Our Beliefs
The Triune God
We believe that there is one God, sovereign ruler and creator of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 6:4, Mark 12:32). The one true God is personal, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, unchanging, self-existent, holy, righteous, loving and exists eternally in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each of whom is fully God (Matthew 28:19-20, 2Corinthians 13:14).
The Person and Work of Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man (John 1:1, John 1:14). As eternal God, the Son voluntarily became man, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18). Through his sinless life Jesus revealed true God and true man and accomplished our redemption through his substitutionary death on the cross and secured our justification through his physical resurrection from the dead (Romans 3:24, Romans 4:25, Colossians 1:20, 1Peter 2:24). The Father glorified the Son through His ascension and Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father where he serves as the only mediator between God and man until the day of His return when he will judge the earth and deliver his people (Hebrews 7:25, Hebrews 9:24, 2Timothy 4:1, 2Timothy 4:8).
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
We believe the person of the Holy Spirit convicts the world of righteousness, sin, and judgment and is the divine agent of regeneration and sanctification (John 16:8, Titus 3:5). The Holy Spirit seals, indwells, empowers, and baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:13, Acts 1:8, 1Corinthians 12:13).
The Bible
We believe the Holy Bible to be God’s written means of self-revelation to mankind, with Jesus Christ as the central message and fulfillment of all of Scripture (Matthew 5:17, Matthew 22:29, Luke 24:25-27, John 5:39). The human authors of the sixty-six canonical books were moved by the Holy Spirit to write the very words they recorded (John 16:12-13, 2Peter 1:20-21). As such, the Bible is God-breathed, the final authority for faith and life, without error in the original writings, and infallible in all that it affirms (Matthew 5:18, 2Timothy 3:16).
The Church
We believe that the Church is a spiritual organism comprised of all believers throughout all of time, built by God upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. This universal spiritual community is further described in Scripture as the People of God, the Temple of God, the Priesthood of God, the Body of Christ, and the Bride of Christ. These metaphors communicate Jesus’ love for his Church as well as the Church’s unique call to love the world in Jesus’ name and compel the world to love Jesus. For this purpose members of the universal Church are to establish local church communities where God is exalted, the Church is edified, and the community is evangelized (1Peter 2:4-10, 1Corinthians 12;12-14, Revelation 21:9, Titus 1:5).
Humanity
We believe that God has created every man and woman in his own image for his own glory. As God’s image-bearers each person is intrinsically valuable and shows us something of what God is like (Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 9:6).
However, human rebellion has distorted – but not destroyed -- the image of God in every aspect of life: be it moral, spiritual, mental, relational, or physical (Romans 3:10-18, Romans 3:23, Ephesians 2:1-3). This tainted image of God cannot be repaired by human means but can be progressively restored through the sanctifying work of God’s Spirit and will be entirely restored when Jesus Christ returns for his Church. At that time those who are in Christ will exist eternally in proper fellowship with God, their fellow man, and all of creation (Romans 8:29-30, Hebrews 9:15).
Eternity
We believe that God created people to exist forever. Those who die in Christ will eternally live on a renewed earth in the presence of the Triune God and the Church. Those who die apart from Christ will be eternally separated from God in Hell (Hebrews 9:27, 1Thessalonians 4:16, Revelation 20:11-15).
Salvation & Security
We believe that salvation is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone (Acts 4:12, John 14:6). Only his life and death are totally sufficient for redeeming man and reconciling him to creator and creation (Ephesians 1:7, Romans 8:16-23). This salvation is made available by God’s grace alone to all who respond to Jesus and his gospel in faith (Ephesians 2:8-10, Romans 3:24). Those who do so are eternally secure in their salvation, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and kept by the power of God (John 6:37-40, Ephesians 1:13, 1Peter 1:5).
We believe that salvation is equally relevant in the afterlife and in the present life. As followers of Jesus we have immediate access to God and his kingdom and are invited to partner with him in his redemptive plan to overcome darkness with light (Acts 1:8. Philippians 1:21-26, Colossians 1:13).