What We Believe

God

There is only one God. He is the Creator and Supreme Ruler of the universe. He has always been (eternal) and co-exists equally in three Persons– Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We learn about God through His creation, His Word (the Bible), and His Son. He is righteous and faithful in his dealings with us, and He loves us as a Father and desires to live in relationship with us. That perfect relationship was broken by our sin and can only be restored by the gift of God Himself. (Genesis 1:26,27; Deuteronomy 6:4; Job 38:1 - 41:34; Matthew 3:13-17; John 3:16; Romans 1:19,20; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:6)

Jesus

Jesus Christ is the one and only Son of God. Though he was and is in every way God, He came to earth and became fully human. His miraculous works, sinless life, and divine teachings all confirm the fact that He is God’s Son. His purpose for coming to Earth was to show God’s love by dying on a cross, thus taking the sins of all mankind upon Himself, and paying the penalty that our sins deserve. His resurrection from the grave and promise to return someday shows that He is King of kings and Lord of lords. (Matthew 1:22,23; John 1:1, 14, 18;Acts 10:37-43; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4; Ephesians 2:4-8; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-21; Hebrews 1:1-3)

Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is co-equal with both God and Christ. At the point of salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to live in our physical bodies. He provides help to every Christian to do what is right, strength to serve Jesus, and direction for living life God’s way. Every Christian is to allow God’s Spirit to help him on a daily basis. (John 14:16,17; John 16:7-13; Acts 2:38; 1 Corinthians 6:19,20; Ephesians 3:16-20; Ephesians 5:18)

The Bible

The Bible is the inspired word of God, given through human writers as they were guided along by the Holy Spirit. It tells us who God is, why He loves us, and what His plans are for us. The Bible is our authority and standard for living our lives according to God’s will. (Psalm 19:7-11; Psalm 119:105, 160; John 17:17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:20,21)

Salvation

Sin is breaking God’s law. We have all sinned, and this sin separates us from a God who desires relationship with us. It is impossible for us to restore that broken relationship through personal goodness, religious deeds or belonging to a church. We cannot earn, merit or achieve relationship with God by our own efforts. God acted in His grace to save us through the death of Jesus on the cross as a full payment for sin. We receive this gift is by entering into relationship with Jesus by placing our faith and trust in Him. We demonstrate that trust in Jesus by obeying His command to be baptized in water demonstrating His death, burial and resurrection. (Isaiah 59:2; John 3:16; John 14:6; Acts 2:37-39; Romans 3:10-11, 23; Romans 6:3,4; Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Ephesians 2:1-10; Titus 3:3-8)

The Church

The Church is God’s spiritual family made up of all those who have chosen to place their trust in Jesus and who are His followers or disciples. The Church is not a building or one particular group of believers; to belong to the Church is to belong to Jesus Himself. God’s will is for his people to live in fellowship with a local church family, to assemble regularly to worship together, to use their various gifts to serve Him together, to love and encourage one another, and to work together to share the message of God’s grace with the world. As the members of His Church love one another and maintain unity of purpose and relationship, the world around us will recognize that we belong to Jesus. (Matthew 16:15-18; John 17:20-23; John 13:34,35; Acts 2:42-47; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 1:22,23; Ephesians 2:19-22; Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Peter 2:4-10)

Eternity

We were created by God with a soul which will never cease to exist. Those who choose to follow Jesus as Lord will spend eternity with God in Heaven. Those who reject Jesus by refusing to follow Him will spend eternity in Hell. Heaven, like salvation and grace, is a gift of God. Hell is the due consequence for those who have not accepted God’s offer of forgiveness. Christ will visibly and bodily return one day to take his church to be with Him forever. (Ezekiel 18:20; Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 16:19-31; John 14:1-6; Romans 6:23; Philippians 3:17-21; Revelation 20:15)