What We Believe
About the Bible
The Bible is God’s written word to humanity. It was inspired by the Holy Spirit and recorded by human writers. Since God is its author, the Bible is perfect truth. It is infallible in all it teaches and without error in all it’s content. It is the final authority on all matters on which it bears. It is the sole basis of our beliefs. The theme of the Bible is redemption. It is the story of God’s revelation of himself and his intervention in human history to bring people into relationship with himself. The Bible is God-breathed, historically accurate and theologically complete.
About God
There is one true living God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is beyond human comprehension and descriptions.
The Father
The Father is the all-powerful Creator and Ruler of the universe. He is perfect, and therefore never changes. He is omni-competent, ever-present, and all-knowing. He is Father to all who believe and are rightly related to him through his Son Jesus.
The Son
Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God, eternally existing and equal with the Father, sharing all attributes of Deity. He is the image of the invisible God. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, fully human and fully divine, died on a cross to pay the penalty of sins for all humanity, rose from the dead, ascended back to the Father and will return to Earth in a time and manner of the Father's choosing. Jesus Christ is the exclusive way to the Father.
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is equal to the Father and the Son, eternally existing and sharing all attributes of Deity. He draws humans to the Son by convicting them of sin and convincing them of the truth of the gospel. The Holy Spirit lives within every believer from the moment of new birth, gives them spiritual gifts to change the world and build his church, illuminates the Scriptures, and empowers us to live new lives according to the purpose of God.
About Humanity
Men and women are created in the image of God, thus they are unique in all creation as spiritual beings, made for relationship to their Creator. Due to the fall, the enitre human family is born into sin nature (a state of wrongdoing and separation.) All men and women are unconditionally loved by God, who desires that everyone come to experience relationship with him. Jesus Christ is our bridge-builder to God and offers eternal life to all who respond in repentance and faith to his invitation.
About Eternal Life
Eternal life is a free gift of grace provided by the finished work of Christ’s death and resurrection. Eternal life is knowing God relationally, and begins at the moment of new birth through repentance and faith. Through God’s foreknowledge, he knows all who will freely choose to respond to him, and are therefore chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. Foreknowlege is not fatalism. Eternal life is initiated and accomplished by God and therefore lasts forever. Those who receive eternal life will live forever with God. Those who reject him will remain separated from God forever in judgement. Heaven and hell are real places.
About the Church
The New Testament church is the Body of Christ and is not a building or institution. The universal Church refers to all believers throughout the ages. The local Church refers to a group of baptized believers who worship together, serve together, teach the Word of God, are united together through covenant, share their lives together, and carry out the mission of Jesus to change the world. Each local New Testament church is autonomous and subject to Christ as Head of the church. The church is led by biblically-defined pastors whom God has called and gifted to shepherd and equip the church for the work of ministry.
About Last Things
God, in a time and manner of his own choosing, will bring to an appropriate conclusion the end of this age. Scripture clearly teaches that Jesus of Nazareth will return to Earth in majesty and power at a time of the Father's choosing, will gather God's family (both living and dead) to eternal reward, will judge the inhabitants of the Earth (both past and present), will establish justice and reign throughout eternity as King of kings and Lord of lords. Eschatology (the study of last things) should be approached with humility and not arrogance, recognizing that like all prophecy, the full details are now known only in part.
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