OUR BELIEFS
Jesus is the head of our church, and His Word is the standard for how we live — as individuals and as God’s family — for the glory of God. Below are brief statements for each of the essential Christian beliefs that we hold as a church and that are foundational to following Jesus in loving, faith-filled obedience.
We believe in missions. We believe God is a missionary God. We believe the Bible is a missionary book. We believe our primary efforts must be missionary, church planting, and evangelistic efforts! |
We believe all 66 books of the Bible originated from God. He revealed His words to mankind through human authors, using their unique personalities to express exactly what He desired to tell mankind. As a result, the Bible is God’s absolute, timeless truth about who God is and how we ought to view and live life. There are no other words or writings inspired by God in this way.
We believe there is only one living and true God, who has always existed as the just and loving Creator, Sustainer and Ruler over all that exists. He has the power and authority to accomplish His purposes and will. He is one God who exists as three distinct persons, Father, Jesus the Son, and Holy Spirit, functioning relationally in absolute oneness, humility, and harmony.
| As the just and loving Creator, one of God’s designs was to have a personal relationship with the people He created. Unfortunately, at the beginning of human history, mankind chose to rebel against God and His design for a personal relationship. This “sin” has caused all mankind to experience the “fall”…the natural consequences of living life independently and separated from God. |
| God knew that because of mankind’s rebellion, mankind on his own could never earn the right or rescue himself from the certain judgment of being separated from a relationship with Him forever. But God, because of His great love for mankind, made it possible for a personal relationship to be restored while at the same time meeting the just penalty each person owed for their rebellion. |
| Jesus Christ as God came to live among mankind. He was miraculously born through the Virgin Mary. He is fully God and fully human. He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father. Jesus voluntarily died on the cross to pay the penalty all men owe for their sin…death, even though He had no personal sin to die for Himself. Jesus was mankind’s sacrificial substitute, paying the penalty for our sin. Therefore, God can and does offer complete forgiveness to all who trust Jesus as God’s loving provision for the penalty of their sin. |
| After Jesus’ death, He physically rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven to rule with God the Father. As a result of what He accomplished and who He is, Jesus is the only One through whom mankind has direct access to God. All creation eagerly anticipates Jesus’ promised return to earth where He will rule with justice and compassion and restore peace to all His creation. (click here to learn more) |
God works through the Holy Spirit to limit the power of evil in the world and to help all people realize inwardly their need for the forgiveness and new life that Jesus has made possible. The Holy Spirit comes to personally reside within every believer at the moment they put their trust in Jesus. The Holy Spirit gives each believer abilities (gifts) to help them accomplish His purpose through them in the church and in the world. The Holy Spirit makes the Bible more understandable and applicable to the life of the believer. Under the guiding influence of the Holy Spirit, a believer progressively learns to trust God with more and more of their life. Their perspectives, character, and choices will increasingly be like those of Jesus. God uses many varied means, including suffering, to accomplish this progressive life-change in a believer’s life.
All humans begin life at conception but will live from that point onward eternally. Believers, at death, will be received into the presence of God to live out that perfect relationship with God they were designed to enjoy. All who have rejected God, by rejecting His provision for their sin through Jesus, will suffer eternal separation from God in hell and the life He designed for them originally.
| By putting their trust in Jesus, all Christians become members of His earthly family, the Church. The Bible tells all believers, as part of His church, to come together in local groups (congregations)… |
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| We believe the Bible is the source of ultimate truth and the final authority in all matters that pertain to what Christians should believe and how they should live. In matters where the Bible is silent or not specific, Christians should seek timeless principles found in the Bible for their guidance, resisting the temptation to make the Bible say what they want it to say. |