STATEMENT OF FAITH
THE BIBLE
The Bible – the Old and New Testaments – is verbally inspired by God and is the revelation of God to humanity. The Bible directs us not only in our beliefs, but also in our daily lives.
GOD
The One True God has revealed himself as the eternal, self-existent “I am”, the Creator of heaven and earth, and the Redeemer of mankind. He has revealed himself as one God, existing in three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – distinguishable but indivisible.
JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is the eternal son of God. The Bible declares his virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, substitutionary work on the cross, bodily resurrection from the dead and exaltation to the right hand of God.
FALLEN MAN
God created man (men and women) good and upright, in his image and likeness. Man fell by voluntary transgression, resulting not only in physical death but also in spiritual death, which is separation from God.
SALVATION
Man’s only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus, God’s Son. Salvation is received through repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. Through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, being justified by grace through faith, man becomes an heir of God, having the hope of eternal life. The inward evidence of salvation is the direct witness of the Spirit. The outward evidence is a life of righteousness and holiness.
BAPTISM IN WATER
The Bible commands baptism by full immersion. All who repent and believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are to be baptized. In so doing they declare to the world that they died with Christ and that they have also been raised with him to walk in newness of life.
HOLY COMMUNION
The Lord’s Supper, consisting of the elements – bread and the cup – is the symbol expressing our participation in the divine nature of Jesus Christ, a remembrance of his suffering and death, and a proclamation of his second coming, to be shared by all believers until he returns.
BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
All believers are entitled to and should earnestly seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian Church. With it comes the empowerment for life and service, the equipping of God’s gifts and their uses in ministry for him.
SANCTIFICATION
Sanctification is an act of separation from what is evil and of dedication to God. The Bible teaches a life of holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. By the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to obey the command to be holy as he is holy. Sanctification is realized in believers by recognizing our identification with Christ in his death and resurrection, daily trusting in that union, and continually submitting our lives to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
THE CHURCH
The Church is the Body of Christ, a dwelling where God lives by his Spirit, with the God-given task of fulfilling the Great Commission. Every believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the Church as a member of the body of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
MINISTRY
A divinely called and scripturally ordained leadership ministry leads and equips the Church to fulfill its purpose. The Bible teaches that each of us under leadership must commit to reach others for Christ, to worship Him with other believers and to build up the body of believers known as the Church.
HEALING
Divine healing is an integral part of the gospel. Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the atonement, and is the privilege of all believers.
OUR HOPE
At Jesus’ return, all those who have died in Christ will be resurrected and meet the Lord, and all living believers will be caught up with them to be with the Lord forever.
A FINAL JUDGMENT
There will be a final judgment. Those who do not have their name written in the Book of Life will be condemned to the second death.
NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH
The new heavens and the new earth will be the place where righteousness lives and God will dwell with us forever.