Our desire is to know Jesus Christ and be
conformed to His image by the power of the Holy Spirit. We hold that
those upon whom has been bestowed the unmerited grace and love of God, "
For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life".
John 3:16, are called to love our neighbors as we were loved and
unselfishly preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the World.
We affirm and believe that:
The Bible,
including the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New
Testament, is the written Word of God. The Bible is the only essential
and infallible record of God's self-disclosure. It leads us to salvation
through faith in Jesus Christ. Being given by God the Scriptures are
both fully and verbally inspired by God. Therefore, as originally given,
the Bible is free of error in all it teaches. Each book is to be
interpreted according to its context and purpose and in reverent
obedience to the Lord who speaks through it in living power. All
believers are exhorted to study the Scriptures and diligently apply them
to their lives. The Scriptures are the authoritative and normative rule
and guide of all Christian life, practice, and doctrine. They are
totally sufficient and must not be added to, superseded, or changed by
later tradition, extra-biblical revelation, or worldly wisdom. Every
doctrinal formulation, whether of creed, confession, or theology must be
put to the test of the full counsel of God in Holy Scripture.
There is one God
who is infinite, eternal, almighty, and perfect in holiness, truth, and
love. In the unity of the godhead there are three persons, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, co-existent, co-equal, co-eternal. The Father is not
the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit, yet each is truly Deity. One
God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - is the foundation of Christian
faith and life.
God the Father is
the Creator of heaven and earth. By his word and for his glory, he
freely and supernaturally created the world of nothing. Through the same
Word he daily sustains all his creatures. He rules over all and is the
only Sovereign. His plans and purposes cannot be thwarted. He is
faithful to every promise, works all things together for good to those
who love him, and in his unfathomable grace gave his Son Jesus Christ
for mankind's redemption. He made man for fellowship with himself, and
intended that all creation should live to the praise of his glory.
Jesus Christ, the
only begotten Son of God, was the eternal Word made flesh,
supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He
was perfect in nature, teaching and obedience. He is fully God and
fully man. He was always with God and is God. Through him all things
came into being and were created. He was before all things and in him
all things hold together by the word of his power. He is the image of
the invisible God, the first-born of all creation and in him dwells the
fullness of the godhead bodily. He is the only Savior for the sins of
the world, having shed his blood and died a vicarious death on Calvary's
cross. By his death in our place, he revealed the divine love and
upheld divine justice, removing our guilt and reconciling us to God.
Having redeemed us from sin, the third day he rose bodily from the
grave, victorious over death and the powers of darkness and for a period
of forty days appeared to over five hundred witnesses, performing many
convincing proofs of his resurrection. He ascended into heaven where, at
God's right hand, he intercedes for his people and rules as Lord over
all. He is the Head of his body, the Church, and should be adored,
loved, served, and obeyed by all.
The Holy Spirit,
the Lord and Giver of life, convicts the world of sin, righteousness and
judgment. Through the proclamation of the gospel he persuades men to
repent of their sins and confess Jesus as Lord. By the same Spirit a
person is led to trust in divine mercy. The Holy Spirit unites believers
to Jesus Christ in faith, brings about the new birth, and dwells within
the regenerate. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify the Son who in turn
came to glorify the Father. He will lead the Church into a right
understanding and rich application of the truth of God’s Word. He is to
be respected, honored, and worshipped as God the Third Person of the
Trinity.
God made man -
male and female - in his own image, as the crown of creation, that man
might have fellowship with him. Tempted by Satan, man rebelled against
God. Being estranged from his Maker, yet responsible to him, he became
subject to divine wrath, inwardly depraved and, apart from a special
work of grace, utterly incapable of returning to God. This depravity is
radical and pervasive. It extends to his mind, will and affections.
Unregenerate man lives under the dominion of sin and Satan. He is at
enmity with God, hostile toward God, and hateful of God. Fallen, sinful
people, whatever their character or attainments, are lost and without
hope apart from salvation in Christ.
Jesus Christ is
the gospel. The good news is revealed in his birth, life, death,
resurrection and ascension. Christ's crucifixion is the heart of the
gospel, his resurrection is the power of the gospel, and his ascension
is the glory of the gospel. Christ’s death is a substitutionary and
propitiatory sacrifice to God for our sins. It satisfies the demands of
God’s holy justice and appeases his holy wrath. It also demonstrates his
mysterious love and reveals his amazing grace. Jesus Christ is the only
mediator between God and man. There is no other name by which men must
be saved. At the heart of all sound doctrine is the cross of Jesus
Christ and the infinite privilege that redeemed sinners have of
glorifying God because of what he has accomplished. Therefore, we want
all that takes place in our hearts, churches and ministries to proceed
from and be related to the cross.
Man’s response to
the gospel is rooted and grounded in the free and unconditional
election of God for his own pleasure and glory. It is also true that the
message of the gospel is only effectual to those who genuinely repent
of their sins and, by God's grace, put saving faith in Christ. This
gospel of grace is to be sincerely preached to all men in all nations.
Biblical repentance is characterized by a changed life, and saving faith
is evidenced by kingdom service or works. While neither repentance nor
works save, unless a person is willing to deny himself, pick up his
cross, and follow Christ, he cannot become his disciple.
Salvation, the
free gift of God, is provided by grace alone, through faith alone,
because of Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. Anyone turning from
sin in repentance and looking to Christ and his substitutionary death
receives the gift of eternal life and is declared righteous by God as a
free gift. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to him. He is
justified and fully accepted by God. Through Christ's atonement for sin
an individual is reconciled to God as Father and becomes his child. The
believer is forgiven the debt of his sin and, via the miracle of
regeneration, liberated from the law of sin and death into the freedom
of God's Spirit.
The Holy Spirit
is the active agent in our sanctification and seeks to produce his fruit
in us as our minds are renewed and we are conformed to the image of
Christ. As we are led by the Spirit, we grow in the knowledge of the
Lord, freely keeping his commandments and endeavoring to so live in the
world that all people may see our good works and glorify our Father who
is in heaven. All believers are exhorted to persevere in the faith
knowing they will have to give an account to God for their every
thought, word and deed. The spiritual disciplines, especially Bible
study, prayer, worship and confession, are a vital means of grace in
this regard. Nevertheless, the believer’s ultimate confidence to
persevere is based in the sure promise of God to preserve his people
until the end which is most certain.
In addition to effecting regeneration and
sanctification, the Holy Spirit also empowers believers for Christian
witness and service. While all genuine believers are indwelt by the Holy
Spirit at conversion, the New Testament indicates the importance of an
ongoing, empowering work of the Spirit subsequent to conversion as well.
Being indwelt by the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit are
theologically distinct experiences. The Holy Spirit desires to fill each
believer continually with increased power for Christian life and
witness, and imparts his supernatural gifts for the edification of the
Body and for various works of ministry in the world. While some may have
multiple gifts not all gifts are given to all members of the body. The
gifts of the Holy Spirit are to be fostered and not neglected by misuse
or disuse. Each gift is for the edification of the body and not for the
individual.
God by his Word
and Spirit creates the Church, calling sinful men out of the whole human
race into the fellowship of Christ's Body. By the same Word and Spirit,
he guides and preserves that new redeemed humanity. The Church is not a
religious institution or denomination. Rather, the Church universal is
made up of those who have become genuine followers of Jesus Christ and
have personally appropriated the gospel. The Church exists to worship
and glorify God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It also exists to serve
him by faithfully doing his will in the earth. This involves a
commitment to see the gospel preached and churches planted in all the
world for a testimony. The ultimate mission of the Church is the making
of disciples through the preaching of the gospel. When God transforms
human nature, this then becomes the chief means of society's
transformation. Upon conversion, newly redeemed men and women are added
to a local church in which they devote themselves to teaching,
fellowship, the Lord’s Supper and prayer.
All members of
the Church universal are to be a vital and committed part of a local
church. In this context they are called to walk out the New Covenant as
the people of God and demonstrate the reality of the kingdom of God. All
members of the Church are to be nurtured and equipped for the work of
ministry. In the context of the local church, God's people receive
pastoral care and leadership and the opportunity to employ their
God-given gifts in his service in relation to one another and to the
world.
Water baptism is
only intended for the individual who has received the saving benefits of
Christ’s atoning work and become his disciple. Therefore, in obedience
to Christ's command and as a testimony to God, the Church, oneself and
the world, a believer should be immersed in water in the name of the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Water baptism is a visual demonstration of a
person's union with Christ in the likeness of his death and
resurrection. It signifies that his former way of life has been put to
death and vividly depicts a person’s release from the mastery of sin.
The Lord’s Supper
is to be observed only by those who have become genuine followers of
Christ. This ordinance symbolizes the breaking of Christ’s body and the
shedding of his blood on our behalf, and is to be observed repeatedly
throughout the Christian life as a sign of continued participation in
the atoning benefits of Christ’s death. As we partake of the Lord’s
Supper with an attitude of faith and self-examination, we remember and
proclaim the death of Christ, receive spiritual nourishment for our
souls, and signify our unity with other members of Christ’s body.
The Consummation
of all things includes the visible, personal and glorious return of
Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead and the translation of those
alive in Christ, the judgment of the just and the unjust, and the
fulfillment of Christ's kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth. In
the Consummation, Satan with his hosts and all those outside Christ are
finally separated from the benevolent presence of God, enduring eternal
punishment, but the righteous, in glorious bodies, shall live and reign
with him forever. Married to Christ as his Bride, the Church will be in
the presence of God forever, serving him and giving him unending praise
and glory. Then shall the eager expectation of creation be fulfilled
and the whole earth shall proclaim the glory of God who makes all things
new.