The Bible

We believe in the Bible as the foundation of our faith and our lives. Inspired by God, the Bible is the final authority for our lives and there are no other writings similarly inspired by God.

 

God

We believe in one God, Creator of the Universe, eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - each of whom equally possesses all the attributes of deity. God continually pursues a relationship with His creation and has demonstrated His power, love, and goodness throughout history.

 

Jesus Christ

We believe in Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, who came to pay the penalty for our sins and bring us into a loving relationship with God. Born of a virgin, Jesus was fully God and fully man. He lived a perfect life and His death on the cross is the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He died, was buried, rose from the dead on the third day, and ascended to Heaven. We believe He will one day return to earth personally and visibly, to fulfill God's eternal plan.

 

Holy Spirit

The third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit carries out God's purposes. He works in the hearts of people to give them the understanding that they need a savior. The Holy Spirit lives inside of every believer, giving them unique spiritual gifts, divine wisdom, and constantly making them more like Christ.

 

Salvation

God desires to bring people into a loving relationship with Himself. Originally created to have fellowship with God, humans have instead rebelled against Him and deserve to be separated from Him for all of eternity. Salvation occurs when a sinful human being surrenders his or her life to God, accepting Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, and entering into a relationship with Him. All of the believer's sins are forgiven and he or she begins to live for God. It is impossible to do anything good enough to earn salvation, but it is made possible by God's grace. This grace allows us to follow our Lord's command to be baptized and obey all of his teachings.

 

Eternal Destination

When a person dies they will be judged by God. Although we all have sinned and equally deserve to be punished, those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will live with Him for eternity. Unbelievers will be separated from God because of their sins and their subsequent refusal to accept Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

 

The Church

The Church is not a building, an institution, or an organization; it is a spiritual body consisting of all believers, in every part of the world. The Scripture commands believers to meet together for worship, prayer, the teaching of Scripture, baptism, communion, fellowship, and outreach. The Church should be the ultimate example of Christ's love and should consistently strive for unity within the body, intent on the one ultimate purpose of loving and glorifying God.

 

Baptism

We believe that God commanded baptism as a means of publicly confessing our love for Christ and our desire to live for Him. Baptism demonstrates that we are spiritually dead before we accept Christ, and afterwards have been raised to new life in Him. Jesus told his disciples to go to the entire world and baptize all who would follow him. We baptize only those persons who are of such an age that they can willfully make a decision for themselves to follow Christ.

 

Communion

The bread and juice of communion represent Christ's body and blood. Jesus commanded that we as believers take communion as a way of remembering the sacrifice He made for us on the cross.