospel, pastoral care, spiritual leadership, global missions, and local ministry to the poor and marginalized through sacrificial giving and practical service.

Isaiah 58:6-12; 61:1; Matthew 16:17-19; 28:18-20; Acts 2:42-47; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31; Galatians 2:10; Ephesians 1:22-23; 3:7-21; 4:11-16; 
Hebrews 10:23-25; 1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10

We believe that God instituted marriage as an exclusive, lifelong, and covenantal union of one man and one woman, which signifies the relationship between Christ and his Church, and involves two partners who are both similar (i.e., human) and different (i.e., opposite sex). We believe God designed and blessed sexual intimacy to be enjoyed exclusively within the marriage covenant, within this life, and that any inward cultivation or outward expression of sexual desire apart from the one-flesh bond between a man and a woman as husband and wife is out of accord with God’s creational intent, and therefore against his good and gracious will.

We believe that the local church should be a place in which all Christians experience true belonging and genuine intimacy and that God gives each member of his household unique opportunities to extend welcome and hospitality so that all might partake in the joys, benefits, and responsibilities of being his children. In this context, every person is called to serve God with their sexuality, and regardless of one’s marital status, Christians should pursue purity and abstain from sexually immoral practices such as adultery, premarital sex, homosexuality, and pornography for the sake of genuine sanctification and a compelling Christian witness.

Genesis 1:26-28, 2:24; 1 Peter 3:7; Matthew 19:3-9;
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

We believe Jesus is coming again visibly and bodily. When he does, he will raise and judge the dead, sending the righteous to eternal life with God and the unrighteous to Hell, a place or eternal torment and separation from God. Though everyone deserves to be condemned at the judgment because of sin, those who have trusted in Christ will be found in the book of life and will dwell with God forever.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:9-12; Revelation 20:11-15