What We Believe
The faith we hold
These are the truths that shape everything we teach, sing, and live out together as a church.
God
We believe in one living and true God, Creator of all things, an eternal, infinite, uncreated, and immutable Spirit, holy and perfect in all His attributes: omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. He is one in essence yet eternally exists in three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, without division of nature or being. Having sovereign power and limitless knowledge, God works all things according to the counsel of His own will, and from eternity He purposed in grace to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.
Scripture references
John 4:24; 1 Chronicles 29:11; Matthew 28:19; Ephesians 1:11
The Bible
We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.
Scripture references
2 Timothy 3:16–17; 2 Peter 1:20–21; John 17:17
The Human Condition
We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, totally depraved, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.
Scripture references
Genesis 1:27; Romans 5:12; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:1–3
Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus, Israel’s promised Messiah, was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.
Scripture references
John 1:1, 14; Luke 1:35; Hebrews 4:15; Acts 1:9–11
The Work of Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation, which is received freely by grace through repentance and faith in Him.
Scripture references
Isaiah 53:5–6; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
Scripture references
John 16:8, 14; Titus 3:5; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 8:15–16
The Church
We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers, and is led by pastors and elders, with deacons serving under their oversight. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances: baptism, the immersion of the believer in water, and the Lord’s Supper, the memorial of His death observed with the bread and the cup. Though they have in no sense a saving or sanctifying work, these ordinances visibly express the gospel and call the believer to remember and proclaim Christ’s death until He comes.
Scripture references
Ephesians 2:8–9; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 3:1–13; Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26
Christian Living
We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.
Scripture references
Matthew 22:37–39; Micah 6:8; Ephesians 6:10–12; Matthew 28:19–20
Christ’s Return
We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.
Scripture references
Acts 1:11; Matthew 24:36; Titus 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17
Response and Eternal Destiny
We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.
Scripture references
Acts 17:30; John 5:28–29; Matthew 25:46; Revelation 21:1–4