Statement of Faith
What We Believe
If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.
God's Word
We believe the Bible is the infallible Word of God. It is the final authority for faith and life and should be interpreted according to its normal, grammatical-historical meaning.
The Trinity
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each coeternal in being, co-identical in nature, coequal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections.
God the Father
We believe the Father is the Creator of heaven and earth and is the source of all provision. All things are to be done for His glory. The Father is seeking true worshipers whom He keeps forever in His care.
God the Son
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men through His death, burial, and resurrection. Salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
God the Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. He enables believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures. Through the Holy Spirit, believers are further enabled to perform gifts that edify the Church. Sign gifts of the early Church were temporary as a primary means of edification.
The Church Age
We believe that the Bible reveals divinely determined periods of stewardship which define man’s responsibilities in successive ages. In accordance with this teaching, distinctions between the Church and the ethnic people of Israel are established. We therefore reject any teaching that places the Church as a replacement for Israel in God’s plans and promises.
The Rapture of the Church
We believe the Lord Jesus will return from heaven any moment to raise the Church saints and present them to the Father. Jesus has delivered us from the wrath to come which is to be poured out on the earth. The Lord Jesus Christ will return to sit on the throne of David, in Jerusalem, for one thousand years.
Sin and the Gospel of Salvation
We believe that because of Adam’s disobedience, every person inherits a nature inclined toward sin and thus will sin if capable of moral action. Sin causes a schism with God and incurs His judgment. Any man, woman, or child can be saved through a personal faith response to the Holy Spirit’s drawing through the Gospel.
The Believer's Security in Christ
We believe that the redeemed are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever.
The Local Church
We believe that the Church is solely made up of born-again persons and that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament. We believe in the autonomy of the local church, free of any external authority or control. We recognize water baptism and the Lord’s Supper as the Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age.
Sanctification of the Believer
We believe that all Christians should live in such a manner as to not bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord and that separation from religious apostasy and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations is commanded by God. This separation should not prevent a believer from being a witness of Christ to all peoples and groups in the World.
Eternal Life and Eternal Death
We believe in the future, bodily resurrection of all people, the saved to eternal life and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. Upon the death of a born-again believer, the soul of that believer enters the presence of the Lord Jesus where he will forever be with the Lord. Upon the death of one who has not been born-again, that soul will enter conscious torment for all eternity.
Satan's Work and Future
We believe that Satan is a disobedient angel, the author of sin, and the cause of the Fall of Man. He is the open and declared enemy of God and man, and will be punished in the Lake of Fire for all eternity.
Creation
We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject Darwinian evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin.
The Role of Home, Church and State
We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the home; 2) the church; and 3) the state. Every person is subject to these authorities but remain answerable to God who has given each institution specific responsibilities. No institution has the right to infringe upon the other.
Marriage Instituted by God
We believe that God has commanded that no sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage. Furthermore, no marriage is legitimate aside from the joining of one biological man and one biological woman. Any deviation from this is a sinful perversion of God’s gift of sex. God hates divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. However, Divorced and remarried persons or divorced persons may hold positions of service in the church and be greatly used of God for Christian service.
The Sanctity of Life
We believe that human life begins at conception. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the mental well-being of the mother are acceptable.
The Gospel Call
We believe that God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ, we must use all available means to go to the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us.
Christian Stewardship
We believe that every Christian is a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to him. We believe that God has desired that every Christian should give offerings sacrificially and cheerfully to the support of the church, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the Gospel. We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the offering once the gift has been made.
We believe that our statement of faith accurately represents the teaching of the Bible.
Maranatha!