Our Statement of Faith

This statement of faith is a summary of our core beliefs. It serves a number of important functions for our church. It

• protects the teaching of our elders against false interpretations of Scripture.
• identifies our essential beliefs (and distinctives).
• provides unifying language to explain complex doctrinal truths.
• protects the integrity of our church’s gospel message.
• identifies what doctrines and distinctives are (and are not) primary to the identity of our church.

The Word of God

We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. 

II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21; Mark 13:31; John 8:31-32; John 20:31; Acts 20:32

The Trinity

We believe that there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons; that these are equal in every divine perfection, and that they execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence and redemption.

Genesis 1:1, 26; John 1:1-3; Matthew 28:19; John 4:24; Romans 1:19-20; Ephesians 4:5-6

God the Father

We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. We believe that He infallibly foreknows all that shall come to pass, that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ. 

Luke 10:21-22; Matthew 23:9; John 3:16; 6:27; Romans 1:7; I Timothy 1:1-2; 2:5-6; I Peter 1:3; Revelation 1:6 

Jesus Christ

We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His deity and virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and personal visible return to earth.

Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1; 20:28; Romans 9:5; 8:46; II Corinthians 5:21; I Peter 2:21-23; John 20:30-31; Matthew 20:28; Ephesians 1:4; Acts 1:11; Romans 5:6-8; 6:9-10; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:28; I Timothy 3:16 

The Holy Spirit

We believe in the Holy Spirit who comes forth from the Father and the Son to convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify, empower, and seal all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ, and that He is an abiding helper, teacher and guide to all truth. 

John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26, 27; John 16:9-14; Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; Galatians 5:22-26, Ephesians 1:13 

Regeneration

We believe that mankind was created by God in His own image; that all mankind participated in Adam’s fall from his original sinless state, sinned, and thereby incurred physical, spiritual and eternal death, which is separation from God. All mankind is thus lost in sin and totally helpless, separated from God and only deserving of His just and deserved wrath. As a consequence of Adam’s sin, all human beings are born with a sinful nature, are sinners by choice, and are therefore under condemnation.

We believe that, through regeneration by the Holy Spirit, those who repent and forsake sin and trust Jesus Christ as Savior become new creatures, are delivered from condemnation, and receive eternal life. God, through His grace, declares those who trust solely in Jesus Christ to be considered righteous (justified) in His sight, not for any merit of their own, but for the merit of Christ. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to to those who believe and received by faith alone.

Genesis. 1:26; 5:2; Genesis 3:1-24; Genesis 2:17; 3:19; Ecclesiastes 2:11; John 3:14; 5:24; John 5:30; 7:13; 8:12; 10:26; Romans 9:22; II Thessalonians 1:9; Rev. 19:3, 20; 20:10; 14-15; 21:18; Psalm 51:7; Jeremiah 17:9; James 1:14; Romans 3:19; 5:19; Proverbs 28:13; I John 1:9; John 3:16; John 1:13; II Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:1

Christian Conduct

We believe that a Christian will live for the glory of God and the well-being of his fellow men; that his conduct will be blameless before the world; that he will be a faithful steward of his possessions; and that he will seek to realize for himself and others the full stature of maturity in Christ.

God expects His people to be growing in Christ-likeness by drawing near to Jesus Christ in ongoing repentance and faith. God calls His people to be dying more to sin and living more for the sake of righteousness, knowing that regeneration produces holiness, good works, and service for the glory of God. 

I Corinthians 10:31; Romans 12:1-3; Hebrews 12:1-2; John 14:15, 23, 24; I John 2:3-6; 4:20-21; II Corinthians 9:6-9; I Corinthians 4:2; Col. 1:9-10; 1 Thessalonians 3:13

Spiritual Gifts

We believe the Holy Spirit empowers believers for Christian witness and service. All genuine believers are baptized by Christ with the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ at conversion. However, subsequent to conversion, He readily and continually fills all who thirst after Christ. In this way He also imparts to His people supernatural gifts for the edification of the Body and as a witness to the world for the glorification of Christ. They are vital for the mission of the church, and are to be desired and used within the guidelines of Scripture.

1 Corinthians 13:12-13; Matthew 3:11; John 16:14; John 7:37

The Church

We believe in the universal Church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members. We believe in the local church, consisting of a company of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible profession of faith, and associated for worship, work, and fellowship. We believe that the members of the local church have been called out by God for the purpose of glorifying Him; to serve as ambassadors for Christ; to shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation; and to spread the gospel to a lost world.

2 Corinthians 5:20; Philippians 2:15

The Ordinances

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of the believer in water into the name of the triune God. We believe that the Lord’s Supper was instituted by Christ for commemoration of His death. We believe that these two ordinances should be observed and administered until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 6:3-5; I Corinthians 11:23-26

The Last Things

We believe that Jesus Christ will return to earth, visibly and bodily, at a time when He is not expected, to consummate history and the eternal plan of God. We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal felicity of the righteous and the endless suffering of the wicked.

Matthew 16:27; Mark 14:62; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; Phil. 3:20; I Thessalonians 4:15; II Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; I Corinthians 4:5; I Corinthians 15:1-15; II Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 20:4-6, 11-15; Isaiah 66:22; Mark 9:43-48