STATEMENT OF FAITH
1. The Holy Scriptures
We believe that the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are verbally inspired by God, inerrant, infallible, immutable, and preserved in the Holy Bible, and that they are the supreme and final authority for faith and practice.
(2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Peter 1:19-21)
2. The Godhead
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—equal in essence while distinct in personality and function.
(Exodus 20:2-3; Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 John 5:7)
3. Creation
We believe in God’s direct creation of the universe without the use of pre-existent material and apart from any process of evolution whatsoever, according to the Genesis account.
(Genesis 1:1-31; Exodus 20:11; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 11:3)
4. Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true man.
(Isaiah 7:14; John 1:1, 14; Luke 1:35; Galatians 4:4)
5. The Bodily Resurrection of Christ
We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into Heaven, and in His present life there as our High Priest and Advocate.
(Matthew 28:1-7; Acts 1:8-11; 1 Corinthians 15:4-9; Hebrews 4:14-16)
6. The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the agent of the New Birth through conviction and regeneration, and that He seals and indwells everyone who trusts Christ as Savior. We also believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, through which He infills and empowers believers, and that He distributes spiritual gifts to all believers.
(John 3:5; Romans 8:9; Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:13; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 2:20; Ephesians 4:11-12; Ephesians 5:18; Hebrews 2:3-4)
7. The State of Man
We believe that man was created in the image of God, that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. All human beings are born with a sin nature and are sinners in thought, word, and deed.
(Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 5:12, 19; Romans 3:10-13, 23)
8. The Scope of Salvation
We believe that Jesus Christ died as the substitutionary sacrifice for all mankind. The blood atonement He made is unlimited in its potential but limited in its application, effectively saving all those who call upon the name of the Lord in repentance and faith.
(Isaiah 53:4-11; John 3:5-8, 16; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; 1 Timothy 4:10; 1 John 2:1-2)
9. The Way of Salvation
We believe that all who receive, by faith, the Lord Jesus, are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become the children of God.
(John 1:12-13; John 3:3-16; Acts 16:31; Romans 4:5; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5)
10. Eternal Security of the Believer
We believe in the eternal security of the believer—that it is impossible for one who is born into the family of God ever to be lost, because we are kept by the power of God, and it is only that same power that could remove us. This truth was taught by Jesus Himself.
(John 10:28-29; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Revelation 22:19)
11. The Rapture
We believe in that “blessed hope,” the personal and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, when He will gather all believers unto Himself and take them to Heaven.
(John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:51-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-13)
12. Dispensationalism
We believe that the Scriptures, interpreted in their natural, literal sense, reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life, which define man’s responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations—the Age of Law, the Age of the Church, and the Age of the Kingdom—are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture.
(Genesis 1:28; 1 Corinthians 9:17; 2 Corinthians 3:9-18; Galatians 3:13-25; Ephesians 1:10; Ephesians 3:2-10; Colossians 1:24-25, 27; Revelation 20:2-6)
13. Heaven and Hell
We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the unsaved, the everlasting blessedness of the saved in Heaven, and the everlasting punishment of the lost in Hell.
(Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 16:19-31; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 21:1-8)
14. The Local Church
We believe that the local church is the agency through which God has chosen to accomplish His work in the world. A New Testament church is an organized body of baptized believers, immersed upon a credible confession of faith in Jesus Christ, having two offices (Pastor and Deacon), congregational in polity, autonomous in nature, and united for work, worship, edification, the observance of ordinances, and the fulfillment of the Great Commission. The local church, under the headship of Christ, is to be free from any external hierarchy and should not associate itself with any ecumenical, charismatic, neo-orthodox, new-evangelical, or any other effort which compromises the Truth.
(Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:41-47; Romans 16:17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-17; Ephesians 1:22; Ephesians 3:10; 1 Timothy 3; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; 1 Peter 5:1-3)
15. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
We believe that the two ordinances of the local church are baptism by immersion after salvation and the Lord’s Supper, which was instituted by Jesus so that we might remember and proclaim His death “till He comes.”
(Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:41-47; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28; Colossians 2:12)
16. Missions
We believe that God has given the church the Great Commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, and language who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ, we must use all available means to go to foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us.
(Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:20)
17. Giving
We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to him, is obligated to support his local church financially. We believe that God has established the tithe as a basis for giving, but that every Christian should also give other offerings sacrificially and cheerfully to support the church, aid those in need, and spread the Gospel. We further believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the tithe or offering once the gift has been made.
(Genesis 14:20; Proverbs 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; 1 Corinthians 16:2; 2 Corinthians 9:6-7; Galatians 6:6; Ephesians 4:28; 1 Timothy 5:17-18; 1 John 3:17)