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The Bible
God
We believe in a perfectly holy, just, infinitely loving and merciful God who is the creator and sustainer of all things (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 34:5-9; Job 38:4-30; Isaiah 42:5; Hebrews 11:3), worthy of honor, confidence and obedience. He has always existed, one in essence, and in three Persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) having precisely the same nature, attributes and characteristics.
The Father
God the Father, an infinite, personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love, orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose (Psalms 145:8-9; Isaiah 46:8-11; Romans 11:33; 1 Corinthians 8:6). As the absolute and highest ruler of the universe, He is sovereign in creation, providence and redemption (Job 1:6-12; Psalms 103:19; Isaiah 45:22).
The Son
Jesus Christ possesses all the divine attributes, and in these He is of the same substance, coequal, and coeternal with the Father (Micah 5:2; John 10:27-30, 8:58, 14:9; Hebrews 1:3,8). We believe that in the incarnation He surrendered only the prerogatives of deity without diminishing His divine essence (Philippians 2:5-11, Colossians 2:9). We believe that Jesus Christ was virgin born (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-25; Luke 1:26-35); that He was God incarnate (John 1:1-3, 14-18, 5:8); and that the purpose of the incarnation was to reveal God and redeem men (Psalms 2:7-9; Isaiah. 9:6; John 1:29, 3:16; Hebrews 7:26-27; 1 Peter 1:18-19).
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is a divine Person, eternal, undivided, possessing all the divine attributes, and in these He is coequal with the Father and the Son (Acts 5:3-4; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18). We believe that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to execute God's will in relation to the world of men. We recognize His sovereign activity in creation (Genesis 1:2), the incarnation (Matthew 1:18), the written revelation (2 Peter 1:20-21), and the work of salvation (John 3:5-7). We believe that the Holy Spirit is the supernatural and sovereign agent in the new birth, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ at the time of salvation (1 Corinthians 12:13); indwelling, sanctifying, instructing and empowering them for service (John 16:8-15; Romans 8:9-16); and is the guarantee of their final inheritance. (Ephesians 1:13-14).
Man
We believe that man was created by God in His own image for the purpose of enjoying fellowship with God (Deuteronomy. 6:4-5) and exercising dominion over God's created order (Genesis 1:26-28). We believe that man was originally in perfect fellowship with God, but fell from this position by disobeying God, resulting in death, which is both spiritual (separation from God) and physical (Genesis 3:1-19; Romans 6:23). We believe that all mankind is affected by this sin in such a way that no human being by nature or through his own effort can achieve right standing before God (Romans 3:9-20, 23).
Salvation
We believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was raised from the dead on the third day, ascended bodily into the presence of God the Father, and now lives to intercede on our behalf (Luke 24:36-39; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Romans 8:31-34; Ephesians 1:20). We believe that this took place so that man can be reconciled to God and can have fellowship with God (2 Corinthians 5:14-21). We believe that through repentance and personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, a person graciously receives right standing before God, forgiveness of sin and eternal life (John 3:16; Acts 17:30; Romans 3:21-28, 10:9; Ephesians 2:8-9). We believe the power of God assures this believer of his secure position in Christ (John 10:27-29: Romans 8:28-39).
Christian Growth
We believe that the believer is to live a life of increasing conformity to the will of God, becoming more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 6:1-22; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 3:8-16; 2 Peter 1:3-11). This process of growth takes place through the exercise of faith, Bible study, prayer, meditation on the Word of God, obedience to Christ, fellowship with other Christians, and other spiritual disciplines (Psalms 119:9-16; Romans 12:1-2; Colossians 2:6-7; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; 2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 5:12-14, 10:24-25). We believe that every saved person is involved in a lifelong conflict--the new nature in Christ is set against the old nature--but adequate provision has been made for victory in this conflict through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. While the believer is never completely free from sin, the Holy Spirit does provide for victory over sin (Romans 7:14-25, 8:117; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-10). We believe in the reality and personality of Satan, and when given the opportunity he and his agents attempt to defeat Christians and thwart the mission of the church (Job 1:6-12; Matthew 4:1-11; 2 Corinthians 2:10-11, 4:3-4; 1 Thessalonians 2:18). However, we believe Christians overcome Satan's schemes by applying Scriptural truth and exercising, by faith, the authority we have in Christ (Ephesians 6:10-18; 1 Peter 5:8-9; 1 John 5:4-5).
The Church
We believe that all who place their faith in Christ are immediately baptized by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual Body (1 Corinthians 12:12-13), of which Christ is the head (Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; Colossians 1:18). We believe that the purpose of the Body is to glorify God by world wide proclamation that Jesus Christ is Savior, and by encouraging each believer to become progressively Christ like through the power of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:11-16). The Bible teaches that the members of this one spiritual Body are to associate themselves together in local churches (1 Corinthians 11:18-20; Hebrews 10:25). We believe that God has given special spiritual abilities to each member of the Body of Christ (Romans 12:5-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-31; 1 Peter 4:10-11), as well as spiritually gifted people to churches for the purpose of preparing believers for spiritual work (Ephesians 4:11-12). It is essential for every believer to recognize and employ his spiritual abilities for the building up of the Body and the accomplishment of the God’s work in the world (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Peter 4:10-11). We believe Jesus Christ instituted two symbolic observances for the Body: baptism by immersion for believers (Matthew 28:19), and the Lord's Supper as a memorial of his death (Luke 22:14-20).
The Future
We believe the personal and visible return of Jesus Christ could occur at any time (Matthew 24:29-44; Revelation 19:11-20:6). We believe in the bodily resurrection of the saved and unsaved; the former to eternal fellowship with the Lord and the latter to eternal punishment and separation from Him (1 Thessalonians. 4:13-18: John 5:25-29; Revelation 20:7-15).
Questions? - If you have a question that’s not answered in our Frequently Asked Questions please submit it and we will find the answer.
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