Beliefs

I.    Standing Firm on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

II.   Make and Mature Disciples in the Faith.

III.  Serve the Needs of Others.

IV.  Engage in Community for the Gospel.

We believe that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” by which we understand the whole of the Book called the Bible. We do not take the statement in the sense in which it is sometimes foolishly said that works of human genius are inspired, but in the sense that the Holy Ghost gave the very words of the sacred writings to holy men of old. His control is not in different degrees but extends equally and fully to all parts of these writings: historical, poetical, doctrinal and prophetical, and to the smallest word, and inflection of the word, provided such a word is found in the original manuscript.

2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Cor. 2:13; Mark 12:26, 36; 13:11; Acts 1:16; 28:25; John 5:45-47; 17:17; Luke 24:44-45; Rom. 3:4; 15:4; 1 Peter 1: 2-3; Rev. 22:19; Eph. 6:17; Ps. 119:105, 130, 160. 

We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections and worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence, and obedience. 

Mark 12:29; John 1:1, 4; 4:24; 5:23; 10:20; Matt. 28:18, 20; Acts 5:3, 4; 2 Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1, 3; 1:8; Rev. 1: 4-6; 17:11; Gen. 1:26; 3:22; Is. 44:6; 48:16; 61:1; Rom. 9:5; 1 Tim. 1:17; Phil. 2:5-6; Ps. 110:1. 

We believe that man was created in the image of God; that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also the spiritual death which is separation from God; that all human beings are born with a sinful nature, and in the case of those who reach moral responsibility, become sinners in thought, word, and deed. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,3:6;7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11; Gal 3:22

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of Grace, through the office of the Son of God as a mediator, who by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon Himself our nature (yet without sin); honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the just dying for the unjust.

Christ the Lord, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree, having risen from the dead, is now enthroned in heaven and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection. He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all-sufficient Savior.

Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.

Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God.

Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God's purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person's life.

Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.

Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24; 10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18,30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1-12:8,14; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6-2:11; 1 John 4:10; Revelation 3:20; 21:1-22:5; Eph. 2:8-9; Matt. 18:11; Isa. 53:4-7; 1 Cor. 15:3; 2 Cor. 5:21.

Local Church

We believe that a local church is a congregation of immersed believers, associated by covenant in faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word: that its officers, their qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe that the true mission of the Church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have the opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government, free from the domination of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only superintendent is Christ, through the Holy Spirit: that it is Scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation. 

1 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:11; 5:23-24; Col. 1:18; Acts 15:13-18; 20:17-18; 1 Tim. 3:17.

Universal Church

We believe that the Church is composed of all who are united by the Holy Spirit to the risen and ascended Son of God and that by the same Spirit we are all baptized into the Body, whether we be Jew or Gentile; and thus being members one of another, we are responsible to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, rising above all sectarian prejudices and denominational bigotry, and loving one another with a pure heart fervently. 

Matt. 16:16-18; Acts 2:32-47; Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 1:20-23; Col. 3: 14-15.

Christian Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the two ordinances of the church.

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to

walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to His faith in the final resurrection of the dead. 

The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience by the church, through the partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, His children actively attribute to the their identity in Christ Jesus and remain in fervent anticipation of His second coming.

Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12.

We believe in the imminent coming of Christ for the Church, to be followed by a period called the Great Tribulation, after which He will return with His saints to this earth, where He will sit on the throne of David and will subdue all enemies and reign in righteousness for a thousand years, and that after this shall be the Judgment of the Great White Throne when the wicked dead shall be raised and condemned to eternal punishment in the lake of fire which is the second death. The righteous shall then enjoy eternal glory with God.

John 14:1-3; 1 Thess. 4:13-17; Zech. 14:4-5,9; 1 Thess. 5:2; Matt. 24:27-31; Rev. 1-7; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 1:7; 2 Thess. 2:6; Rev. 22:12; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Thess. 1:7-8; Matt. 24:36; Rev. 22:20; Luke 21:28; Luke 12:35-42; Mark 13:34-37; Luke 21:3; Rev. 20:6; Isa. 32:15; Isa. 35:1; Rev. 20:10; Rev. 20:11-15.

We accept the Genesis account of Creation and believe that mankind came by direct creation of God and not by evolution.

Gen 1:2; Col 1:16-17; John 1:3; Acts 4:24; 17:23-26; Heb 11:3; Rev 10:6; Rom 1:20.

We believe: (a) that such only are real believers will endure to the end; (b) that their persevering attachment to Christ is the grand mark which distinguishes them from superficial professors; (c) that a special Providence watches over their welfare; (d) and that they are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. True believers persevere to the end as their fruits (good works)

are not the condition of their salvation but are the evidence of it. This does not mean that believers do not continue to struggle with sin but their chronic nature as believers is one that is of pleasing God and obeying His commandments.

John 3:31; 1 John 2:27-28; 3:9; 5:18; 1 John 2:19; John 13:18; Matt. 13:20- 21; John 6:66-69; (c) Rom. 8:28; Matt. 6:30-33; Jer. 32:40; Ps 121:2; Ps 91:11-12; Phil. 1:6; 2:12-13; Jude 24:25; Heb. 1:14; Heb. 13:5; 1 John 4:4; Gal. 5: 22-23.

We believe God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the husband and wife the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the leadership of Christ. She has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve alongside him in managing the household and nurturing the next generation. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.

Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Psalm 127:1-5; Proverbs 5:15-20; 12:4; 13:24; 18:22; Matthew 5:31-32; 19:3-9; Romans 1:26-30; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:8; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7.