What We Believe

Statement of Faith

  • WE BELIEVE that there is one living and true GOD, eternally existing in three persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory, that this triune God created all, upholds all, and governs all.

  • WE BELIEVE that the SCRIPTURES of the Old and New Testament are the Word of God, fully inspired without error in the original manuscripts, and the infallible rule of faith and practice.

  • WE BELIEVE in GOD THE FATHER, an infinite, personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love; that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men; that He hears and answers prayer; and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.

  • WE BELIEVE in JESUS CHRIST, God’s only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles and teachings, His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, His personal, visible return to earth, and His name as the only name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

  • WE BELIEVE in the HOLY SPIRIT, Who came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify and empower for ministry all who believe in Christ; we believe the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ and that He is an abiding Helper, Teacher and Guide. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit and in the exercise of the Biblical gifts of the Spirit.

  • WE BELIEVE that all PEOPLE are sinners by nature and choice and, therefore, are under condemnation; that God regenerates by the Holy Spirit, those who repent of their sins and confess Jesus Christ as Lord.

  • WE BELIEVE in the universal CHURCH, the living spiritual body, of which Christ is the Head and all regenerated persons are members.

  • WE BELIEVE that the Lord Jesus Christ committed two ORDINANCES to the Church: 1) baptism, and 2) the Lord’s Supper. We believe in baptism by immersion and communion open to all believers.

  • WE BELIEVE in the personal, visible RETURN OF CHRIST to earth and the establishment of His Kingdom, in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment and eternal blessing of the righteous and endless suffering of the wicked.

Distinctives

One of the mistaken concepts many have is that all Christians and churches should be identical. They assume that “unity” is equivalent to “sameness.” But the Apostle Paul points out that differences do and will exist between churches and individuals in Christ: “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.” (1 Cor. 12:4-6)

We are called to unity in faith and doctrine, and there should be no tolerance for false, heretical doctrine. But on issues of style and practice, there should be tolerance. These are the areas of personal preference that should be respected. We refer to these as “distinctives.” They represent diversity within the greater Christian unity. The following is a short list of our distinctives.

  • We believe… in the Expository Teaching of the whole Word of God. Therefore our worship services are structured around verse-by-verse teaching of the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

  • We believe… the Book of Acts represents “normal” Christianity. Therefore we seek to pattern our lives and ministry after that modeled by the early church, as revealed in the book of Acts.

  • Our Missions & Means: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

  • Our Life-style: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship (‘koinonia’), to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42)

  • Our Growth: “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47)

  • We believe… in Elder/Pastoral Leadership as the truest Biblical pattern for church government. Therefore, the Elder Board and the leadership of the Senior Pastor are primarily responsible for direction and decision making.

  • We believe… that the Worship of God should be…Spiritual: We remain flexible and yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct our worship; Inspirational: We give a great place to music in our worship; Intelligent: Our services are designed with great emphasis upon teaching the Word of God that He might instruct us how He should be worshipped; Fruitful: We look for His love in our lives as the supreme manifestation that we have truly been worshipping Him.

  • We believe… in Balance regarding the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we consider ourselves to be neither charismatic nor non-charismatic. We believe that all the gifts of the Spirit are available and operational within the church, but should only be publicly exercised under the guidelines found in 1 Corinthians 12-14, and by permission of the pastoral leadership.

  • We believe… that our ministry should be Simple & Sincere. Therefore we seek to imitate the testimony of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians: “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have behaved in the world, and more abundantly toward you.” (2 Corinthians 1:12) Therefore our services are conducted in a relaxed, comfortable and normal style. Human efforts to coerce or manipulate a response are contrary to the gentle and personal nature of the true ministry of the Holy Spirit. We desire to function in continued dependency upon God; living in obedience to His will while seeking the corresponding supernatural work of His Spirit.

  • We believe… we are only one member of the Body of Christ. Therefore we can rightly be classified as nondenominational. “Denominationalism” is an attempt to draw a line of exclusivity around Christ. No such line can honestly be drawn. We have our distinctive (as the hand is distinct from the foot). And we have our role that may differ from other parts of the body. But we are still only a part.

  • We believe… in both the sovereignty of God and mankind’s free will/choice! Therefore we resist the extreme positions of hyper-Calvinism and/or hyper-Armenianism. We feel that both try to force a conclusion that disregards a biblical balance. The believer in Christ is both secure in his faith and responsible to live a life of faith.

  • We believe… in the Imminent Return of Jesus Christ. Therefore doctrinally, we are Pre-Tribulation/Pre-Millennial in our interpretation of the Last Day’s prophecy. Consistent with this position, we believe there is no sign or condition that must be fulfilled before Christ’s imminent, visible, bodily return.

We believe… that Healthy Sheep Beget Healthy Sheep. In keeping with this purpose, we seek to win the lost, disciple the saved and encourage the faithful. We believe that if we take care of our “depth,” God will take care of the “breadth.” The purpose of the church is not numerical growth, but spiritual growth. The only strategy we have for our ministry is to “feed the flock of God” (John 21:12; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2).