The Church for the UnChurched
We believe that sound Biblical doctrine is the foundation of a great church and a life. It is important that every member of this church know and understand the doctrines described below.
I. The Bible
We believe that the 66 books of the Old and New Testament are verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original writings. The Scriptures, through the providence of God, have been preserved as the final and supreme authority for faith and life. (Psalms 19:7, 2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21)
II. God
We believe that there is only one true and living God existing in three Persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - each a separate and distinct Person, but all of one essence and all having the same nature, perfections and attributes. Each is worthy of precisely the same worship, trust and obedience. (Genesis 1:26, Jeremiah 10:10, Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19)
III. Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, shed His blood on Calvary as a vicarious substitute for sinners, was buried, rose again bodily and ascended to the Father according to the Scriptures. (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-25, I Corinthians 15:3, Hebrews 4:15)
IV. The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Holy Trinity. He is very God, coexistent with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, comforts the believer, and guides the believer into truth. Simultaneous with regeneration, the Holy Spirit baptizes the believer into the body of Christ. (Matthew 28:19, John 16:7-11, Acts 5:3-4, Romans 8:9, I Corinthians 12:12-14)
V. Man
We believe that man is the direct creation of God and is not in any sense the result of evolution but is made in the image of God. Adam, the first man sinned by disobedience. This act resulted in the fall of mankind and incurred both the physical and spiritual death for all. (Genesis 1:26-27, Romans 3:10, 23, 5:12).
VI. Salvation
We believe that all who, in faith, repent of their sins and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior are born again by the Holy Spirit and thus become a child of God. Salvation involves redemption, regeneration, sanctification and glorification (John 1:12, 3:3, 17:17, Romans 8:29-30, Ephesians 2:8-9, 4:30, Titus 3:5).
VII. Security of the Believer
We believe that salvation is not of man’s works or efforts. It is a gift from God and is sustained by God and His power. The Holy Spirit permanently indwells the believer and seals him in salvation for all eternity. Therefore, since salvation is wholly of the Lord, apart from the works of man, we hold that the believer is kept by God. (John 10:28, 14:16-17, 26, I Corinthians 2:9-14, Ephesians 1:13, 2:8-9, I Peter 1:5, Jude 24-25).
VIII. Heaven
We believe in the eternal abode of God and the holy angels, where Jesus intercedes for His people on earth and where the spirits of departed saints await their resurrected, glorified bodies. Heaven is a literal place of conscious awareness upon which all saints enter at death. It is the place from which Jesus will come to receive those saints who are alive at His coming. Heaven is only for those who have put their faith in the atoning work of Christ for their salvation. (Hebrews 12:22-24, John 14:1-3, 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, Philippians 1:23, 3:20-21, I Thessalonians 4:16-18, Revelation 21:1, 22:5, John 14:6).
IX. Hell
We believe that hell is a literal place of judgment created for the devil and those angels who followed him in his rebellion against God. In the final state, the devil and his demons will spend eternity banished from the presence of God in the Lake of Fire. This same final punishment also awaits all unredeemed people who refuse to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scriptures declare that the torment of all the inhabitants in the Lake of Fire last forever. Prior to the final state, the soul of the unjust at death is condemned to Hades in a state of conscious torment until the resurrection of the unjust. At the resurrection, the disembodied soul is reunited with the resurrected body and cast into the Lake of Fire. (Revelation 20:10, Matthew 25:41, Mark 9:43-48, Revelation 14:11, 20:10, 15, Luke 16:19-31, John 5:29, Revelation 20:11-15)
X. The Church
We believe in the Church universal as the bride of Jesus Christ because of a born again experience through faith in His shed blood. We believe that the local church is to be a New Testament Church body of baptized believers with Christ as their head and the Holy Spirit as their guide. Its purpose in this world is to testify of Christ and His life changing power. Its ministry to each other and to the world is governed by a heart of love, a focus on God’s truth and a passion for God’s glory.
XI. Stewardship
We believe in tithing (10%) of our resources as a beginning place of responsible Christian behavior. (Matthew 23:23, Luke 11:42, Luke 6:46, Duet. 14:23, Malachi 3:10)
XII. Spiritual Gifts
We believe that God has given gifts to His children as a means of equipping them for spiritual service. Every child of God should eagerly pursue the highest gifts of love, faith, and hope as they find their unique gifts and place to serve with effectiveness. (Romans 12:5-8
XIII. Creation
We believe that the triune God created the universe apart from any pre-existing materials and without any evolutionary process. We believe in the historicity of the first eleven chapters of Genesis. (Genesis 1:1, Matthew 19:4, John 1:1-3, Romans 1:20, Colossians 1:16-17, Hebrews 11:3)
XIV. Providence
We believe in the providence of God, but that He is not the author or approver of sin, not the destroyer of the free will and responsibility of man. (John 3:16, Romans 8:28-30)
XV. The Second Coming of Christ
We believe in the literal, visible, personal, pre-millennial, pre-tribulational return of Jesus Christ for His Church. At this event the dead in Christ and living believers will be translated to meet Him in the air. At the end of the seven-year tribulation, Christ will visibly descend with the saints to establish His earthly millennial kingdom. (Acts 1:11, I Thess. 4:13-18, Rev. 20:1-6)
XVI. The Priesthood of the Believer
We believe in the priesthood of all believers so that every Christian has direct access to God in prayer through Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, and that there is no mediator between God and man other that Jesus Christ. (Heb. 4:16, I Timothy 2:5, Revelation 1:6)
XVII. Ordinances
We believe that the Christian church observes two ordinances—Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that all who have received Jesus as Lord should follow him in believers baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Baptism is a picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, so we immerse as a symbol of our belief in His experience and as identification with Him. We believe that the Lord’s Supper, also called communion, should be observed by only believers. It is both a memorial to his broken body and shed blood atonement and a celebration of his victory that the church should observe until He returns.
XVIII. Satan
We believe that Satan was a created being who rebelled against God. As a result, he became depraved, the Devil and adversary of God and His people, a leader of a host of angels who fell with him. Satan has been judged and defeated at the cross and awaits his ultimate doom at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. (Isaiah 14:13-14, Ezekiel 28:13-17, John 16:11, 1 Timothy 3:7, Revelation 20:10
“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God.
Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”