OUR BELIEFS

We believe in the one living and true God, eternally (John 17:3) existing in perfect unity as three equal and fully divine members of the Godhead. Each member of the Godhead has precisely the same nature, attributes, and being. They execute distinct but complementary roles in redemptive history and are equally worthy of the same glory, honor, worship, and obedience (John 1:1-4; Acts 5:3-4).

We believe God the Father, according to His own will and through His Son, Jesus Christ, created all things in six literal days for His glory (Revelation 4:11). He upholds all things by the Word of His power and grace, and exercises sovereign headship over all creation, providence, and redemption. All of history proceeds from His will and moves towards the ultimate fulfillment of His plan (Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3).

We believe that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son, took on human flesh in accordance with the will of the Father (John 1:1, 14, 18). He was conceived through the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Being fully God and fully man (John 14:8-9), Jesus Christ lived a sinless life, sacrificially shed His blood, and died on the cross in our place to accomplish redemption for all who place their faith in Him. Three days later, He arose visibly and bodily from the dead and later ascended into heaven. He is now at the Father’s right hand in heaven, Head of His Body, the Church, the only Savior and Mediator between God and people, and is preparing His return to earth in power and glory in consummation of His redemptive mission (1 Timothy 3:16). He is the faithful High Priest for His people, living to make intercession on their behalf (Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:25).

We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ during this age. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He draws the unredeemed to repentance and faith, and at salvation imparts new spiritual life to the believer, bringing that person into union with Christ and the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit sanctifies, seals, fills, guides, instructs, comforts, equips, empowers, permanently indwells at salvation, and bestows spiritual gifts to the believer for Christ-like living and service (John 16:8; 13:15; Titus 3:5; Ephesians 1:22; 4:11-12; Romans 8:9-17; 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 12:4-5; 11-13, 19; Galatians 5:25; Hebrews 2:1-4; 2 Corinthians 12:12).

We believe that God created humankind—male and female—in His own image and likeness, free of sin, to glorify Himself and enjoy His fellowship. Tempted by Satan, but in the sovereign plan of God, humans freely chose to disobey God. This act brought sin, death, and condemnation to all humankind. All human beings, therefore, are totally depraved by nature and by choice. Alienated from God without defense or excuse, and subject to God’s righteous wrath, all of humankind is in desperate need of the Savior (Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 3:10-19; 1:18, 32).

We believe the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments to be the full record of God’s self-disclosure to humankind. Different men, while writing according to their own styles and personalities, were supernaturally moved by the Holy Spirit to record God’s very words, inerrant and infallible in the original writings. Therefore, those applying themselves to study the literal, historical-grammatical context of Scripture can accurately understand God’s Word. Scripture is fully trustworthy as our final and sufficient authority for all of life (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

We believe that upon placing one’s faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, the believer is made a part of the Body of Christ, the one universal Church, of which Jesus Christ is the Head. The Scriptures exhort believers to gather locally in order to devote themselves to worship, prayer, teaching of the Word, fellowship, the ordinances of baptism and communion, service to the local body through the development and use of talents and spiritual gifts, and outreach to the world to make disciples (Ephesians 1:22-23; Acts 2:42-46; 1 Corinthians 14:26; Matthew 28:18-20). Wherever God’s people meet regularly in obedience to this command, there is the local expression of the Church under the watchful care of a plurality of elders. A church’s members are to work together in love and unity, intent on the ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ (Ephesians 4:16).

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as the substitutionary atonement in our place, and that salvation is found in none other than Jesus Christ. Before Creation, God chose those who would be saved and granted this unearned grace solely based on His sovereign good pleasure. Jesus Christ’s death on the cross was the sole and complete payment for sins, fully satisfying God’s righteous wrath, for each person that turns from sin in repentance and places their faith in Christ alone by grace alone. At salvation each person is made a new creation by the Holy Spirit, declared righteous before God, and secured as an adopted child of God forever. Genuine faith continues in obedience and love for Jesus Christ with a life eager to glorify God and persevere to the end (Romans 8:37-39; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 12:13).

We believe that Christian baptism is a public declaration of the believer’s salvation in Christ. Through this demonstration, the believer is identifying with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection symbolized by immersion in water. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the united commemoration of Christ’s death until He returns. The Lord’s Supper should be partaken of by believers and be preceded by careful self-examination (Acts 2:41; Romans 6:3-6; 1 Corinthians 11:20-29).

We believe in and expectantly await the glorious, visible, personal, premillennial return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The blessed hope of His return has vital bearing on the personal life, service, and mission of the believer (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost. The lost will be raised to judgment and experience eternal wrath in hell. The saved will be raised to eternal joy in the new heaven and new earth in the manifested presence of God (Acts 1:3, 9; Hebrews 7:25-26).

We believe it is the aim, duty, and privilege of every believer and local church fellowship to glorify God by responding as active participants in the Great Commission call of Jesus Christ to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20). We believe the primary focus and priority of this call is centered on efforts that establish, strengthen, and reproduce biblically-based churches, which then plant churches that plant churches for future generations and God’s glory.