SECTION I    THE WORD OF GOD

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We believe that the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is the complete and revealed Word of God, fully inspired, without error in the original writings, and that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.  (Psalm 19:7-11; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 5:18; II Timothy 3:15-17; II Peter 1:21; II Peter 1:3 & 4)​

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SECTION 2    THE GODHEAD 

We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections, and worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence, and obedience.  (Matt. 28:18-19; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3-4; II Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1-3; Rev. 1:4-6.) ​



SECTION 3     GOD THE FATHER

We believe that God, the Father, is an infinite personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love.  We believe that He is intimately involved in the affairs of mankind, that He hears and answers prayer, that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.  (Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 19; John 14:13, 14; Romans 5:8; I John 4:16).​



SECTION 4    JESUS CHRIST

We believe that, as provided and purposed in God and as pre-announced in the prophecies of the Scriptures, the eternal Son of God came into this world that He might manifest God to men, fulfill prophecy, and become the Redeemer of a lost world.  To this end He was born of the virgin and received a human body and a sinless human nature.  (Luke 1:30-35; John 1:18; 3:16; Heb.4:15)
We believe that on the human side He became and remained a perfect man, but sinless throughout His life; yet He retained His absolute deity, being at the same time very God and very man, and that His earth-life totally functioned within the sphere of that which was human and totally within the sphere of that which was divine.  (Luke 2:40; John 1:1-2; Phil. 2:5-8.)
 We believe that in fulfillment of prophecy He came first to Israel as her Messiah-King, and that being rejected of that nation, He, according to the eternal counsels of God, gave His life as a ransom for all.  (John 1:11; Acts 2:22-24; I Tim. 2:6.)
 We believe that in infinite love for the lost He voluntarily accepted His Father's will and became the divinely provided sacrificial Lamb and took away the sin of the world, bearing the holy judgments against sin which the righteousness of God must impose.  His death was therefore substitutionary in the most absolute sense - the just for the unjust - and by His death He became the Savior of the lost.  (John 1:29; Romans 3:25-26; II Cor. 5:14; Heb. 10:5-14; I Peter 3:18.)
 We believe that according to the Scriptures He arose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He had lived and died, and that His resurrection body is the pattern of that body which ultimately will be given to all believers.  (John 20:20; Phil. 3:20-21.)
 We believe that on departing from the earth He was accepted of His Father and that His acceptance is a final assurance to us that His redeeming work was perfectly accomplished.  (Heb. 1:3.)
 We believe that He became Head over all things to the church which is His body, and in this ministry He continues to intercede and advocate for the saved.  (Eph. 1:22-23; Heb. 7:25; I John 2:1.)​



SECTION 5    THE HOLY SPIRIT 

We believe that the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the blessed Trinity, though omnipresent from all eternity took up His abode in the world in a special sense on the day of Pentecost according to the divine promise, dwells in every believer, and by His baptism unites all to Christ in one body, and that He, as the Indwelling One, is the source of all power and all acceptable worship and service.  We believe that He never takes His departure from the church, nor from the feeblest of the saints, but is ever present to testify of Christ; seeking to occupy believers with Him and not with themselves nor with their experiences.  We believe that His abode in the world in this special sense will cease when Christ comes to receive His own at the completion of the church.  (John 14:16-17; 16:7-15; I Cor. 6:19; Eph. 2:22; II Thess. 2:7.)
 We believe that in this age certain well-defined ministries are committed to the Holy Spirit, and that it is the duty of every Christian to understand them and to be adjusted to them in his own life and experience.  These ministries are the restraining of evil in the world to the measure of the divine will; the convicting of the world respecting sin, righteousness, and judgment; the regenerating of all believers; the indwelling and anointing of all who are saved, thereby sealing them unto the day of redemption; the baptizing into the one body of Christ of all who are saved; and the continued filling for power, teaching, and service of those among the saved who are yielded to Him and who are subject to His will.  (John 3:6; 16:7-11; Romans 8:9; I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:30; 5:18; II Thess. 2:7; I John 2:20-27.)
 We believe that some gifts of the Holy Spirit such as speaking in tongues and miraculous healings were temporary.  We believe that speaking in tongues was not the common or necessary sign of the baptism nor of the filling of the Spirit, and that the deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection.  (Acts 4:8, 31; Romans 8:23; I Cor. 13:8.)


SECTION 6    ANGELS, FALLEN AND UNFALLEN

We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless, spiritual beings known as angels; that one, "Lucifer, son of the morning" - the highest in rank - sinned through pride, thereby becoming Satan (the devil); that a great company of the angels followed him in his moral fall, some of whom became demons and are active as his agents and associates in the working of his unholy purposes, while others who fell are "reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day."  (Isa. 14:12-17; Ezek. 28:11-19; I Tim. 3:6; II Peter 2:4; Jude 6.)
 We believe that Satan is the originator of sin, and that under the permission of God he through deception led our first parents into transgression, thereby accomplishing their moral fall and subjecting them and their posterity to his own power; that he is the enemy of God and the people of God, opposing and exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped; and that he who in the beginning said, "I will be like the most High" in his warfare appears as an angel of light, even counterfeiting the works of God by fostering religious movements and systems of doctrine, which systems in every case are characterized by a denial of the sufficiency  of the blood of Christ and of salvation by grace alone.  (Gen. 3:1-19; Romans 5:12-14; II Cor. 4:3-4; 11:13-15; Eph. 6:10-12; II Thess. 2:4; I Tim. 4:1-3.)
 We believe that Satan was judged at the cross, though not then executed, and therefore he  now rules as the "god of this world"; that at the second coming of Christ, Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss for a thousand years, and after the thousand years he will be loosed for a little season and then "cast into the lake of fire and brimstone," where he "shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."  (Col. 2:15; Rev. 20:1-3, 10.)
 We believe that a great company of angels kept their holy estate and are before the throne of God, from where they are sent forth as ministering spirits to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.  (Luke 15:10; Eph. 1:21; Heb. 1:14; Rev. 7:12.)
 We believe that man was made lower than the angels; and that in His becoming man, Christ took for a little time this lower place that He might lift the believer to His own sphere above the angels.  (Heb. 2:6-10.)​



SECTION 7    CREATION AND THE FALL OF MAN 

We believe that God created the heavens and the earth.  Man was originally created in the image and after the likeness of God, and that he fell through sin, and as a consequence of his sin lost his spiritual life, becoming dead in trespasses and sins, and that he became subject to the power of Satan (the devil).  We believe that this spiritual death is total depravity of all human nature, and that all men are sinners by nature and by choice and are therefore under condemnation.  (Gen. 1:1; 1:26; 2:17; 6:5; Psalms 14:1-3; 51:5; Jer. 17:9; John 3:6; 5:40; 6:53; Rom. 3:10-19; 8:6-7; Eph. 2:1-3; I Tim. 5:6; I John 3:8).​

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SECTION 8    SALVATION 

Salvation is the gift of God based on the love of God and it is all His work.  The gift is the Lord Jesus, Himself.  He died and "rose" again paying the penalty for sin.  Salvation involves:
A)  A recognition of this truth about Jesus Christ and one's own condemnation through the conviction of the Holy Spirit;
  B)  Repentance, which is turning from sin and turning to the Lord
      Jesus Christ in acceptance of His free gift.
This salvation has all been accomplished by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We also believe that this salvation is permanent and can never be taken away or lost.  Romans 2:4, 3:23, 6:23, 10:8-15;  John 3:16-18, 1:12, 10:27-30;  Acts 2:38, 17:30;  II Cor. 7:10; II Tim. 2:25; Ephesians 2:8-10; I John 2:19; I Cor. 15:1-8.​



SECTION 9    THE CHURCH 

We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the Head, composed of all people who through faith in Jesus Christ have been born again by the Holy Spirit.  We believe that by the same Holy Spirit all believers are baptized into the body of Christ at the moment of salvation.  We also believe in the local church, whose membership consists of a company of believers in Jesus Christ, and who are associated for worship, Bible study, prayer, the ordinances, fellowship, and the evangelism of a lost world.  (Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:41-47; Eph. 4:1-15; I Cor. 12:12-13).  We believe that the local church is independent, governing itself as led by the Spirit of God.  (Acts 4:19, 6:17; I Cor. 4:4-6)​



SECTION 10    THE ORDINANCES 

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the church to be observed until He returns:  baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper.  By baptism a believer publicly declares his new life in Christ.  In the Lord's Supper, the believer is dramatically reminded of the sacrifice of Christ for our sin.  We believe that these two ordinances are not means for salvation, but acts of obedience.  (Matt. 3:13-17; 26:26-29; I Cor. 10:16, 17; 11:23,29;
Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5.).​

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SECTION 11    THE FAMILY 

We believe that God ordained two institutions:  the family and the church.   The Christian understands marriage is a covenant made under God, in the presence of fellow members of the Christian family, between a man and a woman.  The family is a group of individuals related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. The family exists to provide a safe secure space for generational nurture, characterized by truth and love.  (Gen. 1:26-28; 2:18-25; Eph. 5:22-33; 6:1-4; I Peter 3:1-7).​



SECTION 12    HETEROSEXUALITY AND HOMOSEXUALITY

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We believe heterosexuality is fundamental to the vitality and existence of any society.  Maleness and femaleness are not merely the result of social conditioning but the expression of God-designed and God-created differences that go to the heart of each individual's physical and psychological makeup.  Male and female are equal in value but different in nature.  We believe homosexual conduct is condemned in both Old and New Testaments for it is a deviation from God's creation and design.  Homosexual behavior, like all sins, can be forgiven, healed, and changed by the grace given by Jesus Christ Who transforms all of us into His image.(Gen. 1:26-28; Gen. 2:18-25; Lev. 20:13; Rom. 1:26-32; I Cor. 11:8-12; II Cor. 5:17).

 

SECTION 13    ABORTION

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We believe it is wrong to intentionally take the life of an innocent pre-born child.  The pre-born child, from the moment of conception and implantation, is a human being endowed by his or her Creator with divine dignity and inviolable rights.  Every human life is of infinite value to God and the intentional disenfranchisement and dismemberment of the unborn constitute an affront to God's righteousness.  We believe in the primacy of the life of the mother.  Anyone having had an abortion can know God's love and forgiveness just as anyone else knows it when they confess their sins.  (Ps. 139:13-16; 100:3; Prov. 24:11-12; 15:7; James 2:26; Luke 1:41, 44; Isa. 49:1; Jer. 1:4,5; Gal. 1:15).

SECTION 14    LAST THINGS 
We believe in the personal, pre-millenial, and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ to earth.  We believe His coming will be visible for the establishment of His kingdom.  We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the endless suffering of the wicked in the lake of fire, and the eternal blessedness of the believer in heaven.  (Matt. 24:1-51; 25:41; John 14:1-3; I Cor. 15; II Cor. 5:10; I Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 20:11-15; Rev. 21:1-22:5; Romans 6:23).



SECTION 15    THE CHRISTIAN WALK 

We believe that a Christian should live for the glory of God; that his conduct should be blameless before the world and that he should seek to realize for himself and others the full stature of maturity in Christ. 
We recognize that the Lord has drawn us together as a local body of believers, therefore, it is our aim to consider how to help one another grow in love and ministry.  To this end, we meet regularly to worship Christ and fellowship around His Word.  Heb. 10:24-25.  We aspire to devote ourselves to the health of the local church and its ministries.  We recognize that all that we have comes from God.  Our financial support of the body's ministries should reflect Christ's sacrificial gift to us.  (Rom. 12:1,2; Col. 2:6,7; 3:17; Titus 2:11-13).

A.  The Bible expressly defines certain actions as sinful or contrary to the will and Word of God.  There should be no question that believers should consistently abide by these limitations. (e.g.  Exodus 20:15; Eph. 4:28, 4:25; Col. 3:9; Exodus 20:14; Romans 13:13; I Thess.. 4:3 & 4; Eph. 5:18)
B.  The Bible is silent on many issues and these are therefore left to the judgment of believers.  Believer's actions in these matters of judgment must be governed by conviction based on the knowledge of the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:1- 15:6)
C.  In the matters of judgment, believers should be tolerant of one another's convictions and/or liberties.  However, believers should also be careful that their actions in these matters do not cause new or immature believers to stumble (i.e. sin).  (I Cor.  8:6-13 NIV)
D.  We must guard against both offending weak believers and imposing legalistic rules (i.e. rules not expressly stated in the Bible.)​



SECTION 16    THE CHRISTIAN'S SERVICE

We believe that divine, enabling gifts for ministry are bestowed by the Holy Spirit upon all who are saved. 
 We believe that every member of the body should be a functioning part of a local body of believers.  By this we mean that every person who becomes a part of this church should have a definite "place of service" to share their God-given gifts, talents and ministry with other members of that local body.
 We believe also that today some men are especially called of God to be evangelists, pastors, and teachers, and that it is to the fulfilling of His will and to His eternal glory that these shall be sustained and encouraged in their service for God. (Romans 12:6; I Cor. 12:4-11; Eph. 4:11.)
 We believe that, wholly apart from salvation benefits which are bestowed equally upon all who believe, rewards are promised according to the faithfulness of each believer in his service for his Lord, and that these rewards will be bestowed at the judgment seat of Christ after He comes to receive His own to Himself.  (I Cor. 3:9-15; 9:18-27; II Cor. 5:10.)​