Statement of Beliefs

1. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God. 

2. We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

3. We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.

4. We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. 

5. We believe in the grace of salvation through faith in Jesus and His ability to secure what He alone has given.

6. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in Christ through the institution of the Church.

7. We believe in the mission of Gods people to reconcile a lost world to Him through our giftedness. 

1. The Bible, the Word of God. 

1. We believe the Bible (the sixty-six books, from Genesis to Revelation) to be the verbal, plenary inspired Word of God, authoritative, inerrant, and God breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Matthew 5:18).

2. Revelation: the content of the Bible has been revealed by God in order to make known to man information about God which man otherwise could not know (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). 

3. Inspiration: through inspiration (a superintending by the Holy Spirit of the human authors of Scripture) God made certain that this revelation about Himself was recorded in written form without error in the original documents. 

4. Authority: since the content of the Bible has been revealed by God and recorded under inspiration without error in the Bible, it is our sole authoritative guide in all matters of doctrine, faith, and practice. 

5. Canonicity: based upon the principle of the self-authentication of Scripture and upon the objective criteria for determining canonicity (both O.T. and N.T.), we accept the sixty-six books and these alone as canonical (the inspired Word of God) (Galatians 1:8). We do not accept the apocryphal books or any other writing as canonical (Revelation 22:18-19). 

2. The Godhead. 

1. We believe there is only one true God who is Triune, existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19) which persons are co-eternal, equal in power and glory, and identical in nature and attributes (Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Corinthians 13:14). These attributes are sovereignty (Psalm 115:3), righteousness (Psalm 119:137), justice (Deuteronomy 32:4), love (1 John 4:8), eternal life (Psalm 90:2), omniscience (Psalm 147:5), omnipotence (Genesis 17:1), omnipresence (Jeremiah 23:23, 24), immutability (Malachi 3:6), and veracity (Jeremiah 10:10). 

3. The Person and Work of Christ. 

1. Incarnation: We believe the Lord Jesus Christ to be the pre-existent, eternal Son of God who became man without ceasing to be God or in any way diminishing His Deity (John 1:1-5, 14, 18). 

2. Virgin Birth: He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of Mary, then still a virgin (Luke 1:35). 

3. Hypostatic Union: The Lord Jesus Christ is the unique person of the universe, His person being the eternal, inseparable union of two natures: undiminished deity (true God without loss of attributes) and true humanity (all the essential attributes of humanity but without sin) (Philippians 2:6-11). 

4. Substitutionary Death: He died bearing our sins to pay ransom price for our redemption (Matthew 20:28), to secure our reconciliation to God (2nd Corinthians 5:18-19), and to propitiate (satisfy) God, the Father, with respect to our sins (1st John 2:2). In His death, He took our place; He was our substitute (Mark 10:45; Romans 5:6-8). This death was for all members of the human race (1 John 2:2; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Titus 2:11; 1 Timothy 2:6; Hebrews 2:9) so that all men are now able to be saved by believing in Him. 

5. Resurrection: His literal, physical, bodily resurrection from the dead proves Him to be the Son of God (Romans 1:4) and guarantees both eternal redemption and personal resurrection for all believers (Hebrews 10:9-14; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 2 Corinthians 4:14).

6. Ascension and Session: He ascended in a glorified resurrection body into the third Heaven and is now seated and exalted at the right hand of God where as High Priest for His people, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9; Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34; 1st John 2:1-2). 

4. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. 

1. We believe the Holy Spirit is a person and as God is co-equal with the other members of the Godhead (John 14:16-17; Matthew 28:19). 

2. Pre-salvation Work: He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment apart from which conviction the unbeliever could not comprehend nor receive by faith the Gospel (John 16:8-11). 

3. Salvation Work: At the moment of salvation, the Spirit regenerates (Titus 3:5), baptizes into Christ (1 Corinthians 12:3), comes to indwell (Romans 8:9), seals unto the day of the redemption of the body (Ephesians 1:13, 14), and distributes at least one spiritual gift (1  Corinthians 12:7-11) to each person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

4. Post-salvation Work: The ministry of the Spirit to the believer is to empower him/her to accomplish the supernatural Christian way of life (Acts 1:8; Zechariah 4:6). The believer is commanded to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:18-26). Furthermore, the Spirit ministers to the believer by illuminating the Word of God (John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:12-14), by providing guidance (Romans 8:14; Acts 11:12) and by interceding in prayer (Romans 8:26-29). 

5. Spirituality, the Filling of the Holy Spirit: We believe that spirituality is an absolute condition in the life of the believer in this dispensation, the Church Age, wherein he is filled or controlled by the Holy Spirit, walking in love and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. A believer becomes carnal through any act of mental, verbal, or overt sin, and the filling of the Holy Spirit is restored solely by personal confession of that sin to God the Father. Furthermore, spirituality is distinct from maturity (John 15:7, 8; 2 Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:16-18; Ephesians 5:18; Romans 6:11-13; 1 John 1:9; 2:2; 1 Corinthians 11:30, 31). 

5. Salvation. 

1. Basis: Salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace, based upon the finished, complete, perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, in dying on the cross bearing and being judged by God for the sins of all members of the human race to provide for forgiveness of sins (John 1:29; Ephesians 2:8, 9; 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18, 19). 

2. Genuine Offer: Since God is unable to be unfair to any person, loves all men equally, desires all men to be saved, is not willing that any should perish, invites all men to be saved, and since Christ paid the ransom price for the sins of the whole world; it is therefore genuinely possible for any member of the human race to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved (Acts 10:34, 35; Isaiah 45:21; Romans 5:8; 8:32; 10:13; John 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 2:2; 2 Corinthians 5:14). 

3. Appropriation of Salvation: The means of appropriating salvation is faith and faith alone. The object of faith is the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4; John 16:8-11). Each individual must make the decision to receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior. When a person does not, this is equivalent to rejection, since there is no status of suspended judgment (John 1:12; 3:11, 36; Acts 4:12; 16:31; Ephesians 2:8, 9; Titus 3:5). 

4. Eternal Security: When a person so appropriates by faith the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, from that moment in time, the person (now a believer) is kept secure forever and cannot lose his/her salvation. The Father may discipline the believer as a beloved child when necessary, but salvation cannot be retracted because of sin (John 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38, 39; Hebrews 12:6-10; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Jude 24). 

6. The Church. 

1. Universal Church: We believe that the Church, which is the body of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again believers of this dispensation (Church Age) irrespective of their affiliation with Christian organizations (Ephesians 1:22, 23; 4:4-6; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Colossians 1:18, 24). In the future, the body of Christ will become the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 19:7, 8). 

2. Local Church: We further believe that the local church is an assembly of believers meeting together in a specific location with Biblically ordained leadership for the purpose of Bible study, worship, prayer, observation of the Lord's Supper, fellowship, and witnessing (Acts 2:42; 6:1-6; 1 Corinthians 1:2 ly, desires all men to be saved, is not willing that any should perish, invites all men to be saved, and since Christ paid the ransom price for the sins of the whole world; it is therefore genuinely possible for any member of the human race to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved (Acts 10:34, 35; Isaiah 45:21; Romans 5:8; 8:32; 10:13; John 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 2:2; 2 Corinthians 5:14). 

7. The Responsibility of Believers.
          We believe that it is the wonderful privilege and responsibility of every believer to: 

1. Grow and mature in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, through a desire for and a feeding upon (study of) the Word of God (2 Peter 3:18; 1 Peter 2:2; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16). 

2. Glorify, honor, and please our Lord and Savior through the manifestation of the filling of the Holy Spirit and the mental attitude of doing everything as unto the Lord (Ephesians 5:1, 18; Galatians 5:22, 23; Romans 5:5; Colossians 1:10; 3:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:1; 3 John 3, 4). 

3. Seek every opportunity to proclaim the Gospel to all the world beginning with those persons with whom we have daily contact (Acts 1:8, 11; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20). 

4. Remember the work of the Lord in prayer and to support it as the Lord prospers and guides each (Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:17, 18; 1 Corinthians 16:2).