FOUNDATIONAL BELIEFS
CORE VALUES:
Our core values are commitment to God, to His Word, to fellow believers, evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development.
The Holy Scriptures
We believe that “all Scripture is inspired by God” in the sense that “men moved by the Holy Spirit” wrote the very words of Scripture. We believe that this divine inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts of the Old and New Testaments. We believe the whole Bible in the original manuscripts is therefore without error. Consequently, the Bible is the only infallible and authoritative guide for faith and conduct. (Matt. 5:18; Luke 24:44; John 5:39; 10:35; 16:12-13; Rom. 15:4; I Cor. 2:13; II Tim. 3:16-17; II Pet. 1:21)
The Godhead
We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three distinct persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections, and worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence, and obedience. (Deut. 6:4; Matt 28:19; John 10:30; Acts 5:3-4; II Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1-3)
The Lord Jesus Christ
We believe that the eternal Son of God became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal the Father and redeem sinful man (Luke 1:27, 35; John 1:1-2, 14, 18). We believe that He accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a substitutionary satisfaction of the wrath of God against sin, and that our justification is assured because of His bodily resurrection from the dead (Rom. 3:24-26; 4:25; Eph. 1:7, 20; I Pet. 1:3; 2:24; I John 2:2). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where, as our High Priest, He fulfills he ministries of intercession and advocacy (Acts 1:9-10; Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:20-21; Phil. 2:9-10; Heb. 1:3; 3:1; 7:25; 9:24; 12:2; I John 2:1).
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, though eternally omnipresent, took up His abode in the world in a special sense on the day of Pentecost, and now permanently indwells every believer, and by His baptism unites all in Christ as one Body, and, as the indwelling One, is the source of all power and acceptable worship and service. We believe that the Holy Spirit’s ministry to the world is that of conviction with respect to sin, righteousness, and judgment. (John 14:16-17; 16:11-17; I Cor. 12:12-14; Eph. 1:13-14; 5:18)
Man
We believe that man, male and female, was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s rebellion the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, became alienated from God, and is totally incapable of remedying his lost condition. (Gen 1:26-27; 3:1-24; Rom. 3:9-23; 5:12; 6:23)
Salvation
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and voluntarily received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph. 2:8-9; John 1:12; 3:16; 5:24; Acts 16:31; Rom 1:16-17)
Eternal Security
We believe that all believers are kept secure forever. (John 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 38-39; Heb. 7:25, Jude 24, I John 5:13)
The Church
We believe that the Church is a spiritual organism composed of all born-again persons of this present age, irrespective of their affiliation with Christian organizations (Acts 2:27b). Being such an organism, the Church is the Body and ultimately will be the Bride of Christ. (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-27; Heb. 12:13)
Satan
We believe that Satan is a person, a fallen angel, “the father of lies,” the god of the present world system, and the cause of the fall; that he is the enemy of God and man, though he “disguises himself as an angel of light”; and that he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire. (Job 1:6-7; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; John 8:44; Eph. 6:11-12; I Pet. 5:8; Rev. 20:10)
The Return of Christ
We believe in the imminent, personal coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His own (Rapture), and His subsequent premillennial return to the earth to set up His Kingdom (Second Advent). (I Thess. 4:13-18; II Thess. 2:1; Phil. 3:20; Titus 2:13; Rev. 19:11-20:6; Matt. 24:30; Zech. 14:4,9)
We believe that at death the spirit and soul of each person who has trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation passes immediately into His presence and remains there in constant bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming; whereupon, soul and body will be reunited to enjoy the glories and blessings of heaven forever. We believe also that the souls of those who have rejected Jesus Christ as Savior remain after death in conscious misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne, when the soul and body reunited will be cast into the Lake of Fire for everlasting punishment. (II Cor. 5:6,8; Luke 16:19-26; Rev. 20:11-15)