• About the Bible. We believe the entire Bible is God's Word to us and was written by men divinely inspired by God. Therefore, we accept fully the writings of the entire Old and New Testaments as the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God. We believe the Bible is the final authority in matters of doctrine, duty, and decision as individuals and as a New Testament Church. (Psalm 119:89, 103-105, 160; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13: 2 Peter 1:20-21) • About the Godhead. We believe in the only true God, the Creator, Who is eternal, loving, just, merciful, Holy, unchanging, and that God exist in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Equal in every divine attribute and executing distinct but complementary offices in the work of redemption. (Colossians 2:9; Matthew 28:19: 3:14-17) • About God the Father. We believe He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, and all-wise. He reigns over the universe with providential care human history goes according to His purposes and plan. (Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; Matthew 23:9; Mark 1:9-11; Romans 8:14-15) • About Jesus Christ. We believe He pre-existed with God the Father before His birth in Bethlehem; He was supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit in the body of the Virgin Mary; He lived a totally sinless and perfect life; He died on the cross for the sins of the whole world; He was buried and supernaturally rose out of the grave and declared the victorious Son of God over sin, death, and hell; He is presently seated at the right hand of God in the place of authority in heaven; and He is coming back to earth soon to bodily resurrect the dead in Christ and to rapture every living believer to be carried to heaven with Him. (John 3:16; Colossians 1:17; Isaiah 7:14; Luke 2:26-38; 1 Peter 2:22, 24; Romans 1:1-4; Hebrews 7:25; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) • About the Holy Spirit. We believe the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son. We believe the Holy Spirit convicts the sinner, regenerates the sinner, indwells and Seals the believer in order that he may live a holy and fruitful life. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives every believer a spiritual gift when they are saved. As Christians, we are to work out of our gift(s) and seek to live under His control daily. (2 Corinthians 3:17; John 4:24, 14:16-17, 26; 15:26-27; 16:7-13; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 12:13) • About Human Beings. We believe that Adam, the first man, was created in the image of God and in innocence. However, by his voluntary transgression against the will and law of God, he fell into sin and incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. Consequently, all human beings are with a sinful nature and are in need of redemption. (Psalm 51:5, 8:3-6: Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:1-4) • About Salvation. We believe that salvation is by grace through faith. It is the free gift of God. We believe by that man is saved by faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that a person must repent of his sin and receive and trust Jesus Christ as Lord in order to be saved from sin's penalty. We believe that salvation is a present reality; one can be saved and can know that he saved and enjoy his life of salvation. We believe that being saved is the most important experience in every individual's life and each individual must make his or her own decision. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 5:1, 6:23, 10:9-10,13; John 14:6, 1:12) • About Eternal Security. If you have been truly saved, you cannot "lose" it. Salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by personal effort of the Christian. God gives us eternal life through Jesus Christ, and the payment he made on the cross, so that gives us this security. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into his life by faith. (John 10:29; 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25; 10:10-14; 1 Peter 1:3-5) • About Heaven. We believe that heaven is a real place. We believe it is a lovely and place, which will be populated by the saints of God from all ages. We believe the most important thing about heaven is the presence of the Lord Himself. We believe a person must make proper preparations to go to heaven, and that preparation is to receive Jesus Christ as one's only Lord and Savior. (John 14:1-6; Hebrews 12:22-24; Revelation 21:10-17; 22:1-2). • About Hell. We believe that Hell is a real place, that it was prepared for the devil and his angels, and all those who die outside of a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ will spend eternity there. We believe that Hell is a literal place of physical, mental, spiritual, and eternal suffering. We believe there is a Devil. We believe that Satan is a real person; he was created; and he originally lived in heaven, but was cast out of heaven when he rebelled against God. He is totally sinful; he is deceptive; he is powerful; and we believe that he is the leader of a vast host of evil spirits who seek to keep unsaved people lost, to divide and deceive New Testament churches, and to devour and deceive individual Christians. We believe Christ defeated the Devil at the cross and that Christians have authority and power over the Devil now, through the Lord Jesus Christ. We also believe that Satan will ultimately be cast into the lake of fire at the end of the age. (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Ephesians 6:12; Genesis 3:1; 2 Corinthians 11:14; I John 4:4; Revelation 12:9). • About the Christian Life. We believe the greatest privilege of the Christian is to live for Jesus in this present age. We believe the Christian life is a supernatural life. It is Christ living His life in us and through us. We believe it is a spiritual life. It is the Holy Spirit of God empowering and enabling us to be what God wants us to be. It is a warfare life; it is a constant struggle between the flesh and the spirit. It is a life of faith, which is total commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is living by the promises of God and in obedience to the commands of God. It is a life of progress, spiritual growth, and maturity where we become more and more life Jesus. It is a life of fruitfulness where the fruit of the Spirit is exhibited in our lives in the way we life and in the witness of our lives as we lead other people to saving faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that witnessing is a necessary and important part of the Christian life. (Galatians 2:20; 3:11, 23; 4:19; 5:17, 22-23; Ephesians 5:18; Acts 1-8; Titus 2:11-13). • About the Local Church. We believe that the local church is God's instrument in this present age, and all Christians should both belong to and be an active part of a local New Testament church. We believe the church is a body of baptized believers in whom Jesus Christ has uniquely gifted, and He also empowers each believer for a specific place of service in the ministry of the church. They are united together in the Holy Spirit for the purpose of evangelizing the lost, teaching the saved, and glorifying the Lord. We believe the church belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. He purchased it with His own blood, and we believe the members of His church should love Christ, all the members of the body, and should be faithful to its purpose. We believe the church is a God-governed body with the pastor serving as the spiritual leader of the body. We believe that the church should strive to be authentic in every aspect of ministry and be culturally relevant without compromising the timeless message of Jesus Christ. We believe that love, for God and people, should be the motivation for all of our actions. (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 3:21; Acts 2; Hebrews 13:7; 1 Peter 5:1-4) • About Baptism and the Lord's Supper. We believe there are two ordinances of the local church - Baptism and the Lord's Supper. We believe that baptism by immersion is the Scriptural method of baptism. We believe baptism does not save, but it is an act of obedience to the command of Christ and a testimony to the world of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe the Lord's Supper pictures Christ's body broken for our sins and His blood shed for our redemption. We do not believe it is a saving ordinance, but rather symbolic. We believe that every born again believer should take the Lord's Supper as an act of worship, praise, remembrance, and gratitude to Jesus Christ for what He has done for the sinner. This ordinance is open to all obedient believers. (Romans 6:1-5; Matthew 18:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-24) • About Giving. We believe that every Christian is commanded to give at least ten percent of his income to the Lord to support the growth of Christ's Body, the Church. We further believer that every Christian should go beyond the tithe as led by the Spirit as an offering to the Lord. We believe the Christian's time, spiritual ability, and money ought to be given back to God as an act of dedication and love to Jesus Christ and in order to fulfill the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:18-20; Leviticus 27:30; Malachi 3:10; Luke 6:38) • About Evangelism. We believe it is the responsibility and privilege of every member of the local church to do everything he/she can to make the gospel of Jesus Christ available to as many people as possible. Hence, we believe evangelism begins at home as we lead our family and friends to the saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, evangelism spreads to the community, the city, the sate, the nation, and to the world. We believe the energies of the church ought to be totally directed to fulfilling the Great Commission.
(Matthew 28:18-20; Leviticus 27:30; Malachi 3:10; Luke 6:38) • About the Rapture of the Church. We believe that the next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy will be the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the air to receive to Himself the dead in Christ and believers who are alive at His coming, known as the Rapture - Our Blessed Hope. (I Thessalonians 4:15-17) • About the Devil. We believe in the personality of Satan, who is the open and declared enemy of God and man. • About Creation. We believe the Genesis account, and that what you believe about your origin will determine your philosophy of life. We believe creation was a direct act of God, literal 24 hour days, instantaneous, and miraculous. We believe man was created in the image of God and all reproduction was "after their kind". • About Biblical Sexuality. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God's gift of sex. • About Abortion. We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the mental well-being of the mother are acceptable. • About Lawsuits between Believers. We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the Church to resolve disputes. We believe the Church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members. We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian's insurance company, as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander. |