What We Believe
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The Bible. The Bible is the inspired, infallible, and authoritative word of God. It is completely true and trustworthy, the perfect treasure of God’s revelation of Himself to man. It has God for Its Author, salvation for Its end, and Truth, without any mixture of error, for Its matter.
God. There is only one true and living God. God is eternal and Triune in nature, existing in three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Mankind. God is the Creator of all things. Man is God’s special creation, made in God’s own image. The gift of gender, male and female, is part of the goodness of God’s creation.
Salvation. Hopelessly and helplessly lost, salvation is an act of God’s grace to man. Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
The Church. The New Testament church is the Body of Christ united under the sole authority and lordship of Jesus Christ. The Church is made up of all redeemed of all ages; believers from every tribe, tongue, people and nation. Members of The Body are united by covenant in the faith and fellowship of The Gospel, seeking to proclaim The Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Evangelism and Missions. With the new birth comes a genuine love for and obligation to all people. It is the responsibility and privilege of The Church and every believer to care for the physical and spiritual well-being of others and by methods consistent with Scripture to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
The Family. God ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift revealing the union between Christ and His Church. Children, from the moment of conception are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.
Last Things. In His own time and way, God will bring this present world to an end. As promised, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be condemned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
The cry of the Redeemed is “In Christ Alone.”
The Redeemed live “To God be the Glory.”
Worship and Praise spill out of them like springs of Living Water
- “And how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:15-16)
God. There is only one true and living God. God is eternal and Triune in nature, existing in three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
- “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.” (1Peter 1:2)
Mankind. God is the Creator of all things. Man is God’s special creation, made in God’s own image. The gift of gender, male and female, is part of the goodness of God’s creation.
- Genesis 1:1, 2:7 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature."
- Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."Created in the image of God, in the beginning, man was without sin, Tempted by Satan, man disobeyed God bringing sin into the world. Henceforth, apart from God, all men are hopelessly and helplessly lost in this world and destined to an eternity separated from God.
- Ephesians 2:1-3 "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved."
Salvation. Hopelessly and helplessly lost, salvation is an act of God’s grace to man. Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
- Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.
- Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God.
- Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person’s life.
- Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state for the redeemed.
- Ephesians 2:8-10 "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
The Church. The New Testament church is the Body of Christ united under the sole authority and lordship of Jesus Christ. The Church is made up of all redeemed of all ages; believers from every tribe, tongue, people and nation. Members of The Body are united by covenant in the faith and fellowship of The Gospel, seeking to proclaim The Gospel to the ends of the earth.
- Matthew 16-15-18 "He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on the Rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
- Ephesians 1:22 "And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the Church."
Evangelism and Missions. With the new birth comes a genuine love for and obligation to all people. It is the responsibility and privilege of The Church and every believer to care for the physical and spiritual well-being of others and by methods consistent with Scripture to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
- Luke 9:23-27 And he said to all, “if anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what does it profit man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
- Matthew 22:36-39 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Matthew 28:18-20 "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
The Family. God ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift revealing the union between Christ and His Church. Children, from the moment of conception are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.
- Genesis 2:24 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."
- Psalm 127:3 "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward."
Last Things. In His own time and way, God will bring this present world to an end. As promised, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be condemned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
- Revelation 22:12-13 "“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing My recompense with Me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
- Revelation20:11-15 "Then I saw a great white throne and Him Who was seated on it. From His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
The cry of the Redeemed is “In Christ Alone.”
The Redeemed live “To God be the Glory.”
Worship and Praise spill out of them like springs of Living Water
- Psalm 150 "Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with the trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with the sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!"
- John 4:14 "Jesus said, “But whoever drinks of the Water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The Water that I will give him will become in him a spring of Water welling up to Eternal Life.”
