What We Believe.
The doctrine of this congregation is of the Biblical Christian Faith wherein God alone is sovereign and His inspired Word, the Bible, is the final authority for all aspects of individual life, family life, church life, community life, and governmental affairs.
The Holy Scriptures
We believe that the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, in the original languages, are complete and inspired of God, preserved for us today. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed, and therefore are the final standard for faith and conduct.
We interpret the Scriptures according to their normal, grammatical-historical, and contextual meaning, and is the primary means that God has given us to grow in the knowledge of Him. (II Tim 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21, John 5:39, Rom 15:4, 1 Cor 2:13, 10:11)
The Godhead
We believe in the one Triune God (all-knowing, all-powerful, and present everywhere), eternally existing in three persons-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, identical in nature, equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfection. All three persons of the Trinity possess intellect, emotion and will. (Deut 6:4; Matt. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14; John 1:1-4, 14, 14:10-11, 26; Hebrews 1:1-14)
God the Father
We believe that God the Father is eternal, and sovereign, not created but rather is the Creator. We believe in the Fatherhood of God over creation, over the Son Jesus Christ, over believers, and over the nation of Israel. (Acts 17:29, John 5:17-47, John 5:17-47, Ex. 4:22,
Jesus Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, came in the likeness of man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, in order that He might reveal God and give His life a ransom for all for the purpose of redeeming sinful men. (Isa 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 11-14; II Cor. 5:19-21; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-8; I Tim. 2:6)
Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is fully God. He indwells a believer at the moment he or she believes in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ on the cross, sealing them until the day of the redemption. (John 16:8-11; Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 3:16; 6:19-20; 12:12-14; II Corinthians 3:1-6; Ephesians 1:13-14)
Man
We believe that in the beginning, man was created in the image and likeness of God, but as a result of Adam’s sin, the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; that man is corrupt and utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Gen. 1:26, Rom. 3:10, 22-23, 5:12, 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3, 4:17-19)
Salvation only through Christ
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose death alone provided the only satisfactory payment for our sin debt. (John 1:12, 3:16, Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; I Peter 1:18-19; Romans 6:6)
Eternal Security
We believe that all who are saved, are kept secure by God's power in Christ forever. (John 5:24, 6:37-40; I Corinthians 1:4-8; I Peter 1:4-5)
The Church
We believe that the universal Church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of believers in Jesus Christ, born again by the Spirit of God. (I Corinthians 12:12-14; II Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 1:22-23; I Peter 1:23)
Church Ordinances
We recognize water baptism by immersion, and the Lord's Supper to be scriptural ordinances for the Church in this age. (Acts 2:41-42, 18:8; I Corinthians 11:23-26)
Sanctification of the Believer
The sanctification process should not be viewed as only a change in behavior, but rather, it is God producing His own holiness in and through the believer, as he submits to the work of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 12:1-2; II Corinthians 7:1; I Thessalonians 4:3-9; I Peter 1:15-16; I; Galatians 2:20; John 13:34-35; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 15:1-8)
The Return of Christ
We believe in that “blessed hope,” the personal, imminent, return of Christ who will receive His Church in the air, to be with Him forever. (John 14:1-3; I Thessalonians 1:10, 4:13-18)
At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return to the earth with His saints to sit upon the throne of David in Jerusalem and establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom, which was promised to the nation of Israel. (Zechariah 14:4-11; Titus 2:11-13; Matt. 25:31)
The Eternal State
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life and judgment for rewards, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matthew 25:41-46; John 5:28-29, 11:25-26; Revelation 20:5-6, 20:11-15)
We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (II Corinthians 5:8; Philemon 1:23, 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 20:4-6; Romans 8:28-30)
We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection, when they shall be judged and cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting punishment and torment, forever separated from God. (Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26, I Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6,7; Revelation 20:11-15)
Missions
We believe that God has given to the church (expressed through local churches), 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 every available means to share the Gospel in our homes, communities, and foreign nations. (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; II Corinthians 5:20)