What We Believe
God
There is only one true God. He is the Creator of all life and the Supreme Ruler of the universe. He has always been (eternal in nature) and co-exists equally in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. Every characteristic of God flows foremost out of his holiness, his utter uniqueness and distinction from all that is or will ever be. We learn about God through His creation, His Word, and His Son. God loves us more than we can imagine, and he alone is worthy of our worship.
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the one and only Son of God. Co-equal with God the Father and God the Spirit, He came to earth and became man. He was completely God while at the same time being fully man. He revealed to us the nature and character of the one true God. His miraculous acts, sinless life, life-changing teachings and victory over death all confirm the fact that He is God’s Son. His purpose for coming to Earth was to show God’s love by dying on a cross, thus taking the sins of all mankind upon Himself, and paying the penalty that our sins deserve. His bodily resurrection from the grave and His promise to return someday are testimonies to the fact that He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus desires the deepest of relationship with every person and promises abundance in this life and hope for the age to come. As he stated, he is the singular and exclusive way to God the father and thus eternal life. John 14:6
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with God the Father and God the Son. He dwells in each member of God’s family as a Helper, Comforter and Guide. It is through the work of the Holy Spirit that a person comes to salvation. At the point of salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to live in our physical bodies as His home and He begins the work of sanctification in us. Though we will never be sinless in this life the Holy Spirit does help us sin less as we conform more to the image of Christ. The works of the flesh begin to fade and the fruit of the Spirit begins to appear as we allow God’s spirit to lead us and submit to his leadings on a daily basis.
The Bible
The Bible is God’s written Word. The process that God used to give us His Word is called inspiration, which means God-breathed. The Word of God is without error and is truth. It tells us where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. Additionally, it tells us who God is, why He loves us, and how He has worked in history to restore the relationship with people like us. The Bible is the authority or standard for living our lives according to God’s will for us. God’s people are encouraged to engage and absorb God’s word as a means of growing in personal faith and partnering with God in his global plan of salvation.
Salvation
We need salvation because we have sinned. Sin separates us from God who desires relationship with us. However, It is impossible for any man to restore that broken relationship with God by any amount of personal goodness, religious deeds, or by belonging to a church. We cannot earn, merit or achieve a right relationship with God by any human effort. The death of Jesus was not an accident. It was God’s plan from the very beginning to save us from our sins through the death of Jesus Christ. The Bible calls God’s act of love, grace. His grace is His gift to us. The way we receive His gift is by entering into a covenant relationship with Jesus by placing our trust and faith in Him as Lord. When we decide that we will follow Jesus as Lord for the rest of our lives, we demonstrate that in faith by repenting of our sins, confessing our belief that Jesus alone can save us, and participate in Christ’s death and resurrection through obeying His command to be immersed (baptized) in water.
The Church
The Church is God’s spiritual family. It is made up of all those who have chosen to place their trust and faith in Jesus and who are His followers (disciples). The Church is not a building or one particular group of believers. To belong to the Church, is to belong to Jesus. The Bible uses the analogy that Jesus is the Head of the Church, which is His body. God’s will is for the Church to gather regularly to worship its Head, Jesus, to use its various gifts and abilities to serve its Head, to love and encourage those who are in the body, and to work diligently to maintain the unity of the body. As the members of His Church love one another and maintain unity of purpose and relationship, the world around us will recognize that we belong to Jesus. The Church is to seek to do the will of God, which first and foremost includes making and growing followers of Jesus Christ.
Mankind
We are created in the spiritual likeness or image of God. Being made in the image of our creator means God gave us free will. We have the ability to choose to love as God loves, to choose to do right in the likeness of God’s righteousness, and to choose to value what God values. God created us as an expression of his desire for community with us. He desires that we love him with a love that is authentic and not driven by fear. Love must always be a choice and not forced. The first man, Adam, chose to sin (disobedience and rebellion), and now every person lives in a marred creation with a marred spiritual nature. As a result, every person will eventually choose to sin and subsequently become separated from God. God’s desire is that all people will be saved but has given each person the dignity of free-will to either choose God or reject him.
Marriage and Human Sexuality
Scripture affirms in both old and new testaments that God created mankind in His image: two genders defined as male and female – different both sexually and biologically and both with equal value and access to God through faith in Jesus Christ. Adam and Eve were created to complement one another in a one-flesh union called marriage. We also believe singleness is an equally holy pursuit and expression for followers of Jesus. For those who decide to marry, we believe God ordained marriage to be between one biologically born man and one biologically born woman. It is only within this covenantal relationship God has given the gift of sex, and he declares it good! The marriage relationship should also serve as an example of the love Christ has for the church.
Eternity
God created us with a soul which will never cease to exist. Those who choose to follow Jesus as Lord, trust in his death to cleanse their sinful state, and have a growing relationship with Him, will spend eternity with God in Heaven. Those who reject Jesus by refusing his gift of salvation and title as Lord and King will spend eternity in a place void of God’s love and goodness, a place called Hell. Heaven, like salvation and grace, is a gift of God. Hell is the due consequence for those who have not accepted God’s offer of forgiveness. Heaven and Hell are real places and the ultimate destination of every human being.
Baptism
In response to God’s gift of grace given through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God has given us baptism as a way to illustrate and participate in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Baptism represents the inner cleansing effect of Christ’s blood when applied to our sins. As followers of Jesus, we follow His example and do the things He asks of us. Jesus was baptized and commands that all who follow him as Lord be baptized. (Matthew 28:19-20) Baptism in the New Testament always follows faith and never precedes faith. While we speak honorably of the commitment parents make when they have their children baptized, we see it more as a parent’s faith dedication more than an informed decision to surrender to the lordship of Christ. So we ask that those who were baptized only as infants be baptized as informed believers. In the New Testament baptism was always done by immersion, so we are faithful to practice baptism in the same manner.
Communion
Also known as The Lord’s Supper, we participate in taking the elements of communion as a way to commemorate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We partake of this as a community of believers as a way to demonstrate our common faith and oneness in Christ that he desires. As well, communion is our way of examining our own lives and confessing any sins or attitudes that keep us from living God’s expressed desires for us to be conformed to the image of His son. We partake of communion throughout the year at the discretion of our pastor.