God
We believe in one God, existing in three persons –Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–each with a distinct personality but sharing the same attributes and essence. (Deuteronomy 6:4, 1 Corinthians 13:14). God is the Creator, Author and Ruler of the universe (Genesis 1:1, Psalm 102:25). He is always present, and never changing (Psalm 102:27, Malachi 3:6). He is holy (Isaiah 6:3), merciful and forgiving (Daniel 9:9), compassionate (Exodus 34:6), loving, (John 3:16), just (Psalm 67:4), and will one day judge all who live. (Psalm 9:8).
The Bible
We believe the Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, is the inspired word of God, his truth (John 17:17) (Psalms 33:4), his heart (Luke 19:12), and his purpose for the world (John 3:16,Matthew 18:11). It is the final authority and foundation for knowledge, faith and practice, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, and Godbreathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21, Matthew 5:18).
Christ Jesus
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God. According to God’s plan from the beginning of time (John 1:1-2; 14) he was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:35), in order that he might reveal God and redeem humanity. We believe he accomplished our redemption through his death on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice and has made sure our redemption and salvation by his literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Luke 1:35, Romans 3:24-26)
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven, exalted over all creation at right hand of God where, as our High Priest, he continues the ministry of intercessor and advocate. (Acts 1:9-10,Hebrews 7:25, 9:24, Romans 8:34, 1 John 2:1-2)
The Holy Spirit
We believe God the Holy Spirit is a person who restrains evil in the world, draws people to the Gospel (John 14:25-26)and convicts people of sin. He also regenerates those who receive Christ as Savior, baptizes them into the Church, the Body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption, bestows spiritual gifts on each one, and fills those yielded to Him (John 16:8-11,2 Corinthians 3:6, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Romans 8:9, Ephesians 5:18). He is the one who comforts us in our pain, the one who counsels us in our trials, and the one who guides us to live in all truth (John 15:26) He produces fruit in us that does not earn our salvation, but rather that is evidence that our salvation has and is taking place (Galatians 5:22-23, John 15:8).
Baptism
Baptism is primarily about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. In addition to communicating the sovereign work of God, participation in baptism demonstrates one’s obedient response to faith in Jesus. (Matthew 28:19)
We see God’s commitment to restoring broken sinners to fellowship with Him in the often-repeated phrase, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Genesis 17:8, Jeremiah 24:7; 31:33;32:38, Ezekiel 11:20; 37:23, 27, Zechariah 8:8). All of Scripture bears witness to our God’s commitment to covenant relationship with His redeemed people and we believe water baptism is a public identification of this restored covenant relationship.(Acts 10:48; Rom. 6:3; Galatians 3:27) – We believe infants of believing parents may be dedicated to the Lord but should not be baptized until they can personally articulate their faith and the purpose of baptism.
The Church
We believe that believers in Christ are called together as one body, a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age (Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:25-27, 2 Corinthians 12:12-14, 1 Corinthians 11:2). The church is not something we go to, nor is it something we do. Instead, the church is something we are. Jesus is the head of the church, and we are members of his body (Ephesians 1:22-23).
We believe the local church is an assembly of professed believers in Jesus Christ who are voluntarily joined together in one locality for the purposes of worship, study of the Word of God, observance of the ordinances, Christian fellowship, equipping for and practice of Kingdom service, specifically stewarding our lives for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission (Acts 14:27;18:22; 20:17,1 Timothy 3:1-3, Titus 1:5-11, 1 Peter 5:1-4).
We believe that the church is meant to bear witness to the good news of the gospel and love of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14-20). This mission is something that is done every day of our life (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8). As God is on a mission to redeem humanity, to bring hope out of desperation, to bring freedom out of bondage, to bring life out of death, so the church is on mission to be a light to all people (Matthew 5:14) of every race and every nation (Psalm 46:10.)