WHAT WE BELIEVE

The Bible

We believe that the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, is God’s supernaturally inspired word, without error in the original manuscripts, and preserved by God so that it is divinely authoritative and complete. It is the standard for every age and every life. (Matthew 5:18; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21)

God

We believe there is but one God who, in the unity of the Godhead, is three coequal eternal persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) having each the same nature, attributes and perfections and worthy of the same worship and confidence. (Genesis 1:1-2; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1-2; John 1:14; John 10:30; John 14:15-17; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

We believe in God as the absolute and sole creator and sustainer of the universe. This creation was by His divine command, from nothing and not through an evolutionary process. (John 1:3; John 1:10; Acts 17:24-5; Genesis 1:1)

We believe that God, by His sovereign choice and out of His great love for men, sent Christ into the world to save sinners. (John 3:16: 1 Timothy 1:15; 1 John 4:14)

God the Son

We believe the eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ, became flesh as fully God and fully man and that He was conceived by the power of God through the action of the Holy Spirit, having been born of the Virgin Mary apart from any human father. (John 1:1-5; John 1:10-14; Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6; Luke 1:30-35; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:1-4)

We believe He lived a sinless life, in which He taught and performed mighty works and wonders and signs exactly as revealed in the four gospels. (John 20:30-31; Acts 1:3; Luke 1:1-3; Luke 4:16-21)

We believe that He was crucified, shed His blood, died to pay the penalty for our sins and was raised bodily from the dead on the third day. Forty days later He ascended to the Father’s right hand where He is the head of the church and intercedes for believers. Christ will return personally and visibly in power and glory.

God the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead. (Acts 5:3-4, John 14:16)

We believe the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world of sin. (John 16:8)

We believe that the Holy Spirit, at the moment of salvation, regenerates, indwells, baptizes, gifts, and seals all believers. (Titus 3:5, 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13)

We believe the Holy Spirit empowers yielded believers with the goal of conforming them to the image of Christ. (Ephesians 5:18, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18)

Man

Man was created in the image and likeness of God. Adam and Eve, as the first man and woman, were created to walk in intimacy with God, to rule over God’s creation, and to populate the earth. Adam, as the first man, chose to sin against God, resulting in death and alienation from God and for all mankind. (Gen. 1:26-27; Genesis 2:4 – 3:24; Romans 5:18-19)

We believe that all men are inherently sinful and of themselves utterly unable to remedy their lost condition. (Romans 1:18, Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3, Ephesians 2:12)

We believe the family was established to fulfill the mandate to fill the earth and subdue it. Thus, marriage, in accordance with Scripture, is the covenantal union of one man and one woman for the purpose of procreation and fellowship. Sex in any form outside the bonds of marriage is sin. (Genesis 1:27-28; Matthew 19:4-6)

Salvation

We believe that salvation is a gift of God and is received by man on the sole condition of faith alone in Jesus Christ. Jesus died a substitutionary death on the cross for man’s sin and rose bodily from the dead. (John 3:16-18; John 6:47, Acts      16:30-31)

We believe faith is the conviction that something is true. Saving faith is believing the promise of God that He guarantees everlasting life to all who simply believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. (John 4:14; John 5:24; John 6:47; John 11:26; 1 Timothy 1:6)

We believe that man is justified by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ, apart from any works. (Romans 4:5; Galatians 2:16; Titus 3:5)

We believe all true believers are eternally secure. (Romans 8:38-39; John 10:27-29; 1 John 5:9-13)

The Church

We believe the church is God’s special creation for this current age and is composed of all who are regenerated by the Holy Spirit through saving faith in Jesus Christ alone. (Matthew 16:18-19; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Galatians 3:26-29)

We believe all believers are united together in the body of Christ of which He is Lord and Head and are commissioned for the God-given tasks of worshiping, fellowshipping, teaching, evangelizing and exercising the spiritual gifts. (Acts 2:42;    Acts 2:47; Romans 12:5; Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 5:23-24; 2 Corinthians 11:2)

We believe that the establishment and continuance of the local church is clearly taught in the New Testament scriptures. (Acts 14:27; Acts 20:17; Acts 20:28-32; 1Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11)

We believe the local church is autonomous and free of any external authority or control. (Acts 13:1-4; Acts 20:28; Romans 16:1-4; 1 Corinthians 3:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 5:4-7; 1 Corinthians 5:13; 1 Peter 5:1-4)

The Ordinances

We believe the Scriptural ordinances for the church today are baptism and the Lord’s Supper as a memorial.

Baptism is the public proclamation of the believer to be a follower of Christ. Baptism is by immersion, when physically possible. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 8:12, Acts 8:36-38)

The Lord’s Supper (communion) is the shared remembrance for all believers of Jesus’   substitutionary death and the hope we share in Him. (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:17-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25)

The Christian Life

We believe the ultimate goal of the Holy Spirit’s work in the believer’s life is to   produce spiritual maturity reflected in consistent Christ-like behavior and attitudes. (Galatians 5:22- 25; Luke 14:25-33; Colossians 1:23-29)

We believe all believers should walk in the Spirit, thereby growing in faith in obedience to God’s word, in prayer, in fellowship with the saints and in a life of service. (Galatians 5:16-26; Hebrews 10:25; Ephesians 4:20-24; Hebrews 11:6; Hebrews12:1-2; John 17:17; Ephesians 6:18; Romans 8:29)

We believe that every true believer will demonstrate some level of spiritual transformation as a result of salvation. However, if a believer does not yield to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, failure will result, evidenced by sinful acts or even prolonged disobedience. (Romans 8:9; Corinthians 10:1-13; Galatians 5:16-21)

The Second Coming

We believe in the premillennial and imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We believe Jesus will come from Heaven to earth again on a cloud, on the day of the rapture, and all believers both alive and dead will be raptured up to meet Him in the sky. After the seven-year tribulation He will come down again personally, bodily and visibly to this earth to set up his millennial kingdom. (John 14:3; Hebrews 7:25; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Ephesians 4:8; Acts 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; Revelation 20:4)

We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead. For the believer, resurrection to everlasting glory in heaven; to the unbeliever, judgment and everlasting conscious punishment in hell. (1 Corinthians 15:51-54; Titus 2:11; John 14:1-6; Matthew 25:46; Revelation 21:2-5; Revelation 20:11-15; 2 Peter 3:10

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

At what time do services begin?

We have Bible study classes for all ages from 10:00am to 10:45am every Sunday. We have one service from 11:00am to about 12:15pm.

What do the services look like?

Each service includes a variety of music (see below), scriptures, and a in-depth study of God’s Word. We’ll provide you with a bulletin with which you can follow along with the service–everything from the songs we’re singing to the scriptures we’re reading. We celebrate The Lord’s Supper once a month, usually on the first Sunday of each month. Don’t worry, we won’t call you out and make you stand in the middle of the service. We want you to feel welcome here!

What does the music sound like?

Psalm 33:3 says to “play skillfully on the strings,” and that’s what we do here!

We consider ourselves “equal opportunity” worshipers, whereby we will sing just as many old hymns as newer worship songs. We’ll go from “Blessed Assurance” to “Great I Am.” We believe that the God of all ages is too great for our worship to focus only on one decade of music. Furthermore, singing songs which span generations reminds us that the God we worship today is the same God that has revealed Himself throughout the generations, the same yesterday and today. Any song that is biblical and theologically sound– and that glorifies God and edifies the saints (Ephesians 5:19)– is fair game!

While our worship team is in transition at the moment, our goal is to incorporate a variety of instruments and styles. However, we won’t blow out your eardrums — and we won’t pressure you to sing. If you don’t know the songs, or you simply don’t want to sing, we encourage you to meditate on the music and the lyrics, and enjoy the congregation singing around you.

What if I don’t know anyone there?

No problem! We will have ushers ready to greet you and answer any questions you may have. Just bring yourself, we’ll take care of everything else! We want to make sure you won’t feel overwhelmed in any way– except perhaps under the grace of our great God!

What about my kids?

We believe in the power of family and we encourage families to worship together, but we also have a separate “children’s church,” for which we’ll make the dismissal announcement before our sermon starts.