OUR BELIEFS

ABOUT GOD
We believe the most important relationship is our relationship with God (John 17:3; Philippians 3:10). We believe in the one true God revealed in the Bible. He spoke the world into existence and sustains all things today. God remains active and involved in this world and in our individual lives (Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 1:10-12, 11:3).

We believe that God exists in three distinct personalities: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14; John 1:1, 14; John 16:12-15).

ABOUT JESUS
We believe that Jesus is the Son of God. We believe He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, shed His blood dying on a cross, was buried and raised from the dead three days later. He ascended to the Father and now reigns over his Kingdom. (Romans 8:34; Philippians 2:5-11).

We believe that Jesus is the only way to Heaven (Acts 4:12, John 14:6) and is the only one qualified and able to redeem us and save us from our sins (Hebrews 9:11-15). We believe that one day Jesus will return to take his own to live with him forever (Acts 1:11; I Thessalonians 4:16-17).

ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. (Acts 2:38, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:19, Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit provides the Christian with understanding of spiritual truth and guidance in doing what is right. (Romans 8:26-27, 1 Corinthians 2:12, Galatians 5:22-26).  The Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we don’t know what to pray (Romans 8:26).

ABOUT SALVATION
We believe that God’s love and justice intersect at the cross. Since God is just, he cannot simply ignore or disregard our sin, but because He is loving, He wants to be in fellowship with us. God’s solution to our sin problem was to send Jesus to serve the death penalty due us and to reconcile us to Himself so that he might reign in our hearts and lives (2 Corinthians 5:18-19; I Thessalonians 5:9-10; I Peter 3:18; Romans 6:23). This is why the Gospel is Good News!

God has acted on our behalf, but we must choose to accept or decline his gift of salvation. We accept the gift of salvation through faith. Faith is more than just intellectual assent (James 2:19); it is made complete by our actions (James 2:22). A faith-response to Jesus includes repentance (Acts 2:38), confession (Romans 10:9) and baptism. Just as Christ died, was buried, and was raised from the dead, we also must be buried (immersed) with Christ in baptism and then be raised to live a new life (Romans 6:4). At the time of our baptism, we are added to the church (Acts 2:47) and we are granted access to all spiritual blessings which are only found in Jesus (Ephesians 1:3).

ABOUT SIN
We believe that our sin separates us from a Holy God (Isaiah 59:2). To sin is to violate God’s law and to rebel against Him. Sin is pervasive – it consists not only in the bad things we do, but also in the good things that we fail to do (James 4:17), it manifests itself not only in word and deed, but also in thought (Matthew 5:28). The Bible teaches that all of us have sinned (Romans 3:23; I John 1:8-10).

ABOUT THE CHURCH
We believe that the church belongs to the Lord! It is His body and every Christian is a member of that body. It is not defined racially, socially, geographically or ethnically. The purpose of the church is to glorify God (Ephesians 3:10-11). God is glorified when we grow closer to Him (Ephesians 4:11-16) and when we reach out to those around us with the love of Christ (Luke 9:2).

ABOUT CHRISTIAN LIVING
The Christian life seeks through the grace of God and the power of the Spirit to live out the way of Jesus every day. We are flawed, imperfect people, but God in his mercy is transforming us more and more into His image. Together as a church, we cling to the cross of Christ as we grow in sacrifice, service and self-emptying love (Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 5:22-25; 2 Corinthians 3:18).

ABOUT THE BIBLE
The Bible is the inspired Word of God and is the final authority in life and doctrine (Psalm 119:105, 2 Timothy 3:16).  It was written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit and is without error (Proverbs 30:5, 2 Peter 1:20-21).  Its contents reveal God’s character, our purpose, and life’s meaning (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).  The Bible’s principles are true for all people, for all places, and for all times (Psalm 119:160).