About The Bible

The basis of our faith is the Bible, composed of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments. We believe that the Bible is the written Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible is our infallible authority in all matters of faith and life. We believe that all of Scripture originated with God, and that it was given through the instrumentality of chosen men. Therefore, Scripture speaks with the authority of God and yet reflects the backgrounds, styles, personalities and vocabularies of the human authors.

About God

We believe that there is one true and living God, existing eternally in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, each of whom possesses equally all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality. These three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and in glory. In the beginning God created out of nothing the world and all the things in it, thus manifesting the glory of His power, wisdom and goodness. By His sovereign power He continues to sustain His creation, and by his providence He orders the affairs of people and nations according to His own wise, eternal plan.

About Salvation

The central purpose of God’s revelation in Scripture is to invite individuals into relationship with Him. Originally created for relationship with God, man chose to go his own independent way, and was thus alienated from God. As a consequence, man suffered the corruption of his nature, rendering him unable to please God. This Fall took place at the beginning of human history, and all people since have suffered these consequences and are in need of the Gospel of God’s grace.

Because of man’s inability to move toward God, salvation is completely a work of God’s free grace. It is not the result, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness. It is appropriated by faith alone. God alone saves those whom He draws to Jesus by His Holy Spirit. He convinces them of their sin and enlightens them so that they repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as He is offered in the Gospels. Because God alone knows who are His, we invite people everywhere to repent and trust in Jesus Christ. When God has begun a saving work in the heart of a person, He gives assurance in His Word that He will go on performing it until the day of its full consummation.

About Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, who was united forever with a true human nature by a miraculous conception and virgin birth, is the object of our faith. He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father and voluntarily atoned for the sins of men by dying on the cross as their substitute. In doing so, he satisfied divine justice and accomplished salvation for all who trust in Him alone. He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died. He ascended bodily into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of the Father.

There Jesus, the only Mediator between God and man, continually makes intercession for His people. We believe that Jesus Christ will return personally, visibly, and bodily to judge all mankind and to receive His people unto Himself. He has instituted two sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, to give a witness through visible symbols to His saving work.

About the Holy Spirit

A genuine saving relationship with Jesus Christ is accompanied by growth in a life of holiness and obedience brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead. He was sent into the world by the Father and the Son to apply to people the saving work of Christ. He enlightens the minds of sinners, awakens in them recognition of their need of a Savior, regenerates them, and at the point of salvation permanently indwells every Christian to become the source of assurance, strength, wisdom and guidance. His power and control are appropriated by faith, enabling the believer to grow in Christlike character and to bear fruit to the glory of the Father.

About Human Destiny

The consummation of God’s saving work embraces the whole person, body and soul. For all people, there is a life to come, a resurrection of the body, and a future judgment. At physical death, the believer enters immediately into eternal conscious fellowship with the Lord, and the non-believer into eternal conscious separation from the Lord. Bodies of all the dead shall be raised, some to a resurrection of glory and some to a resurrection of condemnation. There are two aspects of the righteous judgment of God. Since there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, the judgment of believers reveals the quality of works done in the body for the purpose of bestowing rewards. The judgment of unbelievers reveals the depth of sin and the justice of God in allowing people to perpetuate in eternity their rejection of God.

About The Church

The corollary of union with Jesus Christ is that all believers become members of one another. There is one true Universal Church, which is composed of all people everywhere, living and dead, who have trusted in Christ alone for salvation, without regard to organizational affiliation.

God commands us to assemble together for the purposes of worship, edification, and mutual encouragement. Wherever God’s people meet in obedience to this command there is a local expression of the Church. It is the responsibility of each member to keep the unity of the Spirit for the up building of the Body. This includes working with other members of the fellowship to show Christian concern for the needs of people everywhere and fulfilling our Lord’s final command to His Church to spread the Good News of redemption throughout the world.

About Faith and Practice

Scripture is the final authority in all matters of Faith and Practice. This church recognizes that it cannot bind the conscience of individual members in areas where Scripture is silent. Rather, each believer is to be led in those areas by the Father, to whom he or she alone is ultimately responsible.