OUR Faith
About the Bible:
The Holy Spirit chose human authors to write the books of the Bible. God Himself inspired every word of Scripture. The Bible is God’s love letter to all of humanity and is the final authority in every issue it communicates. It is complete Truth, and we can trust it for all matters in this life and eternity. (2 Tim. 13:16, Eph. 2:19-21, Luke 24:27, 44, Mark 12:35, 2 Peter 1:12,Heb 4:12)
About Creation:
God has revealed in Scripture the authentic and historical account of His creative activity. He created the universe, and in a recent six-day creation the Lord made “the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them” and rested on the seventh day. Thus He established the Sabbath as a perpetual memorial of the work He performed and completed during six literal days that together with the Sabbath constituted the same unit of time that we call a week today. (Gen 1, Ex. 20:9-11, Heb. 11:3, Matt 19:4-6)
About God:
Scripture teaches that God created everything out of nothing. Although it might be difficult for the human mind to comprehend, the Bible teaches that He is One, yet exists as three distinct and equal persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Gen. 1:1, Heb 11:3)
About God the Father:
In the Bible, God the Father reveals Himself to be the Creator of all reality. He reigns from the throne of heaven as the Ancient of Days in glory, surrounded by spiritual beings who praise and attend Him continually. He is shown to be King of the Universe and all Creation. He holds court over all other spiritual beings and is the full embodiment of goodness, justice, and mercy. Being God, He is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. The Son and the Spirit both submit themselves to Him. He is the motive force behind the reconciliation of humanity back to himself, though He works through the ministries of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. The Father affirmed ministry of Christ in speaking at his Baptism, at the Mount of Transfiguration, and when He spoke over the Greek proselytes. (Gen. 1:1, Dan. 7:9-10, Rev. 4, Ps. 47:8, John 15:26, John 16:28, Eph. 2:4-22, Ps. 139:7-12, Matt 3:16-27, Matt. 17:5-6, John 12:27-29)
About Jesus:
Jesus Christ is the Son of God and equal to the Father in divinity. He is uncreated and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit and his activities are recorded throughout the Old and New Testaments. During the first century A.D., He was incarnated through a virgin birth. From that point forward, Jesus Christ is fully God and fully Human. During his earthly ministry, He took upon himself every physical constraint and limitation of a human being while retaining a divine relationship with The Father and the Spirit, exercised through intense prayer, perfect faith, and total submission to the will of God. After living a perfect, sinless life, Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for every human being by dying on a Roman cross and enduring separation from The Father. On the third day after his crucifixion, He defeated sin and death by rising from the grave. He then ascended to Heaven, was given “all authority” in heaven and earth. He will return to Earth in glory. (John 1:1-3, 9-14, Col. 1:15-23, Phil 2:4-11, Judg. 6:21-24, Josh. 5:14-15, Heb 4:15, Matt.14:23, Luke 5:16, John 17:20-23, Matt 28:18-20, Mark 15:33–34, Luke 23:54–24:7, Acts 1:9–11, 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18)
About the Holy Spirit:
The Holy Spirit is a full and equal part of the Trinity. He was present at Creation, inspired the writers of the Bible, and was instrumental throughout the earthly ministry of Christ. He works in the world to make people understand their need for Jesus Christ. Since Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has indwelt every follower of Jesus. The Spirit empowers believers for life, ministry and spiritual growth, gives Spiritual Gifts and the Fruit of the Spirit as outgrowths of a Christian’s walk, yielding consistently to his prompting and leading. The Spirit is fully personal (not an ‘it’ but a ‘Him’), though often more mysterious since His role is to teach, comfort, and guide believers to Christ and The Father rather than Himself.(Gen. 1:2, Psalm 51:11, Luke 1:35, Luke 3:22, John 14:26, John 15:26, John 16:7–15, John 3:8, Acts 1:8, Ephesians 3:14–19,
About Salvation:
We believe salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone. God created humanity in his image, perfect and innocent. Through the choice of Adam and Eve to disobey God, human nature became twisted toward selfishness. This disobedient nature has eternally separated us from our Creator. No matter how hard we try, we can never earn our way back into God’s presence. Our only hope is to accept the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as a gift given that pays for the penalty of our sin, reunites us to the Father, and makes a way for us to experience the resurrection and eternal life. Whenever we accept that gift, we step into the eternal and abundant life that Jesus offers for all believers. (Gen. 3:1-15, John 3:16, Eph 2:1-10, Romans 3:21–26, Galatians 4:3–7)
About Baptism:
Baptism is one of the ordinances given to the Church by Christ and represents the most important outward act a Christian can take. It is neither the end of Bible Study and Discipleship, nor the beginning of the Christian walk. Instead it is an important step in the development of a Christian life when a Christian commits publicly to live a life defined by following Jesus. In following the Biblical examples set before us, we believe that Baptism is to occur as the result of a Spirit-led, conscious decision, meaning that we do not administer infant baptism. Furthermore, it is accomplished through complete immersion to fully symbolize the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ on the behalf of the Christian and the washing away of the guilt of Sin. Finally, we recognize that there is “one baptism” meaning that the Biblical baptism will occur in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.(Matt. 28:18-20, Acts 2:38, Acts 16:31-34, Ephesians 4:4-6)
About Growing in Jesus:
When you come into a saving relationship with Jesus, you enter into a covenant with Him. A covenant is more binding than a simple relationship of affection and more loving than a business contract. In salvation there is a balance of security and freedom. Security in that God inspires and leads the Christian from immaturity to maturity and that just as salvation is not gained through good works, so it is not lost through a sinful act. At the same time, Freedom remains present, allowing the Christian to walk away from the Gospel and reject the gift that has been given. (1 John 5:13, John 13:9-10, 2 Timothy 4:10, 1 Timothy 1:18-20, 2 Peter 3:17-18)
About Human Identity and Destiny:
The soul, or identity, of a human is not separate from the body. The soul of a human is found in the bringing together of the body with the God-given breath of life or spirit. The breath of life is not a separate sentient aspect of humanity; it is the power of God giving life to the individual. This means that death is not a conscious state of separation from the body until the Resurrection, but a state of unconsciousness until called forth once more from the grave by Jesus Himself. Furthermore, this means that the final eternal separation from God is not a conscious eternal torture, but a final act of justice that brings an end to all beings who have rejected God. Finally, because the body and soul are not separate, this means that Gospel renewal should be applied to the whole person: physical, relational, emotional, and social as well as to the spiritual. (Gen. 2:7, Ps. 146:3-4, Eccl. 9:5-6, Mark 8:34-38, John 11:11-15, 1 Thess 4:13-18, Rev. 20:7-10, Mal. 4:2-3, 3 John 2)
About the Church:
The Bible tells us that the church is the body of Christ in the world today. The New Testament tells us the church is both a local body of baptized believers and the greater Body of Believers around the world and throughout history. The head of the church is Jesus Christ and His spirit is working and evident in the ground-level fellowship and actions of the Church as it is grounded in the Gospel and pursuing the will of God. The biblical purposes of the church are worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship and service to others. (1 Cor. 12:12-13, 27, Matt. 28: 18-20, Acts 1:8, Matt. 18:18-20, John 16:20-23)
About the Family:
The pattern for marriage, as set forth in the Bible, is between one man and one woman. The marriage is designed to be an illustration of the community enjoyed by God in the Trinity. It is designed to be a union that provides complete love and enjoyment of both parties. Marriage is the only Biblically sanctioned context for sexual intimacy. The Bible sets forth a picture of marriage which simultaneously affirms the full equality of men and women before God and within the marriage, yet celebrates the differences of the two genders. (Mark 10:5-9, Gen. 1:26, 27, Gen. 2:15-25, Eph. 5:22-33, Rom. 1:24-32)
About Sabbath:
The Seventh-day Sabbath was established by God at Creation for all humanity then re-articulated in the Ten Commandments. Obedience to the law is not the way to salvation, but the outgrowth of one who has experienced salvation. In the same way, resting on the Sabbath symbolizes resting in Christ for His gift of salvation. Keeping the seventh day Sabbath set apart by refraining from work and by gathering with other believers is shown throughout the Bible as one of the prime ways to honor God. It commemorates His role as Creator and is a powerful reminder to trust Him by refraining from our own work and common responsibilities for one day out of the week.(Gen. 2:1-2, Ex. 20:8-11, Is. 58:13-14, Matt. 12:1-14, Heb 4:9-11, Is. 66:22-23)
About Christ’s Return:
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. Based upon the prophetic timeline found in Daniel, Revelation, and the gospels, we believe that his return is near. The urgency of that event is what inspires us to reach those who do not know God with added passion. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth, the dead will be raised and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. (Acts. 1:9-11, John 14:1-4, 1 Thess. 4:13-18, Matt. 24:29-31, Rev. 19:11-16, Rev. 20:11-15, Rev. 21:1-8, Isa. 60)