WHAT WE BELIEVE
OUR BELIEFS
Learn more about what we believe.
We believe that there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons, the Father, Son, and Spirit. These three Persons are equal in every divine perfection, and that they execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence, and redemption.
We believe that God primarily speaks to us through the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. He also reveals Himself through General Revelation (creation, common grace, conscience) and Special Revelation (God’s Words addressed to specific people, such as Moses on Mt. Sinai or Jesus at His baptism).
We believe that God is our Creator, and He created us to love us and reflect His glory. Creation tells us a lot about God (He is the only God, living, independent, transcendent, immanent, personal, powerful, beautiful, holy, gracious, and sovereign). The doctrine of creation sets the stage for the coming of Jesus Christ, who came to connect heaven to earth and be the Mediator between God and man.
We believe that God made man in His image. Originally, He made us without sin. Yet even as sinful people saved by grace, we are called to be His image bearers. He created humans male and female equal, yet distinct. As His image bearers, we are under God and over creation. There are attributes of God that we share in part with Him, such as: holiness, love, truth, righteousness, and mercy. There are attributes of God that we do not share with Him, such as: omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, immutability, eternality, and sovereignty.
We believe, that ever since the Fall when sin entered the world, that all people are sinners by nature and by choice and are, therefore, under condemnation. All people are totally depraved and marred by sin. We believe that those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior are regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Where the first Adam failed, the second Adam (Jesus), succeeded.
We believe God continues to pursue His people by establishing covenants. In a covenant, we come to God on His terms. God established covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David. The new covenant came through Jesus Christ. In the new covenant, God comes to be with each of His people so we can worship Him and make His Name great.
We believe in the incarnation of Jesus, that God took on flesh and came into our world. People knew God would come because He revealed to them who would come, where He would come, when He would come, and why He would come. Jesus was born of a virgin, was sinless, fully God and fully man.
We believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross as our substitutionary atonement for our sins. His death substituted His life for the life of every believer. The sacrificial system of the Old Testament points to the truth that someone or something has to die for sins. Jesus diverts the wrath of God that people deserve for their sins onto Himself.
We believe that after Jesus Christ died on the cross, and on the third day, He literally rose from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is proof that His teaching was and is truth and that we can trust Him. If Jesus rose from the dead, He will raise believers from the dead to be with Him forever.
We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members. We believe in the local church, consisting of a company of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible confession of faith, and associated for worship, work, and fellowship. We believe that God has laid upon the members of the local church the primary task of giving the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world.
We believe worship is not an aspect of our being but the essence of our being as God’s image bearers. We are not created to worship, but rather we are created worshipping. Non-believers are not able to worship. When believers sin, their worship is directed away from the Creator and toward created things. Repentance is the act of turning from sin and returning to God by trusting Jesus Christ. For believers, every decision is an act of worship.
We believe that God gave His very best in sending His Son. As God is a giver, He asks us to also be givers. There are over 800 verses in Scripture on the subject of giving. Money and wealth are among the greatest idols in our culture. If we love money, we use God and people. If we love God, we are free to use money to love God and people.
We believe God’s Kingdom is the result of God’s mission to rescue and renew His sin-marred creation through Jesus as our King. The Kingdom is both a journey and a destination: a journey because upon our new birth, we get to experience a taste of His kingdom, a destination because the Lord will visibly return to earth and establish His kingdom forever.