What We Believe

1. God
The God revealed in the Scriptures is the only living and true God. He is most loving, gracious, merciful, and patient. He overflows with goodness and truth, forgiving sin. He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him. At the same time, He is perfectly just and terrifying in his judgments. He hates all sin and will not clear the guilty. He is absolutely holy in all his plans, works, and commands. God has absolute sovereign rule over all creatures, to act through them, for them, and upon them as he pleases. His knowledge is infinite and infallible. It does not depend upon any creature, so for Him nothing is contingent or uncertain. God has always existed as three distinct yet unified persons – what we call the Trinity.
(1 Corinthians 8.4, Deuteronomy 6.4; Exodus 34.5-7; Isaiah 6.3, Revelation 4.8; Dan 4.34-35; Isaiah 46.9-10; Psalm 139.3-4)

1a. God the Father
God the Father is the first person of the Trinity. He is the beginning and the end of all things. He is the Creator of the universe and author of all life. All things were created to bring Him glory and all history moves towards Him and finds its culmination in His sovereign plan.
(Genesis 1; John 1; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15-23; Revelation 19:6)

1b. God the Son
Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. He came to Earth to glorify the Father, revealing His character and fulfilling the redemptive plan of God. In living a fully human/fully divine life, He was without sin and is both our example and our victorious King. He died to cleanse the sin of every man, woman, and child who would put their trust in him. He conquered death and rose from the grave before ascending to the Father where He reigns with Him. He will one day return physically again to the earth in power and glory for His people. He is our Savior and Lord. He is the only Way to the Father, the only Truth, and the only Life.
(Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 27:54; John 1:1-18, 14:6-7; Colossians 1:15-23; 1Timothy 1:15)

1c. God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He was sent to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment; to seal, comfort and empower believers. He reveals God’s truth to His followers and leads them in obedience to that truth. He enables believers to live out the ordained purposes for their lives. He is the fully active power of God at work in the world today.
(John 14-16; 1 Corinthians 2:10-16; Ephesians 1:13-14)

2. The Bible
The Bible is the revealed Word of God and is useful for teaching, encouraging, correcting and training in righteousness. The Scriptures principally teach what humanity is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of humanity. The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, is therefore inerrant, and is sufficient for faith and life. In its original autographs, is wholly authentic, fully trustworthy, and complete without error. There is nothing that can be added to it or taken away from it.
(Psalm 19; Isaiah 55; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4)

3. Humanity
Humanity is the pinnacle of God’s creation. Humanity’s main purpose is to glorify God and represent Him among all of the creation. God originally created Man in His own image and free from sin; but, through the temptation of Satan, Adam disobeyed the command of God, and fell from his original holiness and righteousness. As a result, all individuals subsequently inherit a corrupt nature, are condemned sinners worthy of death, and are completely hostile to God. The only hope for humanity is in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
(Genesis 1:27; Psalm 8:3-6, 51:5; Romans 3, 5; Ephesians 2:3)

4. Justification
The Scriptures proclaim God's gracious and full acquittal of sinners, called justification, not based on their works or merit but on account of the obedience and sacrifice of Christ. In His life, He fully satisfied God’s demands and as a result his righteousness and obedience is credited to His people. In His death, Jesus bore the full punishment and wrath of God for sin and suffered in place of those who would trust in Him. This legal pardon is applied by the Spirit to all those who place their trust in Christ. We affirm that this salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.
(Romans 3.21-26; 2 Corinthians 5.20-21; Galatians 3.13-14; Ephesians 2.1-10; Romans 5.1-2, Galatians 2.15-20; Acts 4.12; 1 John 5.11-12; Ephesians 1)

5. Sanctification
Those who are united to Christ are sanctified by the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. The dominion of sin is destroyed such that various evil desires are more and more weakened and put to death. At the same time Christ’s people are more strengthened through God’s grace so that they practice true holiness, demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit in greater measure. This sanctification continues through this life though it is never completed. Some corruption remains. From this arises a continual and irreconcilable war, with the desires of the flesh against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh.
(Romans 6, 7; Galatians 5.16-26)

6. The Church
The Lord Jesus is the head of the one Church, which is composed of all His true disciples, and in Him is invested supremely all power for its government. According to His commandment, Christians are to associate themselves into congregations for the purpose of worship, discipline, and the spread of the Gospel. The Church is God’s chosen instrument to bring the Gospel to every man, woman and child. The appointed leaders of a Church under the rule of Jesus Christ are Elders and Deacons.
(Ephesians 4.1-16, 5.23; Colossians 1.18; Matthew 28.18-20; Titus 1.5-9; 1 Peter 5.1-14)

7. Ordinances
Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, instituted by Jesus Christ. To those baptized it is a sign of their fellowship with Him in His death and resurrection, of their being grafted into Him, of remission of sins, and of submitting themselves to God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life. Those who personally profess repentance toward God and faith in and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ are the only proper subjects of this ordinance. The outward element to be used in this ordinance is water, in which the individual is to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 
(Matthew 28.18-20; Romans 6.3-4; 1 Peter 3.18-22; Acts 2.37-41)

The Supper of the Lord, commonly called Communion or the Lord’s Table, was instituted by Jesus the same night He was betrayed. It is to be observed in His churches to the end of the age as a continual remembrance and display of the sacrifice of Himself in His death. It is given for the confirmation of the faith of believers in all the benefits of Christ’s death, their spiritual nourishment and growth in Him, and their further engagement in and to all the duties they owe Him. The supper is to be a bond and pledge of their communion with Christ and each other.
(Matthew 26.26-29; Mark 14.22-25; Luke 22.18-20; 1 Corinthians 11.23-26)

8. Last Things
We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ when he will sit in judgment and his kingdom will be consummated. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust. The unjust, who do not know God, will go to judgment and eternal, conscious punishment in hell away from the presence of the Lord. The just, who have believed, will be rewarded with eternal blessedness and joy in the presence of him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth.
(2 Corinthians 5.10; 1 Corinthians 15; Matthew 25.31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1.7-10)

These essential beliefs that we embrace have lead us to our four core values of God, Truth, Love and Mission.