What We Believe

God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit
We believe that God is the eternal and only true and living God.  He is an intelligent, spiritual, personal being and all-powerful Creator of the universe, existing as three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence or being.
 

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit in his incarnation and born of the virgin Mary.  Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead on the third day and he will return in power and glory to judge the world.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine, who inspired the writing of the Holy Scriptures. The Spirit convicts men of sin, enables men to understand truth, calls men to Christ the Savior and seals the believer unto the day of final redemption.  

Man, Salvation and the Scriptures

Man, created male and female, is the special creation of God, made in God’s own image. Man was created without sin but by his free choice sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. All men are born into sin and in need of the saving work of Christ. Since Christ died for man, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Salvation is a gracious gift of God offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by his own blood obtained eternal redemption for all who believe. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

The Bible was written by men divinely inspired by God through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, all Scripture is God-breathed, infallible and without error.  

The Church

The church is a local assembly of baptized believers in Christ Jesus who glorify God by gathering together to worship with one another; by rightly proclaiming and submitting to God’s Word; by faithful administration of the ordinances; and by living gospel-centered lives through the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill the Great Commission. 

The church exists to worship the Lord Jesus Christ and to extend Christ’s love to the world in fulfillment of the Great Commission and by exhibiting love to our surrounding community, state, nation and the world. 

The church achieves this purpose through gospel-centered preaching and teaching, fellowship with one another in genuine Christian community, service to one another and our neighbors, and faithful evangelism. 

Jesus Christ is the head and ultimate authority of the church, which He purchased with His blood. The congregation, via the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in each member, and in submission to Christ’s divine authority, is the ultimate human authority in the church.  

Pastors who serve the congregation are tasked with special responsibilities of teaching, shepherding and leading the church to fulfill its God-given purpose. They are allowed significant influence and authority but the final human authority is vested in the congregation.

Pastors are to be men of integrity who are gifted for the biblical task of teaching God’s Word and leading God’s people. Deacons are to serve the members of the congregation under the direction of the pastor to help accomplish their ministry.

Jesus Christ directly instituted the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, an act of obedience that symbolizes the believer’s faith in Christ, and is a prerequisite for church membership.

The Lord’s Supper is done in memory of the death of Christ and anticipates His second coming and is available to anyone who has trusted in Christ as Lord and Savior.

The Last Things
Physical death is the separation of the body and spirit but is not the end of one’s existence. Death is not extinction, but rather a transition to a different form of existence.    

                                                                                                 

The intermediate state is where an individual’s soul resides between physical death and the bodily resurrection. Upon death, the soul of the believer is delivered immediately into the Lord’s presence, and the soul of the unbeliever is delivered into conscious punishment. 

At the end of time Jesus will resurrect all mankind where the soul and resurrected body will be united.  At the resurrection, the believer’s resurrected body is prepared to live in glory with God forever and the unbeliever’s body is prepared for final judgment and eternal separation from God.

After the resurrection, all mankind will stand before God where their eternal state will be revealed and made public. For the believer, the judgment is a time to look forward in anticipation of vindication and entry into eternal bliss. For the unbeliever, the final judgment is a frightening prospect, for it is here that the unbeliever will be sent away to eternal punishment.

Heaven and hell are real places that will last for eternity. Believers will live for eternity in heaven, where they will be in the presence of God. Unbelievers will spend eternity in hell, eternally separated from the presence of God.

At the end of this present age, Jesus Christ will return to rule and reign upon the earth for one-thousand years. At his return, Satan will be bound and the dead in Christ Jesus will be resurrected to rule and reign alongside Christ for the millennium. At the end of this era, Satan will be released, which leads to one final rebellion which will quickly be defeated, leading to the general resurrection, the great judgment and the inauguration of the eternal state.