Scripture

We believe  and teach the Bible is verbally inspired, inerrant in its original documents,  infallible and actually breathed out by God Himself through as written by men divinely inspired. The Bible is the record of God's revelation of Himself to man and is the perfect treasure of divine instruction. It is the final authority for the life and practice of all Christians.

Ex. 24:4; Deut. 4:1-2;17:19; Josh 8:34;Psalm 9:7-10;119:11,89,105,140;Isa.34:16;
40:8;Jer.15:16,36;Matt.5:17-18;22:29;Luke 21:33;24:44-46;John 5:39;16:13-15;17:17;  Acts 2:16ff;17:11;Rom.15:4;16:25-26;2 Tim. 3:15-17;Heb. 1:1-2; 4:12;1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21.

The One True Triune God

We believe and teach there is one, and only one, living and true God.  God is infinite in holiness, knowledge, grace and all other perfections. He is the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Supreme Ruler of the universe.  He alone deserves our highest love, reverence, and obedience.  The one eternal God reveals Himself to us in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, yet equal without division of nature, essence, or being.

God the Father

We believe and teach God as Father reigns with sovereign authority and care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of human history, according to the purposes of His sovereign grace.  He is all powerful, all loving, and all wise. 

Gen. 1:1;  2:7; Ex. 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff; 20:1ff; Lev 22:2; Deut.6:4; 32:6; 1 Chron. 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isa 43:3,15; 64:8; Jer 10:10; 17:13; Matt. 6:9ff; 7:11; 23:9;  28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Rom 8:14-15; 1 Cor. 8:6; Gal 4:6; Eph.4:6;Col.1:15;1 Tim 1:17; Heb.11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7.

God the Son

We believe and teach Christ is the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity.  Through Christ, God the Father created all that is. In His incarnation, the Son was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus took upon Himself human nature and identified Himself completely with mankind, yet without sin.  He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross, as our Substitute, He made full atonement for the sins of mankind.  On the third day He raised from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator.  He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission.  He now dwells in each believer as the believer’s very life.

Gen. 18:1ff; Psalm 2:7ff; 110:1ff; Isa.7:14;53;Matt.1:18-23;3:17;8:29;11:27;14:33; 16:16,27;17:5;27;28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1;3:11;Luke 1:35;4:41;22:70;24:46;John 1:1-18,29;10:30,38;11:25-27;12:44-50;14:7-11;16:15-16,28;17:1-5,21-22;20:1-20,28;Acts 1:9;2:22-24;7:55-56;9:4-5,20;Rom.1:3-4; 3:23-26;5:6-21;8:1-3,34;10:4;1 Cor.1:30;
2:2;8:6;15:1-8,24-28;2 Cor5:19-21;Gal 4:4-5;Eph 1:20; 3:11;4:7-10; Phil. 2:5-11; Col. 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thess.4:14-18; 1Tim.2:5-6;3:16;Titus 2:13-14; Heb.1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28;9:12-15,24-28;12:2; 13:8;1 Peter 2:21-25;3:22; 1John 1:7-9;3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9;  2 John 7-9; Rev 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11;13:8;19:16.

God the Holy Spirit

We believe and teach the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, the Third Person of the Trinity.  He indwells every believer from the moment of salvation.  He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures.  Through illumination He enables men to understand truth.  He exalts Christ.  He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.  He calls men to the Savior, enables faith in Christ and effects regeneration.  He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church.  He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption.  His presence in the Christian is the assurance of God to bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ.  He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Gen. 1:2; Judg 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalm 51:11;139:7ff; Isa 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matt 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55;  8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Rom 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Cor 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11; Gal 4:6; Eph 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thess 5:19; 1 Tim 3:16; 4:1; 2 Tim 1:14; 3:16; Heb 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Rev 1:10; 22:17.

Man

We believe and that man (male and female) was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation.  Man was created in holiness, and therefore innocent of sin.  By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race.  Since the fall, all men are born spiritually dead and separated from God. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.  The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore every man possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Gen 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:;6; Psalm 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isa 6:5; Jer 17:5;  Matt 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Rom 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Cor 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22; Eph 2:1-22; Col 1:21-22; 3:9-11.

The Way of Salvation

We believe and teach that the Salvation of sinners is wholly of grace, only through the finished work of Christ Jesus, the Son of God.  Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. 

Gen 3:15; Ex 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matt 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24; 10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Rom 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff; 5:8-10; 6:1-23;  8:1-18,29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1 Cor 1:18,30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Cor.5:17-20;  Gal 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Eph.1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Phil 2:12-13; Col 1:9-22; 3:1ff; 1 Thess 5:23-24; 2 Tim 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Heb.1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1-12:8; 14; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6- 2:11; Rev. 3:20;  21:1 to 22:5.

The Church

We believe and teach that a visible Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a congregation of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His commands, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.  Each local Church is an autonomous body, operating under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  Its only Scriptural officers are Elders and Deacons.  The New Testament speaks also of the invisible Church as the body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages.

Matt 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30;  16:5; 20:28; Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; Eph.1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Phil 1:1; Col 1:18; 1 Tim 3:1-15; 4:14; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Rev.2-3; 21:2-3.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

We believe and teach Christian Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  It is the initial act of public obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in, and identification with, a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with the effect of that faith being the believer's death to sin and resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.  Water baptism is only a symbol of what has already taken place spiritually.

The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the Body of Christ memorialize the substitutionary death of Christ our Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

Matt 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20;  John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Rom. 6:3-5; 1 Cor 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Col 2:12.

 Last Things

We believe that God will bring all things to their end for His glory.
 
A.  We believe and teach that according to His promise, Jesus Christ will return suddenly, personally, and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness.  The unrighteous will be consigned to a literal Hell, the place of everlasting punishment.  The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.

B.  We believe and teach that God’s purpose for the consummation of all things includes the translation of living believers (rapture of the Church), a period of great tribulation, and the subsequent millennial reign of Christ upon the earth.

Isa 2:4; 11:9; Matt 16:27; 18:8-9; 19:28; 24:27,30,36,44; 25:31-46; 26:64; Mark 8:38;  9:43-48; Luke 12:40,48; 16:19-26; 17:22-37; 21:27-28; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 17:31;  Rom 14:10; 1 Cor 4:5; 15:24-28,35-58; 2 Cor 5:10; Phil 3:20-21; Col 1:5; 3:4; 1 Thess 4:14-18; 5:1ff;  2 Thess 1:7ff; 1 Tim 6:14; 2 Tim 4:1,8; Titus 2:13; Heb 9:27-28; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:7ff; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Rev 1:18; 3:11; 20-22:13.