We extend grace, as we have received

We engage God’s truth for life change

We love as we have been loved

We rest as we abide in Jesus

We lead with our neediness

We believe the Bible is the authoritative, breathed-out Word of God, written by man under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit without error in its original writings in both the Old and New Testaments. It is ‘profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the people of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.’ It is fully trustworthy, able to discern the thoughts and intentions of our heart, and imparts life to all who believe.

John 8:31-32; 20:31; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12-13; 2 Peter 1:20-21

We believe there is only one true and living God. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and always present. He is inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love. In the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are equal in every divine perfection, yet carry out distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. He is LORD, ‘a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.’ The essence of eternal life is to know Him.

Genesis 1:1, 1:26; Exodus 6:2-8, 34:6-7; Psalm 139; Matthew 28:19-20; John 1:1-4, 17:3

We believe God the Father reigns with providential care over His universe. As Creator according to His infinite counsel directs and governs everyone and everything. He is the perfect Father to all believers and ‘shows compassion to His children, to those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.’ Those whom He effectively calls, He adopts into His family through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ enabling them to cry, Abba Father. He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, He hears and answers prayer, and He saves from sin and death all who come to Him
through His son Jesus Christ.

Genesis 2:7, 2:22; Psalm 103:13-14; Isaiah 63:16, 64:8; Philippians 2:9-10

We believe in Jesus Christ: God’s only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atonement, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, intercession for His people; ‘He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him since He always lives to make intercession for them.’ We believe that He will return to earth in His glory, and save all those who are eagerly waiting for Him.

Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1, 1:14, 1:18, 14:8-11, 20:28; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Timothy
3:16; Hebrews 7:25, 9:28

We believe that the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son, Jesus Christ, and ‘He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.’ He draws the unredeemed to repentance and faith. At salvation, He imparts spiritual life to the believer, bringing that person into union with Christ and His Body. The Holy Spirit permanently indwells believers at salvation, sanctifies, seals, fills, guides, instructs, comforts, equips, empowers, and bestows spiritual gifts to the believer for Christ-like living and service.

John 16:7-15; Romans 8:9-17; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 12:4-13; Galatians 5:16-25; Titus 3:5

We believe that God created humanity in His image as the crowning work of His creation. He wonderfully created them male and female as His special revelation and likeness, free of sin, to glorify Himself and enjoy His fellowship. That fellowship was broken, however, when they gave in to Satan’s temptation to question God’s goodness. Man and woman chose to disobey God; bringing sin, death, and condemnation to all mankind; ‘There is none who are righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.’ All human beings, therefore, are born into sin, alienated from God without defense or excuse, and subject to God’s judgment and in desperate need of a Savior.

Genesis 1:26-28, 3:1-6; Romans 1:18, 3:10-19, 5:12-21

We believe that ‘the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.’ This is the good news, the gospel, that God did for man what man could never do by good works. Jesus Christ’s death on the cross was the sole and complete payment for sins. This fully satisfied God’s righteous wrath for each person who turns away from sin in repentance and places their faith in Christ alone by grace alone. At salvation, each person is made a new creation by the Holy Spirit, declared righteous before God, and secured as an adopted child of God forever. We believe that those who repent, forsake sin, and trust Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior are new creations who are delivered from condemnation and receive eternal life. Genuine faith abides in obedience and love for Jesus Christ with a life eager to glorify God and persevere to the end.

John 3:16-18; Romans 8:37-39; 1 Corinthians 12:13, 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:1-10

We believe that upon placing one’s faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, the believer is made part of the Body of Christ, the one universal Church, of which Jesus Christ is the Head. We believe the Scriptures instruct us to gather locally in order to devote ourselves to worship, prayer, teaching of the Word, fellowship, and the ordinances of baptism and communion, under the watchful care of a plurality of elders and faithful service of deacons. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to use our talents and spiritual gifts to serve one another ‘building up the body of Christ, until we all attain the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.’ We are to be in relationship with one another, watching over one another, and caring for one another as the family of God.

Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:42–46; Ephesians 1:22–23, 4:15-16; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Hebrews 13:7,17

We believe God created marriage between a man and woman as a lifelong holy covenant for the purpose of companionship, sexual intimacy, and procreation. God designed sexual intimacy to be expressed with gratitude and worship and consummated only between a man and a woman when they are united as one flesh in marriage; ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.’ The ‘one flesh’ relationship between a husband and wife is a sacred picture of Jesus and His love for His bride, the church.

God ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of people related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to make wise choices based on biblical truth. They are to lead them, through consistent lifestyle examples and loving discipline, and children are to honor God by obeying their parents.

Genesis 1:27-28, 2:24, 3:16-19; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; Psalm 78:1-7; Matthew 19:4-6;
Ephesians 5:22-33
3.10 Baptism and

We believe Christian baptism is the beautiful picture of a believer’s identification with the gospel. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s unashamed faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior; the believer’s death to sin; the burial of the old life; and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. This act of worship is to be done by immersion in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Lord’s Supper is a sacred act of obedience whereby believers, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, are testifying to their belief in Jesus’ body and blood given for the forgiveness of our sins. As we partake we are to remember the sacrificial death of Jesus our Lord and anticipate His second coming; ‘As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.’ Eating and drinking is believing His life is united with our lives; we call it communion to emphasize the common life we have in Christ and with one another.

Matthew 26:26-29; 28:19-20; Acts 2:41; Romans 6:3-6; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29

We believe it is the privilege and responsibility of every believer and local church fellowship to glorify God by responding as active participants in the Great Commission. We are to represent Him as ambassadors entrusted with the message of reconciliation ‘imploring people on behalf of Christ, to be reconciled to God.’ We are to go and make disciples of all nations and be Jesus’ hands and feet in our local community, seeking to serve others so that ‘they would see our good works and give glory to God our Father who is in heaven.’

Matthew 5:16, 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21

We believe in and expectantly await the glorious, visible, and personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The blessed hope of His return has a vital bearing on the personal life, service, and mission of the Christian. We are to ‘live lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of the Lord.’ We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost. The lost will be raised to judgment and the saved will be raised to eternal joy in the new heaven and new earth in the manifested presence of God. We are to live each day with an eternal perspective waiting for his promise of a new heavens and a new earth; ‘He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be morning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away; He is making all things new.’ We are to encourage one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Peter 4:11-13; Revelation 21:3-5