what we believe

 

1.  God is the designer, creator, and ruler over all of creation (Psalm 19:1; 50:9-12). He is eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16; 28: 18-19; II Corinthians 13:14).

 

2. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, offered himself as the sacrifice for our sins on the cross, died and was buried. He arose from the dead three days later to demonstrate his power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven and will one day return. He is serving now as the head of the church (Luke 1:26-33; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5; Hebrews 4:14-15; I Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 1:3-4; I Timothy 6:14-15; Titus 2:13; Ephesians 1:22-23).

3. The Holy Spirit is part of the “Godhead” or “Trinity” (identified in Scripture as “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” e.g. Matthew 3:16; 28:18-19; II Corinthians 13:14). The Holy Spirit moved men to write the Bible, is given to every Christian as a seal of God’s salvation and ownership, is a strength to the Christian’s inner being, and brings spiritual gifts to be used in ministry into the life of every Christian (II Peter 1:21; Ephesians 1:13-14, 3:16; I Corinthians 12:1-7; Romans 12:4-8).

4. The Bible is the inspired, infallible, authoritative Word of God (II Timothy ).

 

5. Becoming a Christian/Receiving Salvation. One becomes a Christian by faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God (Ephesians -14). Genuine faith leads one to repent of his/her sins, confess faith in Jesus, and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Eternal salvation is totally a matter of God’s grace and cannot in any way be earned by a recipient (Mark -16; Romans 6:3-4; Ephesians 2:8-9).

 

6. Baptism. Baptism is the means that God has given us for receiving his gift of cleansing and salvation. In baptism God “washes away” all sin and imparts his Holy Spirit (Acts -39; -39; ; I Peter -21). Baptism is an anglicized form of the Greek word, baptisma that literally means immersion or dipping.

 

7. Christian Unity. God wants all Christians to strive toward a common faith and unity based on biblical teaching (I Corinthians 1:10-15; John 17:20-21; Ephesians 4:3-6).

 

8. The Lord’s Supper. One of the practices/disciplines of the early church (and, we believe, a continued expectation of Christ for his church today) is the sharing of the Lord’s Supper (communion) by the local church on the first day of every week (Matthew 25:26-29; Acts 20:6-7; I Corinthians -26).

 

9. Jesus is Lord! Jesus is to be followed, honored, and exalted as Lord (Master) in all that we think, do and say (Philippians 2:5-11; II Corinthians 4:5).