Statement of Faith

Below you will find our Statement of Faith which represents what we believe to be core elements of biblical teaching. Click here to view our constitution which also includes our bylaws.

The Scriptures

We believe that the original writings of the Holy Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, were verbally and plenarily inspired of God, were inerrant as originally recorded, and were infallible in their teachings. We believe that copies and faithful translations of the original writings are reliable transmissions of the inspired Word of God, which is the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and conduct. (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21; Psalm 19:7-9)

God

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. We believe that the universe and man came into being by direct creation of God and not by evolution. (II Corinthians 13:14; Matthew 28:19; Exodus 20:2-3; Genesis 1 and 2)

A. God the Father

We believe that God the Father is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in a unique way by eternal generation; that by this generative process the divine nature is communicated to the Son in such a way that He is Holy God, as the Father is also Holy God. We believe that God the Father is also the Father of all regenerated persons who by the new birth become members of His family and kingdom. (II Corinthians 1:3; Galatians 3:26; John 1:12, 3:3,5)

B. God the Son

We believe in the eternal pre-existence and deity of the Lord Jesus Christ; that He was virgin-born so as to become fully man while remaining true God; that He shed His blood in death on the cross in substitutionary atonement for our sins; that He arose bodily from the grave and physically ascended to the right hand of God the Father, where He ever lives to make intercession for believers; that all authority is given unto Him; that He is presently building His Church; that He will return in the air to receive the Church unto Himself; that He will come again to the earth following the Tribulation to establish His millennial kingdom. (John 1:1,14; Luke 1:30-35; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 28:18-20)

C. God the Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit, being the third person of the Godhead, convicts individuals of sin; that He calls them to repentance; that He regenerates, indwells, and baptizes believers into the body of Christ; that He seals and sets them apart for a holy life; that He keeps and empowers believers day by day. We believe that He is the teacher of the Word of God and is our guide for daily life. (John 16:7-11; I Corinthians 6:19, 12:13; Ephesians 1:13-14; Titus 3:5; Romans 8:9,26)

Angels

We believe in the personal existence of angelic beings who remained faithful to God’s Word. We believe in the personality and reality of Satan, a fallen angel, who leads a rebellion against God and who is the adversary of God's people; that he was divinely condemned by Jesus' crucifixion and death, was utterly defeated by Jesus' resurrection, and one day will be cast into the Lake of Fire (Hell). We also believe in the personal existence of demons and fallen angels and that they too will be cast into the Lake of Fire. (Matthew 25:41; John 16:11; I Peter 5:8; Hebrews 1:14, 13:2; Revelation 20:10)

Humanity

We believe that God created humanity in His own spiritual image; that each person, like God, possesses a spirit, an intellect, and a will. We also believe the Scriptural record of the fall of man through Adam's disobedience to God, and that every person by nature is spiritually dead and totally depraved, thus deserving of eternal condemnation. Therefore, we believe that every person needs to be saved (born again spiritually) in order to be reconciled to God. This salvation is the gift of God, given by grace, through faith, when individuals repent of their sin and place their faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that once saved, believers are forever secure in Christ, kept by the power of God, and privileged to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation. (Genesis 1:27; Jeremiah 13:23; John 3:3,16, 10:28-29; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:1,8-9; Hebrews 9:12; II Corinthians 5:21)

The Church

A. The Universal Church

We believe in the universal church, which is the body and bride of Christ, and that it is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons from Pentecost to the Rapture. (I Corinthians 12:12-14; Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:25-27; Colossians 1:18)

B. The Local Church

The local New Testament church is a body of regenerated, baptized believers, under the headship of Jesus Christ, that is organized, independent, and self-governing. It is the responsibility of the local church to observe the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper, to meet for worship and service, to edify itself in love, and to evangelize the world. (Acts 2:41-47, 16:5; Philippians 1:1; I Timothy 3:1-10)

Ordinances

A. Baptism

We believe that baptism is the immersion in water of a believer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; that its purpose is to show forth in solemn testimony the believer’s faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior; and that it is prerequisite to church membership. (Matthew 28:19; Acts 8:36-39, 10:47-48)

B. Lord's Supper

We believe that the Lord's Supper is a memorial service in which the elements symbolize the broken body and shed blood of Christ at Calvary. The elements are to be taken after solemn self-examination only by believers who are walking in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 11:23-33)

Future Fulfillment Of Prophecy

We believe that at death, the spirits and souls of the saved are absent from the body and present with the Lord in Heaven, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection; that at death, the spirits and the souls of the unsaved are in Hades in conscious misery until the second resurrection. (Luke 16:19-31; II Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23-24)

We believe in the resurrection of all persons when the body shall be reunited with the soul and spirit. The first resurrection will occur at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the air for all believers who have died and for those believers who are living at the time of His coming. We believe that this is the next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy, for which we should be constantly looking. (Matthew 24:29-42; John 5:28-29; I Corinthians 15:51-57; I Thessalonians 4:13-17; Titus 2:13)

We believe that after the saved people are taken up to Heaven to be with the Lord, the seven-year tribulation shall occur on earth. It will be a time of terrible judgment for those left on the earth, and the last half of this period will be the Great Tribulation, ending with the battle of Armageddon. (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15-22; Revelation 6:1 – 19:21)

We believe that the tribulation period will culminate with the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and His saints, who will rule with Him on the earth during the millennial (thousand year) reign. We believe that during this period, Satan will be bound in the abyss and that the curse, which now rests upon the whole creation, will be lifted. We believe that worldwide righteousness will not prevail until this time. (Isaiah 11:9; Micah 4:1-5; Zechariah 14:9; Revelation 20:1-3)

We believe that at the close of the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth, Satan will be loosed and will go out and deceive the nations and cause them to march against Jerusalem and the saints. God will then cause fire to come down upon Satan and his hosts to devour them. Satan will then be cast into the Lake of Fire. (Revelation 20:7-10)

We believe that after the doom of Satan, the second resurrection shall occur. All the bodies of the unsaved shall be resurrected and united with their souls and spirits to appear before God at the Great White Throne Judgment. Every unsaved person (body, soul, and spirit) will be consigned alive to everlasting and conscious punishment in the Lake of Fire. (Revelation 20:11-15)

Christian Responsibility And Growth

We believe that all believers can and should, through the power of the Holy Spirit, live godly lives, separated from sinful practices and triumphing over temptation. We believe that the regenerate should affiliate with a local church, supporting it by regular attendance, by prayer, by service, and by financial support. We believe that Christian service is the Lord's working through His people to build His church by saving the lost and strengthening the saved. (Mark 16:15; Acts 2:47; I Corinthians 16:2; II Corinthians 9:7; Titus 2:11-12; I John 2:15-17)

We believe that every Christian, as a steward who has been entrusted by God with a portion of His wealth, is obligated to financially support the local church. We believe that God has established the tithe as a basis for giving, but that every Christian should also give other offerings sacrificially and cheerfully for the support of the church, for the relief of those in need, and for the spread of the Gospel. We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the tithe or offering once the gift has been made. (Genesis 14:20; Proverbs 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; I Corinthians 16:2; II Corinthians 9:6-7; Galatians 6:6; Ephesians 4:28; I Timothy 5:17-18; I John 3:17)

We believe that spiritual growth takes place by a process the Bible calls sanctification, whereby the believer is set apart from sin unto Christ. There are three aspects of sanctification. 1) The believer has been set apart positionally as part of God’s family the moment he/she believes the Gospel. 2) The believer is being set apart progressively in the daily Christian walk, growing in grace toward the likeness of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit in the continual use of appointed means: the Word of God, self-examination, watchfulness, prayer, and yielding to the Spirit through Biblical change. 3) The believer is to be set apart prospectively from the very presence of sin when his/her sanctification is completed at the coming of Christ for the church. (John 17:17; Romans 8:13, 28-29, 12:1-2; I Corinthians 6:11; II Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 4:11-16, 22, 24; I Thessalonians 3:13, 5:23; II Thessalonians 2:13; I Timothy 4:7; I John 3:2-3; Hebrews 10:10,14; II Peter 3:18)

Missions

We believe that God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude consisting of believers from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ, we must use all available means to evangelize our neighbors and people of other nations. (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; II Corinthians 5:20)

Civil Government

We believe in the separation of church and state, with each believer having responsibility to both. We believe that God has ordained and created three basic institutions of authority: 1) the home, 2) the state, and 3) the church. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and has balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the others. The home, the state, and the church are equal and sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God. (Matthew 22:21; Romans 13:1-7; Ephesians 5:22-24; Hebrews 13:17; I Peter 2:13-14)

Positions On Issues

We believe that it is important to identify ourselves as being fundamental, dispensational, pre-tribulational, pre-millennial, evangelistic, separated, and independent.

We believe that God has designed marriage to be between one man and one woman for life, and that He has designed physical intimacy to be reserved for marriage. Therefore, any other arrangement is not God’s design. Saved individuals who are now in compliance with God’s design, in spite of their past lifestyle, can be used for God’s service. (Genesis 2:24, 19:5,13; Leviticus 18:11-30; Malachi 2:14-17; Matthew 19:3-12; Romans 7:1-3; I Corinthians 5:1, 6:9; I Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4)

We believe that God is the One in charge of all phases of life: conception, birth, life, and death. After prayerful and diligent consideration of the Scriptures, each believer must evaluate human attempts to manipulate these areas. (Job 3:16; Psalms 51:5, 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24, 49:1,5; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:44)

We believe that the believer’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and should be treated with appropriate care. (I Corinthians 3:16, 6:19-20; Philippians 4:8)

We believe that 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. We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes. (I Corinthians 6:1-8; Ephesians 4:31-32)

Authority of Statement Of Faith

This statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Bible itself is the sole and final source of all we believe. We do believe, however, that the foregoing statement of faith accurately represents the teaching of the Bible, and therefore is binding on all members.