WHAT WE BELIEVE
"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."
A.W. Tozer
OUR BELIEFS
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
We believe that the Bible is the eternal and infallible word of God. It was written by the Holy Spirit through the agency of men and still to this day is perfect and relevant as it will be forever. We believe that the 66 books contained within it (39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament) are all inspired by God and as a whole are the complete revelation of God to mankind. Because the Bible is the complete revelation of God to mankind, we believe that there is no need for any new revelations because if new revelation contradicts the Word of God, then it should be rejected and if new revelation agrees with the Word of God, it is meaningless because the bible already contains it.
THE TRINITY
We believe in the Doctrine of the Trinity, that there is only one eternal, true, and living God consisting in three divine co-eternal and co-equal Persons: God The Father, God The Son (Word), and God The Holy Spirit. These Three are the same God. All three persons of the Godhead have the same essence and attributes. God is just, merciful, faithful, righteous, holy, powerful, loving, and gracious. He is perfect in all His ways, incomprehensible, infinite, and worthy of all worship and obedience.
THE FATHER
We believe that God The Father is the creator and sustainer of all things visible and invisible and that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to ransom us from our sin so that we might be brought close to Him. There is only one Way to the Father, and that is through His Son, Jesus Christ.
THE SON
We believe that God The Son, Jesus Christ, the Word, was in the beginning with God because He is God, as John 1:1 says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” All things both visible and invisible were made through Him. He is uncreated because God is uncreated. He was born of the Virgin Mary. He, in the incarnation, took on human nature from His mother Mary and still retained His divine nature of the Father being fully God and fully man. He was begotten of the Father to redeem us by living a perfect and righteous life in our place, by hanging on a cross to pay the penalty of our sins, and by resurrecting from the dead to secure for us a resurrected way of life now and the promise of a bodily resurrection when He comes back.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, Helper, and Teacher of the Redeemed people of Jesus Christ, the Church. In the beginning of creation, He brought order out of darkness and chaos and now for us, He brings order out of chaos by applying to us the meritorious power of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. He indwells every believer and He bestows gifts on Christ’s body – the Church – for its own edification and for the sake of the furtherance of the gospel. He produces the fruits of the Divine Nature in the believer through faith in Jesus Christ.
ON MAN, THE FALL, AND SIN
We believe that God created the first humans, Adam and Eve, upright, perfect and blameless. Unfortunately, for them and for us, they listened to the voice of the serpent, which is the Devil, and chose to disobey the simple command of God. Because of their disobedience, they fell from their original state of sinlessness and introduced sin and corruption into all of humanity. Because of their fall, we are born dead in our trespasses and sins, we have a fallen, sinful nature, we are unable to uphold the righteous standards that God requires, and we are in desperate need of a savior.
ON SALVATION
We believe that because we are born in sin and because we continue to commit sin, we are sinners. Because we are sinners, the solution to our sin problem cannot come from us but instead must come to us from outside of ourselves, from God. We believe that because of this, God sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be the precious ransom that was needed to deliver us from the domain of sin and to be our sacrifice before our Holy God so that we could be forgiven. In light of this unalterable truth, it is plain that there is one way to be saved: Through repentance and faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
ON WATER BAPTISM
We believe that Water Baptism by immersion is an essential part of the Christian’s walk of obedience to Jesus Christ. Through it the believer testifies to the world and to their own soul what Christ has accomplished for them through His death, burial, and resurrection. Through Baptism, the believer experiences the death of the old man by being united to the death of Jesus Christ, the victory over sin, and the power to walk in newness of life by being united to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
ON THE LORD'S SUPPER
We believe that the Lord’s supper is a prescribed recurring act of obedience and worship in which we commemorate, celebrate, and reflect on the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ that was totally given for our total salvation. Through observing it, we look back to the humiliation and sacrifice of Christ as well as look forward to the future when we will feast with Him on His return. Because of this, we receive the elements humbly and reverently with joy. When received by faith, the elements of the Lord’s Supper – Bread and Fruit of the Vine – provide us with the spiritual nourishment that comes from being a partaker of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.