OUR STATEMENT OF FAITH

THE BIBLE
We believe The Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, is the authoritative Word of God. It alone is the final authority for determining all doctrinal truths.

(Proverbs 30:5; Romans 16:25-26; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

THE TRINITY 
We believe there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit. These three are coequal and coeternal.

(Genesis 1:26; Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19; Luke 1:35; Hebrews 3:7-11; I John 5:7)

JESUS CHRIST 
We believe Jesus Christ is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. On earth, Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed miracles, died on the cross for humanity and thus, atoned for our sins through the shedding of His blood. He rose from the dead on the third day according to scriptures, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return again in power and glory.

(Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1,14, 20:28; Philippians 2:5-6; 1 Timothy 2:5, 3:16)

VIRGIN BIRTH 
We believe Jesus Christ, the son of God, was conceived by the virgin Mary, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

(Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18, 23-25; Luke 1:27-35)

RESURRECTION 
We believe Jesus Christ was physically resurrected from the dead in a glorified body three days after His death on the cross and ascended into heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father.

(Luke 24:16, 36, 39; John 2:19-21, 20:26-28, 21:4; Romans 8:34, Colossians 3:1)

REDEMPTION 
We believe man was created in the image of God for the purpose of representing His rule throughout all the earth. Through voluntary disobedience man sinned and fell. Consequently, all of humanity shares in man’s lost and sinful nature, and humanity’s only hope for redemption is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

(Genesis 1:26-31, 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-21)

REGENERATION 
For anyone to know God, regeneration (experiencing new life within) by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.

(John 6:44, 65)

SALVATION 
We believe man is saved by grace alone, through personal faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is a gift from God, not a result of our good works or of any human effort. Through repentance of our sins, we receive forgiveness of our sins. Repentance is the commitment to turn away from sin in every area of our lives and to live a life of complete loyalty to Jesus Christ, our King.

(Romans 10:9-10; Acts 3:19, 16:31; Galatians 2:16, 3:8; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 9:22)

SANCTIFICATION 
We believe in sanctification, the on-going process of yielding to God’s Word and the Holy Spirit in order to develop a mature Christ-like character. It is through the present ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.

(Romans 8:29, 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 3:18, 6:14-18; 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3; Hebrews 2:11)

JESUS’ BLOOD 
Jesus Christ lived a perfectly sinless life and shed his blood for us on the cross of Calvary. His perfect sacrifice is 100% sufficient to cleanse mankind of all sin. Jesus allowed Himself to be punished for both our sinfulness and sins, enabling all those who believe to be free from the penalty of sin, which is death.

(1 John 1:7; Revelation 1:5, 5:9; Colossians 1:20; Romans 3:10-12, 23, 5:9; John 1:29)

JESUS CHRIST DWELLS IN ALL BELIEVERS 
Christians are people who have invited the Lord Jesus Christ to come and live inside of them by His Holy Spirit. They relinquish the authority of their lives over to Him, thus making Jesus the Lord of their lives by putting faith in what he accomplished for them when He died, was buried, and rose again from the dead.

(John 1:12, 14:17, 15:4; Romans 8:11; Revelation 3:20)

BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT 
We believe the baptism in the Holy Spirit, given at Pentecost, is the promise of the Father for all believers as a definite endowment of power for service and can occur at the point of salvation or subsequent to salvation.

(Joel 2:28-29; Matthew 3:11; Mark 16:17; Acts 1:5, 2:1-4, 17, 38-39, 8:14-17, 10:38, 44-47, 11:15-17, 19:1-6)

GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe the Holy Spirit is displayed through a variety of spiritual gifts to build and sanctify the Church, demonstrate the validity of the resurrection, confirm the power of the Gospel and to serve the world. The lists of these gifts in the Bible are not necessarily exhaustive and may occur in various combinations. These gifts always operate in harmony with the Word of God and should never be used in violation of Biblical parameters. Every believer should eagerly desire spiritual gifts and develop these gifts to promote the gospel in their everyday lives.

(Romans 1-11, 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, 14:1-40; Ephesians 4:16; 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:5-16; Hebrews 2:4; 1 Peter 4:10)

THE CHURCH 
Every person who is born of the Spirit is part of the universal church as a member of the body of believers and is encouraged by scripture to be planted in the local church. The Church is both the representative of Jesus on earth and the earthly expression of His kingdom. The purpose of the Church is to carry out the

GREAT COMMISSION

(Psalm 92:12-15; Ephesians 1:22, 2:19-22; Hebrews 12:23; John 17:11, 20-23)

PRIESTHOOD OF THE BELIEVER

We believe that every believer is a priest (minister) and is anointed by the Holy Spirit to fulfill his or her assignment(s) in their homes, workplaces, and community.

(1 Peter 2:9, Matt. 28:18-20)

TWO SACRAMENTS 
We believe that the ordinances of the Church, by the command of Jesus Christ, are water baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper, both of which are administered to those who are born again.

WATER BAPTISM
Following faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the new convert is commanded by the Word of God to be baptized in water in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and in Jesus’ name. Water Baptism publically demonstrates our loyalty to Jesus.  We renounce Satan and the forces of darkness and declare our allegiance to Jesus as the Lord of our lives.

COMMUNION
A unique time when the body of Christ gathers together in the presence of God to partake of the elements of bread and grape juice (representing the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ). These are taken in remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross in which fulfilled God the Father’s requirement of just punishment for our sins so that we can be in covenant relationship with Him. As we partake of the elements together, we remember the New Covenant and renew our devotion to Jesus.

(Matthew 26:26-29, 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38, 8:12, 36-38, 10:47-48; 1 Corinthians 10:16, 11:23-26)

MARRIAGE AND SEXUALITY
The testimony of the God-breathed Holy Scriptures is that the marriage covenant shall be reserved only for one man with one woman.

(Matthew 19:4-6, 1 Corinthians 6:18, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, Romans 1:26-27, Deuteronomy 23:1)

HEAVEN AND HELL 
Heaven is the place where God dwells; a place which will be reunited with a new earth at the end of the age. The new heavens and the new earth are the eternal dwelling place for all believers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ where we will fulfill or original purpose of ruling and reigning over God’s creation with Him and our Lord, Jesus Christ. Unbelievers will be judged by God after the end of their lives on earth and will be sent to Hell where they will be eternally with the Devil and the Fallen Angels. Heaven and Hell are places of eternal existence.

(Matthew 5:3,12,20, 6:20, 19:21, 25:34, 25:41; Mark 9:43-48; John 5:11-13, 17:24; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Hebrews 9:27, 11:16; 1 Peter 1:4; Revelation 14:9-11, 20:12-15, 21:8)

SECOND COMING
We believe Jesus Christ will physically, visibly, and gloriously return to earth for the second time to establish His kingdom. This will occur at an undisclosed date. (Matthew 24:30, 26:63-64; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8; Revelation 1:7)