Statement of Faith
The Bible
We believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God, written by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. The Old Testament and New Testament combine to be the finished inspired work and Word of God, lacking nothing and without error in their original manuscripts. The Bible is the foundation upon which the church operates and is governed. The Word of God is fully authoritative and is to be submitted to in all areas of life. The Bible is the living, breathing Word of God.
The Trinity
We believe there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit equal in power, authority and glory: this triune God created all, sustains all, governs all and upholds all according to the purpose of His perfect will. The three persons of the Trinity execute distinctly but harmoniously in the work of creation, salvation, providence and all of history.
God the Father
We believe in God the Father, who is essentially everlasting, infinite, Holy, Sovereign, love, wise, relational, infallible, unchanging, pure, dynamic, mercy, grace and abounding in foreknowledge of all future decisions and events. He is sufficient in Himself, not needing assistance from any creature He created. He draws men to Himself, forgiving sins and removing them from death through the finished work of His Son Jesus on the cross. He is a relational God answering the prayers of His people through His providence and in His perfect timing according to His perfect and pleasing will. God created all things and sustains all life and governing authorities according to His wisdom, providence and foreknowledge of all creation. He will sustain and carry out all things in their proper time so that they may be complete in His Son Jesus Christ, revealing Him as the supreme Lord and Savior of this world through the power of His blood, resurrection and perfect love.
God the Son
We believe in Jesus Christ, Gods one and only Son, who is the very image of the invisible God and firstborn over all creation. He made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a perfect sinless life, performed many miracles and taught the words of eternal life. He offered Himself up as the penal substitutionary atoning sacrifice for sinners as The Way to eternal life. He was physically crucified, suffered, beaten, bled died and was buried. He was completely dead for three days, but on the third day rose again, conquering death, defeating the grave and claiming victory over Satan and all of sin. He appeared to His disciples and as many as 500 people at one time in His resurrected body. He later ascended into Heaven where He sits at the right hand of God the Father, interceding for all the saints. Salvation is found only in the blood, resurrection and person of Jesus Christ. There are no other ways to Heaven except through Jesus and His finished work on the cross. He is the only way to the throne of grace where sins may be pardoned. He stands in Victory waiting for the Day that His Father will send Him personally back to earth for the final resurrection of His people and to judge His creation to fulfill His promise and final portion of History. Every angel and creature under Heaven is under His authority, and one Day every knee will bow, and tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father.
God the Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit, eternally one with God the Father and God the Son, who convicts and convinces the world of sin. The Holy Spirit is the agent that draws men into the recognition of their need for a Savior, and baptizes them with Himself upon Salvation and new life in Jesus Christ. He is our helper and comforter, calling, sanctifying, guiding, teaching, directing, and equipping all the saints for a life of godliness. The Holy Spirit protects His children from the sins that so easily entangle and spiritual defeat while running the race of faith. Through His power He illuminates the Word of God in the hearts and minds of men enabling them to understand and apply the Word of Truth. It is through His power that the believer is able to live in union with God the Son and God the Father. The Holy Spirit serves as our comforter, convictor and teacher.
Creation
We believe that God is the Creator and sustainer of all creation, heaven, earth and all basic life forms. In six days God created all things out of nothing as taught in the book of Genesis and called it good, finding it complete. All things created whether visible or invisible are a manifestation of the glory of God. We believe that God created man and woman uniquely to complete each other. God instituted monogamous marriage between male and female as the foundation and basic structure for all of human society. We believe that marriage is a God ordained covenant between one man and one woman for a lifetime, sanctioned by the church and recognized by the state as evidenced by the marriage ceremony.
Humanity
We believe from the beginning of time Adam and Eve were commanded not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and while they obeyed were given free reign to enjoy communion with God and have authority over all creation. However, Adam and Eve being tempted and subdued by Satan himself, forfeited their communion with God for fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Due to this decision they incurred not only physical death, but spiritual death and separation from God for themselves and all of creation to follow. God being a God of love permitted this sin to happen, knowing ultimately He would one day again showcase His grace and mercy. Through the curse of sin Adam and Eve became wholly corrupted and unable to commune with God eternally separated from the God who created them. This curse carried through all generations placing on mankind the fear of death, guilt, sin, evil and a total corrupted flesh, soul and spirit separated from God. Due to this corruption we are totally separated, disabled and complete opposite of good, searching for truth as eternity has been placed in the hearts of all men. Upon justification in Christ, we are still inherently evil and sinful in this lifetime, but continually being sanctified and renewed until our glorification in Heaven with God the Father.
Salvation
We believe that Salvation comes only through the finished work of Jesus Christ. He is our redemption and promise of eternal life. Without the finished work of Jesus we are still dead in our sins and completely separated from God the Father. There is no other name under Heaven by which men must be saved. We believe that Salvation only comes through the sacrifice of blood from a perfect lamb without defect. Jesus was the perfect Lamb of God sacrificed for the sins of the entire world. Salvation is the complete work of God in His people. It is through the blood of Jesus and the working of the Holy Spirit that God justifies, sanctifies and glorifies sinners into the image of Himself. Salvation is the greatest gift of love ever given and showcases the grace and mercy of a Holy and powerful God. We believe that those who are redeemed cannot lose their salvation but will remain in Him, due to the sealing power of Jesus. They may fall into sin through neglect, spiritual weakness and temptation whereby they grieve the Holy Spirit, degrade theirs graces and joys, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves. Even so, they will be upheld by the mighty hand of the God, who sealed them with His approval upon salvation, sanctified by His Spirit, and will never fall fully and completely away, because God by His grace preserves them. The intercession of Christ for those God has called and saved is efficacious unto eternity.
Spiritual Gifts
We believe that God empowers His children with spiritual gifts that are entrusted to them for the benefit of His church and glorification of Himself. These gifts are designed to enhance the ministry and worship to build up the body of Jesus Christ. No gift is greater than the other but all useful for lifting up the name of Jesus. The spiritual gifts dispensed to the prophets and apostles of the early church are still active today. The use of spiritual gift is solely for the edification and building up of the body of Christ. All the spiritual gifts God entrusts to His people are to display His glory, His name and His renown to the nations for the work of His mission established in His Word through the timeless message of the Bible.
The Church
We believe the church consists of all who have turned from sin and trusted in the name of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This includes all the redeemed of the ages, believers from every tribe, tongue and nation. Jesus is the center of His church, He is the Chief Cornerstone upon which all else is built. The purpose of the church is to worship and glorify Jesus as King, while enabling and equipping His body of believers to go into all the nations and make disciples. God ordained the church to share the life-changing message of the gospel with a lost and dying world in order that they may find freedom and life in Him. It is also the job of the church to mentor, disciple and help the body of believers grow, mature and develop in the calling and gifting that God has specifically instilled in them for the furthering of the gospel and glory of His name.
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
We believe that Christian baptism is an outward expression of the heart and new life in Christ. It is a total immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This symbolizes that they believe in the finished work of Jesus and have died to their old self with Him, but have been risen to life and washed clean through the saving and redemptive power of Jesus Christ. We believe baptism can only take place in those old enough to have made a personal decision to follow Christ as their Savior. We believe the Lord’s Supper is and act of worship and obedience whereby the believer remembers the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, as well as anticipating His second coming. The bread represents Jesus body being broken for us, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood being spilled on our behalf. We believe the Lord’s Supper is sacred and only offered to those who have called on Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. The Bible says to take this without salvation in Christ is to bring judgment upon yourself. Evangelism and Missions We believe the call of every believer in Christ is to use the gifts and talents He has given them to share the love of Jesus taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. We are passionate about evangelism and will pursue lost souls with all our strength for as long as we are able. Jesus died for His church and the people He longs to save, and we take this calling very seriously. How will they know unless they are told? Evangelism is not an option, it is a command for anyone that claims to love and follow Jesus.
Heaven and Hell
We believe that Heaven is a real place in which the glory of God dwells in His fullest and prepared for every soul that chooses to receive the full gift of God. We also believe that Hell is a real place of eternal suffering and the absence of God’s love prepared for those not written in the Lambs book of life. There is no intermediate state in which those unsaved by the blood of Jesus can have their sins atoned for.
Revelation
We believe in the final return of Jesus Christ in which He will split the skies like a scroll and call His children home to the Kingdom He has prepared for them. He will also righteously judge those who are not in Him. He will come with power and might causing all creation to fall in worship as every tongue confesses and every knee bows to the glory of God the Father.
Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality
We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. (Gen 1:26-27.) Rejection of one’s biological sex, and attempts to physically change, alter, or disagree with their predominant biological sex (including but not limited to elective sex reassignment, transvestite, transgender, or non-binary "gender-queer" acts or conduct) is a rejection of the image of God within that person.
We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. (Gen 2:18-25.) We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. (1 Cor 6:18; 7:2-5; Heb 13:4.), Our leaders and/or volunteers will not officiate any wedding of same-sex couples, or transvestite or transgender individuals.
We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.
We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God. (Matt 15:18-20; 1 Cor 6:9-10.)
We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of our church and ministry center as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to our members and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by this Statement on Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality. (Matt 5:16; Phil 2:14-16; 1 Thess 5:22.)
We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (Acts 3:19-21; Rom 10:9-10; 1 Cor 6:9-11.)
We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31.) Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor our statement of faith.
All those employed (paid employees or volunteers), Overseers, Elders, Ministry or Group Leaders, and General Leadership members must affirm and adhere to this Stand on Marriage, Gender and Sexuality.