From the times of the early church to today, Christians have set out to express their beliefs in concise, definitive statements. We believe that historic, biblical Christianity depends on unity centered on a set of core truths. We, therefore, believe it necessary to express these truths as a foundation upon which this local church is based.
The Bible. We believe that God is the originating author of the words preserved in the Scriptures, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, which both record and provide the means of His saving work in the world. These writings alone constitute the verbally inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, complete in their revelation of His will for salvation, sufficient for knowing all that God requires us to believe and do, and final in its authority over everything to which it speaks.
God. We believe in one true God, eternally existing in three equally divine persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Man’s Creation and Fallen Condition. We believe that God created man—male and female—in His own image. We believe that Adam, by voluntarily disobeying God and falling into sin through Satan’s temptation, acted in rebellion against God and declared his independence from God. Adam acted as a representative of the entire human race and as a result, all human beings are born into sin, alienated from God, in rebellion against Him, and radically corrupted in every aspect of their being. We deserve God’s anger and curse for rebelling against Him. The one great and universal need of all people is to be reconciled to God (to be right with Him), under whose just judgment we stand.
God’s Gracious Provision: The Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that in His love and mercy, God provided a way to save guilty sinners from every tribe, language, people, and nation. He has accomplished this salvation through Jesus Christ, who being fully God from all eternity, also became a man. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life, died on the cross, rose physically from the dead, and will one day return to judge the world. Because He was fully man, He was able to be our perfect substitute. Because He was fully God, He was able to bear the full punishment that we deserve for our rebellion against an infinite, holy God.
Our Response to the Gospel: Faith and Repentance. We believe our rebellion against God left us spiritually dead and, apart from God’s intervention, we are unable to do anything that would pay for our sins against a holy God. However, God graciously initiates by calling people from every language, people, and nation enabling them to respond to His call to salvation with repentance and faith. In repentance we turn away from both our sin and any confidence we might have in our own goodness and in faith we entrust ourselves completely to Jesus Christ and what He has done on our behalf.
The Free Gift of God: Justification. We believe that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. When a person turns to Christ in faith and repentance, he or she is justified (declared “not guilty”). When a person is justified, his or her sins are credited to Christ and Christ’s righteousness is credited to him or her in a way that the person is declared righteous and fully accepted by God.
The Power of the Holy Spirit. We believe that this salvation, confirmed in Scripture and secured by Jesus Christ, is applied to His people by the Holy Spirit. Sent by the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, and, as the “Helper” (John 15:26), is present with and in true believers. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and by His powerful and mysterious work makes spiritually-dead sinners alive again.
The Church. We believe the Church is made up of all those who have, by faith, received the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. This universal church is manifested in local gatherings of believers of which Christ is the only Head. We believe that everyone who is part of the universal church should be part of a local church. We believe the church should neither hide from the world nor blend in with the world but should be distinctively engaged in the world as both “salt” and “light” (Matt. 5:13-14).
Baptism and Communion. We believe the Lord Jesus Christ has commanded that two ordinances be practiced by the local church: baptism and communion. Baptism is to be performed by water immersion in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This water baptism is a visual sign of a person’s union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. Christ instituted communion as a remembrance of His sacrificial death.
The Restoration of All Things. We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ with His holy angels, when He will exercise His role as final Judge, and His kingdom will be consummated. Believers will enjoy glorification in the presence of Him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness.
