WHAT WE BELIEVE
WHAT WE BELIEVE
WHAT DRIVES US
Our mission is taken from Matthew 28:19-20, and it is to:
1) Faithfully teach the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ alone to a lost and dying world.
2) Water baptize believers by full immersion as a testimony of death to their former unsaved nature, and their new life in Christ.
3) Expound the whole counsel of GOD as revealed in His holy Word to believers in Christ.
4) Look with great expectation toward the imminent, pre-tribulation, pre-millennium return of Jesus Christ to rapture His Church, and to be found faithfully serving Him when He soon comes.
Our vision is:
1) The Lord Jesus Christ high and lifted up seated as the Eternal Son of GOD - the Second Person of the Godhead - interceding for His people who have come to Him by faith.
2) The Holy Spirit of GOD - the Third Person of the Godhead - indwelling each believer seeking to manifest the person and life of Jesus in each Christian.
3) GOD The Father - the First Person of the Godhead - seeing the righteousness of Christ in each believer and being pleased with all things being done for His glory, and His name's sake according to His Holy Word
STATEMENT OF FAITH
(A) The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally and plenary inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to Man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
(B) The Godhead
We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 14:10, 26).
(C) The Person and Work of Christ
(1) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, 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 God and redeem sinful men (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35;
John 1:1-2,14; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; Galatians 4:4-5; Philippians 2:5-8).
(2) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through his death
on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our
justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead
(Acts 2:18-36; Romans 3:24-25; 1 Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5).
(3) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, and is now exalted at the right
hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative,
Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9-10; Hebrews 9:24; 7:25; Romans 8:34).
(D) The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
(1) We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all
believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption
(John 16:8-11; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 3:6;
Ephesians 1:13-14).
(2) We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and
appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled
with the Spirit (Ephesians 1:17-18; 5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27).
(3) We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowing of spiritual gifts to every believer. God
uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in
order that they can do the work of the ministry (Romans 12:3-8;
1 Corinthians 12:4-11,28; Ephesians 4:7-12).
(4) We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift
of healing were temporary. We believe that speaking in tongues was never the common
or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit and that ultimate deliverance
of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the
resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for
physical healing (1 Corinthians 1:22; 13:8; 14:21-22).
(E) The Total Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the human race fell,
inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and, of himself utterly
unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis 1 :26-27;Romans 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Ephesians 2:1-3; 4:17-19).
(F) Salvation
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of
our sins (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19).
(G) The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believer
(1) We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power and are thus
secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38-39;
1 Corinthians. 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:4-5).
(2) We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their
salvation through the testimony of God's Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use
of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13;
Titus 2:11-15).
(H) The Church
(1) We believe that the local church, which is the body and espoused bride of Christ,
is solely made up of born-again persons (l Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23;
5:25-27).
(2) We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught
and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32;
1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).
(3) We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or
control, including any denomination or association (Acts 13:1-4; Acts 15:19-31;
Acts 20:28; Rom. 16:1, 4; 1 Cor.3:9, 16; 1 Cor. 5:4-7, 13; 1 Pet. 5:1-4).
(4) We recognize water baptism and the Lord's Supper as the Scriptural ordinances of
obedience for the Church (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 18:18; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).
(I) Separation
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Saviour and, that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasure, practices and associations is commanded of God (Rom. 12:1-2; 14:13; 2 Cor 6:14-7:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11).
(J) The Second Advent of Christ
We believe in that "blessed hope," the personal, imminent return of Christ Who will
rapture His Church prior to the seven-year tribulation period. At the end of the Tribulation Christ
will personally and visibly return, with His saints to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom
which was promised to the Nation of Israel (Ps. 89:3-4; Dan. 2:31-42; Zech. 14:4-11;
1 Thes. 1:10; 1 Thes. 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 3:10; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:1-6).
(K) The Eternal State
(1) We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matt. 25:46; John 5:38-29; 11:25-26;
Rev. 20:5-6, 12-13).
(2) We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and
present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when
spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43;
2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thes.4:16-17; Rev. 20:4-6).
(3) We believe that the souls of the unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited
they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake
of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment and
torment (Matt. 25:41-46 Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thes. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7;
Rev. 20:11-15).
(L) The Personality of Satan
We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the Fall of Man;
that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; 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; Rev. 20:10).
(M) Creation
We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject
evolution, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin
(Gen. 1-2; Ex. 20:11).
(N) Civil Government
We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic
institutions:
1) The home
2) The Church
3) The state
Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves)
are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific
Biblical responsibilities and balances those responsibilities with the understanding that no
institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the Church, and the state are
equal and sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God
(Rom. 13:1-7; Eph. 5:22-24, Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 2:13-14).
(0) Human Sexuality
We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged
in outside of marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of incest,
fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God's gift of sex (Gen. 2:24;
19:5, 13; 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; 1 Cor. 5: 1; 6:9; 1 Thes. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4).
(P) Divorce and Remarriage
We believe that God hates divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. Divorce and remarriage is regarded as adultery except on grounds of fornication. Although divorced and remarried persons or divorced persons may hold positions of service in the Church and be greatly used of God for Christian service, they may not be considered for the offices of pastor or deacon (Mal. 2:14-17; Matt. 19:3-12; Rom. 7:1-3; 1Tim. 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6).
(Q) Abortion
We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, and the mental or physical well-being of the mother are acceptable (Job 3:16; Ps 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa 44:24; 49:1-5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44).
(R) Missions
We believe that God has given the Church 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 all
available means to go to the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us (Matt. 28:19-20;
Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:20).
(S) Lawsuits Between Believers
We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the Church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the Church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members. We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian's insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander (1 Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:31 - 32).
(T) Giving/Tithing
We believe that ever Christian, as a steward of that portion of God's wealth entrusted to
him, is obligated to support his local church financially. We believe that God has established
the tithe as a basis for giving but that every Christian should also give other offerings
sacrificially and cheerfully to the support of the Church, the relief of those in need, and the
spread of the Gospel. We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the
tithe or offering once the gift has been made (Gen. 14:20; Prov 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37;
1 Cor. 16:2; 2 Cor.9:6-7; Gal. 6:6; Eph. 4:28; 1 Tim. 5:17-18; 1 John 3:17).