statement of faith:
Following the lead of
St. Augustine, we affirm his confession:
"In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love."
We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, written by men through the inspiration of God, expressing the revelation of God to us through history, poetry, prophecy and narrative. We hold to it as our rule of faith and practice, as the only infalliable word of God, inerrant in the original manuscripts. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Peter 1:23-25; Hebrews 4:12)
We believe in one God who has revealed Himself in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all co-eternal, all stand equally superior to time, free from the temporal distinctions of past and future. (Genesis 12:33; Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalms 90:2, 102:27; 1 Timothy 1:17; John 1:1-2, 8:58; Hebrews 1:8, 9:14; 1 John 1:2; Micah 5:2; Revelation 1:8; Romans 1:20)
We believe in the deity of our Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, His
sinless life, His substitutionary death, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and His personal return in glory and power. (John 1:1-2 & 14; 1 Timothy 3:16; Acts 7:37-38; Philippians 2:9-10; Acts 1:11; 3:19-21; Daniel 7:14; Revelation 20:4)
We believe in the personality of the Holy Spirit and His ministry of convicting and regenerating sinful people and indwelling, filling, sealing and empowering believers. We believe that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is being manifested in the Church through the fruit and gifts of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Corinthians 12:8-11)
We believe that man was created by an intentional act of God.We believe in the fall of man from the state of innocence in which he was created, to one of total depravity in which he is devoid of spiritual life and incapable, apart from divine power, of pleasing God. (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:4; Romans 5:12-21;
1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
We believe that repentance and faith toward Jesus Christ produces the work of justification in the believer. We believe in the justification of the sinner by grace through faith alone in the work of Jesus Christ, totally apart from human work. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the saved to immortality with God and of the lost to conscious eternal suffering. (Romans 5:1,9; Luke 22:20; Ephesians 2:8-9)
We believe that the Church is the Body of Christ expressed as the church individual, the church local, and the church universal and invisible (all saints of all places and all times united together under one Lord). As such, we believe the church to be more than just a building or a gathering of people. It is a body living in relationship and harmony under the direction of the head, Jesus Christ. The local church is an expression of the community and fellowship of God. (1 Corinthians 6:15; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Romans 16:5; 2 Peter 2:4-5; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31; Romans 12:4-5; Ephesians 4:11-16).
We believe that man was created by an intentional act of God.We believe in the fall of man from the state of innocence in which he was created, to one of total depravity in which he is devoid of spiritual life and incapable, apart from divine power, of pleasing God. (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:4; Romans 5:12-21;
1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
We believe that repentance and faith toward Jesus Christ produces the work of justification in the believer. We believe in the justification of the sinner by grace through faith alone in the work of Jesus Christ, totally apart from human work. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the saved to immortality with God and of the lost to conscious eternal suffering. (Romans 5:1,9; Luke 22:20; Ephesians 2:8-9)
We believe that the Church is the Body of Christ expressed as the church individual, the church local, and the church universal and invisible (all saints of all places and all times united together under one Lord). As such, we believe the church to be more than just a building or a gathering of people. It is a body living in relationship and harmony under the direction of the head, Jesus Christ. The local church is an expression of the community and fellowship of God. (1 Corinthians 6:15; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Romans 16:5; 2 Peter 2:4-5; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31; Romans 12:4-5; Ephesians 4:11-16).