What We Believe...
We hold to the ancient creeds of the early Church -- the Apostle's Creed, the Nicene Creed and Athanasian Creed -- thus identifying with the historic Church of Jesus Christ.
Below, we expound on what we believe the Bible teaches and how it brings clarity to current cultural issues.
GOD
There is only one, eternal God, Creator and Lord of the universe who exists in three persons. In the unity of the Father, the Son [Jesus Christ] and the Holy Spirit, God both governs all things according to His will and fulfills His purposes in all creation.
HOLY SCRIPTURE
The Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, are inspired by God’s Spirit, recorded through human authors and constitutes the revelation of God’s Truth to humanity. It is wholly true and trustworthy in all that it affirms. Whatever the Bible is found to teach, we are bound to believe and obey. It is our ultimate authority in every matter of belief and conduct.
HUMANITY
All human beings are created in God’s own likeness, to have personal relationship with God and to be His image in the world. Therefore, humanity has inherent dignity and value before God, from the moment of conception, regardless of ethnicity or gender. Sin has brought brokenness to humanity and all creation, rendering humanity subject to God’s righteous judgement and resulting in humanity’s alienation from God’s life, suppression of God’s truth and hostility to God’s ways. Yet, it is God’s great desire to rescue, redeem and restore humanity to their original purpose and design.
JESUS CHRIST & SALVATION
The rescue of humanity from the penalty, power and presence of sin, and all its consequences, has been achieved solely through the work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God – in his perfect obedience, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection and ascension as Lord. Jesus Christ alone is truly God and truly human, the only mediator between God and humanity. To be justified before God and reconciled to God only occurs by God’s grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The work of the Holy Spirit is necessary for the individual’s regeneration (i.e. new birth) and growth to maturity. The Holy Spirit points humanity to Jesus, brings conviction and guidance into God’s truth, and both empowers and indwells the church. We expect the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in all His fruit, shaping our character, and in all His spiritual gifts, empowering our ministry.
THE CHURCH
There is one, holy, universal and apostolic church, which is the body of Jesus Christ, and to which all true believers in and followers of Jesus Christ, our Lord, belong. The Church exists to worship God and serve His kingdom purposes in the world. Just as the Father sent Jesus into the world, so the Lord Jesus Christ sends His church to participate in God’s mission by words and works. According to the Scriptures this mission includes: making Jesus known, proclaiming His gospel message, making disciples, and continuing His works which includes caring for the poor, loving our neighbors and ministering salvation, healing and deliverance.
THE SACRAMENTS
We believe the Church is to administer the sacraments instituted by Jesus Christ in the Gospel accounts of His life and ministry. We believe that water baptism and the Lord’s Supper (i.e. Communion or the Eucharist) are to be observed until the time of Christ’s return. They are not a means of salvation but are sacramental channels of God’s sanctifying and empowering grace and blessing to the faithful followers of Jesus Christ.
MARRIAGE & FAMILY LIFE
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. The family is designed to be a picture on the earth of God’s fellowship with Humanity and a channel of blessing and flourishing for human life. Humanity finds its true significance, fulfillment and satisfaction in personal fellowship with God, according to His design, and in the families (both natural and spiritual) in which He places us.
Humanity is conceived in only two genders, male and female. Marriage is the union between one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. Love, respect, faithfulness, mutual submission and a priority of serving each other should characterize a marriage relationship. Sex is God’s gift to mankind for bonding, enjoyment and procreation, to be shared only between a man and woman within the covenant of Biblical marriage. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to love, nurture, discipline, provide for and protect their children; teaching them the ways of God and demonstrating His pattern for life. Children should obey and honor their parents.
LAST THINGS
As the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to His Father, so He will return personally, visibly (i.e. bodily) and in glory. He will raise the dead and bring salvation and judgement to final completion. Concerning the resurrection of the dead and the final judgement, those who trust their lives to Jesus and follow Him will be resurrected to eternal life and those who have rejected Jesus, going their own way, to eternal death and separation from God. God will then fulfill His Kingdom in the new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells and He will be worshipped and enjoyed forever.