- We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Bible, “as it is in truth, the Word of God..” (I Thessalonians 2:13). We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration in the original writings, and God’s preservation of His pure words to every generation (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible is our sole authority for faith and practice.
- We believe in one God; Who is eternal, self-existent, infinite, and immutable. We believe He has one nature, one essence, and one substance; yet He manifests Himself to man in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 John 4:4).
- We believe in God the Father, Who is all-powerful, just and holy, as well as merciful and loving to mankind. He proved His love when He sent His Son to be a substitutionary sacrifice for all of man (Jeremiah 32:27; 1 Samuel 2:2; Isaiah 6:3; John 3:16).
- We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (John 1:1-2; Luke 1:35; Isaiah 9:6; 7:14; Philippians 2:5-8; Galatians 4:4-5). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His finished work on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Romans 3:24-25; 1 Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9-10; Hebrews 9:24; 1 John 2:1-2).
- We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Person Who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement; and that He is the supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 1:13-14). We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Divine Teacher Who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all saved people to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 1:17-18; 5:17; 1 John 2:20-27).
- We believe that we have a literal, yet spiritual enemy whose name is Satan, a fallen angel cast out of Heaven due to his pride and rebellion. He works tirelessly to destroy and corrupt all that God calls good and take as many as he can with him to spend eternity in a lake of fire (Isaiah 14:12-19; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 20:10).
- We believe that our entire universe was created in six, literal 24-hour days, ending with God resting on the seventh day, for all was good (Genesis 1). We believe that man was created in the image of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23; 5:12).
- We believe that the clear message of salvation is repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). We believe that salvation is by grace, plus nothing minus nothing. We believe that man is justified by faith alone and are accounted righteous before God only through the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12; 1 Peter 1:18-19).
- We believe that all the redeemed, once saved are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. We believe that eternal life is the present possession of every believer (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:4-5; Jude 1, 2).
- We believe that sanctification occurs for the Christian immediately at conversion and is continued through the ministering of the Holy Spirit in that person’s life. Sanctification is carried out by dying to self and living to the Spirit (Philippians 1:6; Romans 8:9-13; Ephesians 2:10).
- We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord. God commands His people to separate from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations; and to refrain from all immodest and immoderate appearances. (Romans 12:1-2; 14:13; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
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We believe that the church began with the calling out of the twelve apostles by Jesus Christ and was empowered on the day of Pentecost. We believe the local church is composed of members who have been saved and baptized according to the command of Christ, and have voluntarily united together for the purposes of worship, fellowship, service, and observance of the ordinances of baptism and communion. We believe all true believers will be taken up at the rapture, just prior to the tribulation. (Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 1:15; Acts 2:41-43; Acts 11:15; Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 15: 51-58; Ephesians 1:12-14; Ephesians 5:25-30; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Timothy 3:4-15)
- We recognize the ordinances of baptism by immersion in water and the Lord’s Supper as a Scriptural means of testimony for the church in this age, and while these are commands for the church to keep, they are a symbol of a greater truth, carrying no saving grace with them (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 18:18; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
- We believe the “Blessed Hope” of our Lord’s return is literal, personal, visible, imminent, premillennial, and pre- tribulational. He will rapture His church prior to the seven years of tribulation, and at the end of the tribulation Christ will return with His saints to establish His thousand-year reign on the earth (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Revelation 3:10; Zechariah 14:4-11; Revelation 19:11-16; 20:1-6).