THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE

There is one God: infinite, eternal, almighty, and perfect in holiness, truth, and love. In the unity of the godhead, there are three manifestations of the one God: He is the Father in creation; He’s Son in redemption; and Holy Spirit in regeneration. The Father is the Son and the Son is the Holy Spirit, yet each is true Deity. One God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - is the foundation of Christian faith and life.

GOD AS THE FATHER

 

God the Father is the Creator of heaven and earth. By His Word and for His glory, He freely and supernaturally created the world out 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 humanity’s redemption. He made humanity for fellowship with Himself and intended that all creation should live to the praise of His glory.

 

JESUS CHRIST

 

Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is the Redemptive and eternal Word made flesh, supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He is 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 over 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 40 days appeared to over 500 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, awaiting His return. He is the Head of His body, the church, and should be adored, loved, served and obeyed by all.

 

THE HOLY SPIRIT

 

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Him that raised Christ from the dead,  who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment and He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. The Holy Spirit desires to continually fill each believer with power to witness, and imparts His supernatural gifts for the building up of the Body and the work of ministry in the world.

 

THE SCRIPTURES

The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the written inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and functional Christian life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed. The Scriptures are the testament of  Jesus Christ and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tested.

HUMANITY AND SIN

Humanity was created in the image and likeness of God, but that through Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, became alienated from God, and became subject to His divine wrath. Whatever their character or attainments, all people are totally depraved, of themselves utterly unable to remedy their lost condition, and without hope apart from salvation in Jesus Christ alone.

THE GOSPEL

Jesus Christ is the gospel. The good news is revealed in His birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension and future return. 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 gospel.

 

SALVATION

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 placing their faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ receives the gift of eternal life and is declared righteous by God. 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 a Father and becomes His child. The believer is forgiven the debt of his sin and, receives the miracle of regeneration, liberated from the law of sin and death into the freedom of God's Spirit. 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. 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. Though indwelling sin remains a reality, 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.

 

THE CHURCH

God by His Word and Spirit creates the church, calling sinful individuals 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, repenting and believing in Him. The church exists to worship and glorify God through His Son, the word, and in the power of his spirit, the 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 the entire world for witness to the name of our Lord and Savior. The ultimate mission of the church is the making of disciples through the preaching and teaching of the gospel. 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. The ascended Christ has given gifted ministers for the church (including apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) for the equipping of Christ’s body that it might mature and grow. Through the gifted ministers all members of the church are to be nurtured and equipped for the work of the ministry. In the context of the local church, God’s people receive pastoral care and leadership and the opportunity to exercise their God-given gifts in His service in relation to one another and to the world.

 

BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER

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 a believer should be immersed in water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which is the name of Jesus. 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 life has been put to death and vividly depicts a person’s release from the mastery of sin. As with water baptism, 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.

BAPTISM IN THE HOLY GHOST

The Holy Ghost baptism is promised as a poured out blessing upon them that obey the Lord Jesus Christ! This is different experience than the indwelling of the new birthing of a believer’s spirit. The baptism of the Holy Ghost is for empowering the believer to be a witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a command for Christians to be filled with power from on high and not to go and tell until they have waited to be filled!

THE END

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. Those outside of Christ will be consigned to hell, the place of everlasting punishment, separated from the love and mercy of God. Those found in Christ, in their resurrected and glorified bodies, will live and reign with Him 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.

 

THE GOSPEL

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures . . .” (1 Corinthians 15:1–4)
What is the Gospel? The word gospel simply means “good news.” The central message of the Bible is the gospel, or good news, about the person and work of Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:1–4, Paul provides the most succinct summary of the gospel: the man Jesus is also God, or Christ, and died on a cross in our place, paying the penalty for our sins; three days later He rose to conquer sin and death and give the gift of salvation to all who believe in Him alone for eternal life. The great reformer Martin Luther rightly said that, as sinners, we are prone to pursue a relationship with God in one of two ways. The first is religion/spirituality and the second is the gospel. The two are antithetical in every way.
 

 

This brief belief statement only serves as the foundations of our faith and will not be considered all of what we believe neither will we limit ourselves by this statement. Because faith must have the flexiblity of forming and growing into the image of Christ, we will leave space for grace so that we may achieve maturity and so that we may experience the full revelation of Jesus Christ.