We Believe

We believe the first person of the Trinity orders and directs all things according to His own purpose, pleasure and grace. He created the universe apart from any pre-existing materials and without any means other than His own pure power. He has decreed all things that come to pass for His own glory. He graciously involves Himself in the affairs of men, hears and answers prayer, and saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ (Matt. 6:9; John 5:19-24; Eph. 1:3-6).

We believe Jesus Christ to be the eternally co-existing Son of God who became fully man without ceasing to be fully God. We believe that He is God’s only begotten Son (Jn. 3:16) and our sole Mediator (I Tim. 2:5). We believe in His preexistence (Jn. 1.1), substitutionary atonement (Rom. 3:23-25), His bodily resurrection from the grave (Acts 2:24-27), and His bodily return from heaven (Tit. 2:13). We believe that He is now in heaven exalted at the right hand of the Father, where, as High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of intercession and advocacy for us (Heb. 12:3).

We believe that God the Holy Spirit is that person of the Trinity who restrains evil in the world and convicts men of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He also regenerates those who receive Christ as Savior, baptizes them into the Church, indwells them permanently, intercedes for them in prayer, seals them unto the day of redemption, bestows one or more spiritual gifts on each believer, and empowers those yielded to Him (Matt. 28:19, Jn. 3:3-7, 16:8-11).

We believe the Bible is the Word of God; verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original writings, and that it is the supreme, final, and infallible authority in doctrine and practice. By inspiration we mean God’s superintendence of human authors so that using their own individual personalities, they composed and recorded without error His revelation to man in the words of the original autographs. We further believe that there is but one method of Bible interpretation-the literal, or historical-grammatical method. This method recognizes the fact that the authors of Scripture meant what they said. Therefore, we consistently apply the rules of grammar, literature, history, and culture to Scripture in order to unlock and understand the author’s meaning (Matt. 5:16-18; II Tim. 3:16, 17; II Pet. 1:20, 21).

We believe that man was created innocent and in the image and likeness of God, for fellowship with God, but that he sinned bringing forth both physical and spiritual death (which is separation from God) to himself and his posterity. As a consequence, man is now a sinner both by nature and by choice, is alienated from God, and apart from salvation through Jesus Christ is eternally separated from God (Gen. 1:26, 27, 2:17, 3:6, 19; Rom. 3:10-18, 5:12-21; Eph. 2:1-3).

We believe that salvation is a gift of God and is received by man only through personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We believe that man is justified by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, apart from human merit, works, or ceremonies (Eph. 2:8-10). We believe that all true believers, “born again” by the Spirit through faith in Christ, are kept secure in Christ forever and will exhibit the present evidence of a transformed life (Jn. 10:27-30; Rom. 8:33-39).

We believe that the ordinances of the church are two in number: baptism, by immersion, which is the public identification of the believer with Christ; and the Lord’s Supper, a memorial of the atoning death of Christ until He comes (Matt. 28:19; I Cor. 11:23-24).

We believe the Universal Church, the Body and Bride of Christ, is not an organization but a spiritual organism comprised of all who have expressed saving faith in Jesus Christ as both Savior and Lord. We believe the church began at Pentecost and that a believer is placed into the church by the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit. We believe that the local church is an assembly of professed believers in Jesus Christ who are voluntarily joined together in one locality for the purpose of worship, study of the Word of God, observance of the ordinances, Christian fellowship, and equipping for Christian service. We believe that the local church has the right under Christ to decide and govern its own affairs through the leadership of elders. We believe that it is God’s intention that all believers publicly identify with a visible local assembly (Acts 2:1-4, 2:41-47, 4:19, 5:29; I Cor. 1:1, 2, 5:3-8, 10:32, 12:12-13; Eph. 1:22-23).

We believe that the terms “elder” and “overseer” are synonymous in scripture and that the church is to be ruled by a plurality of elders, and that none of these elders is to be of higher “rank”, either in theory or in practice, than the other elders. Some elders may have a teaching gift and may appear more visible, but all authority is in Christ the head with the elders accepting the stewardship of shepherding the flock. Some of these elders may receive financial pay (I Pet. 5:1-2; Acts 14;20; Phil. 1:1, I Tim. 5:17).

We believe that the Holy Spirit gives gifts to every believer to be used for the building up of the body of Christ. These gifts are to be exercised according to biblical guidelines and priorities (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12,14). We believe the Holy Spirit is sovereign and may give any gifts He wants at any time He wants (1 Cor. 12:11).

We believe in the personal, bodily and visible return of Jesus Christ to establish His Kingdom, over which He will reign in righteousness and peace (Is. 9:6-7; 11:2-5).