What We Believe
As Christians, we affirm our faith in the fundamental doctrines of the Bible, stated as follows:
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We believe in one God (Deut 6:4), eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (2 Cor 13:14).
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We believe in the Deity and eternal existence of Jesus Christ (John 1:1), God’s only begotten Son (John 3:16) and in His virgin birth (Matt 1:23), sinless life (2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 2:22), miraculous works, atoning death (Rom 3:25), bodily resurrection (1 Cor 15), ascension into heaven (Acts 1:9; Eph 4:8-10), intercessory ministry (Heb 7:25) and personal imminent return (1 Thess 4:16).
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We believe in the personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4) who makes men aware of the evil of sin (John 16:8-11) and regenerates (Titus 3:3-5; John 3:5) and indwells (1 Cor 3:16) those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He empowers, gifts, guides, teaches, fills, sanctifies and produces the fruit of Christ-likeness in all who yield to Him (Acts 1:8; John 14,15,16; Gal 5:22-23).
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We believe the Bible is God’s Word given by divine inspiration (2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pet 1:20-21), the record of God’s revelation of Himself to humanity (Rom 16:25-26). It is trustworthy, sufficient, without error-the supreme authority and guide for all doctrine and conduct (2 Tim 3:16-1 7).
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We believe God created man in His own image (Gen 1:26-27) to have fellowship with Himself (Psalms 139; 1 John 1:3) and to be stewards over His creation (Gen 1:28; 2:15). Man sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death which is separation from God (Rom 3:23; Rom 6:23). All men are born with a sinful nature (Rom 5:12-14) and are personally responsible to God for their thoughts, actions, and beliefs (Matt 12:36; Rom 14:12; Heb 4:13; 1 Pet 4:5).
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We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins (John 3:16) and that salvation is redemption by Christ (Eph 1:7-14) of the whole person (Rom 8:23) from sin and death unto eternal life (Rom 6:22-23). Salvation is offered as a free gift by God to all (Eph 2:8-9) but must be received personally through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ (Rom 10:9; John 3; John 14:6). Every believer has the right to approach God directly through Jesus Christ, the only mediator (Heb 4:14-16; 1 Tim 2:5).
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We believe the Church is the body of which Christ is the head (Eph 5:22) and all who believe in Him are a part of that body (Eph 4:15-16; 1 Cor 1:1-2; 12:27). We practice the ordinances of the Church, which are believer’s baptism by immersion (Rom 6:4; Mark 1:9-10) and the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11; Matt 26:26-30).
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Our church is a self-governing body (Acts 6; Acts 15:22) and the form of government is congregational, with all members sharing responsibility (Rom 12; Acts 15; I Cor 12; Eph 4:11-12). The body selects leadership and then delegates authority to them to oversee the spiritual and other affairs of the church (Acts 6; Acts 15).
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We believe religious liberty, based on scripture, is the God-given right of all individuals with ultimate accountability to God (Rom 14:5-1 0).
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We believe church and state exist by the will of God, but each should be free from control by the other (Rom 13:1-7; Matt 22:21).
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We believe that Jesus Christ will return to earth according to His promise (Rev 19:11; 1 Thess 4:16- 17). The dead will be raised (1 Thess 4:15-16) and Christ will judge mankind (1 Tim 4:1; Rev 20:12). The unrighteous will be condemned to everlasting punishment (Matt 25:31-46; Rev 20:15) the righteous will receive their reward (Col 3:23-24; Rev 22:12) and dwell forever with the Lord (1 Thess 4:17).