We believe the Bible alone is the inspired Word of God, in whole and in part (2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16). We believe that the sixty-six canonical books of the Old and New Testaments are without error as originally written, infallible, authoritative, wholly sufficient for faith, life and practice (2 Timothy 3:15-17; Psalm 19:7-11, 119:9, 11, 104, 105), and do not change or fade away (Psalm 119:152, 160; Matthew 5:18; Luke 16:17).

We believe in the one triune God, eternally subsisting as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, equal in power, glory and dignity (John 14:26; 16:13-15; Acts 2:33). God is self-existent, infinite, perfect, all-knowing, all-powerful, and He is the sovereign ruler of all. While He is incomprehensible to the human mind, He is knowable to the extent that He has revealed Himself in the written Word (Holy Scripture), the living Word (the Lord Jesus Christ), and in His creation. Other attributes of the triune God include His holiness, His love, His justice, His goodness, and His immutability (Psalm 135:6; Revelation 4:8; Psalm 90:1-2; James 1:17; Malachi 3:6; Romans 9:15-16; 11:33; 2 Peter 3:9; Psalm 147:5, 9; 1 John 3:18; Psalm 145:1-7; Isaiah 55:8-9; 1 Peter 1:15-16; Ephesians 3:20; Job 36:4, etc.).

We believe in the Father, who ordains and works all things after the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). He is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:17) and of all true believers (Galatians 3:26). The Father and the Son are one (John 10:30) and the Father is the head of Christ the Son (1 Corinthians 11:3).

We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9), who was virgin-born (Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:26-35) and sinless (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:21-22); that He is fully God and fully human (John 1:1, 14; 10:30; Philippians 2:5-8), who in Himself fulfilled all righteousness before God His Father (Matthew 3:15), and bore our sins upon the cross (1 Peter 2:24), fully satisfying God’s justice for sinners before God (Romans 3:24-25). We believe Christ rose bodily from the dead (John 20:26-27; 1 Corinthians 15:3-9), ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9), presently intercedes for His own (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25), sustains all of His creation (Colossians 1:17), and one day will return with power and glory to judge the living and the dead (Acts 17:30-31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 19:19-21).

We believe in the Holy Spirit, His personhood (John 16:13-14; 15:26; Acts 13:2) and deity (Acts 5:3-4; 1 Corinthians 12:6, 11; Matthew 28:19), who, sent by the Father and the Son (John 14:26, 15:26), came to convict the world of sin (John 16:8-11), and to call (Revelation 22:17), regenerate (John 3:3-5), seal (Ephesians 1:13, 4:30), sanctify (Romans 15:16; 1 Corinthians 6:11), assure (Romans 8:16), guide (Romans 8:14; John 16:13), and empower God’s children to holy life and to exercise their spiritual gifts for fruitful service (Acts 1:8; Micah 3:8, Ephesians 5:18-19; Galatians 5:16, 22-23; 1 Corinthians 12:4-13, 13:1-3).

We believe that angels are created beings and are therefore not to be worshipped. They bring glory to God by serving Him and ministering, under His direction, to His people (Luke 2:9-14; Hebrews 1:6-7, 14; 2:6-7; Revelation 5:11-14; 19:10; 22:9).

Satan is a created angel who incurred the judgment of God by rebelling against his Creator (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19). He took numerous angels with him in his fall (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:1-14), and introduced sin into the human race by his temptation of Eve (Genesis 3:1-15).

Satan is the declared enemy of God and man (Isaiah 14:13-14; Matthew 4:1-11; Revelation 12:9-10). He is the prince of this world and has been defeated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 16:20). He shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10).

We believe that God created man in His own image to have dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26-30), to glorify God (Isaiah 43:7), and to live in fellowship with Him (1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 John 1:3). Man was created free of sin, but Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s command. Adam’s disobedience brought sin and death upon the entire human race (Romans 5:12, 19). As a result, man is sinful by nature (Psalm 14:3; 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9) and by choice (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). Man is able to make choices that are his own and for which he is responsible (Genesis 4:7; Acts 16:31); however, such choices are governed by his nature (John 8:42-44; Ephesians 2:3). Apart from Christ, man is in spiritual darkness (John 12:46), enslaved to sin (Romans 6:16-19), and spiritually dead in his sins (Ephesians 2:1, 5). Man’s sinful nature makes him unable to comprehend the things of the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:14), unable to do anything that is pleasing to God (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 8:8, 14:23; Hebrews 11:6), and unable to commend himself to God (John 6:44).

We also believe that God is gracious to all of mankind (Psalm 145:8-9). By His grace, God gives physical blessings (Matthew 5:44-45), provides a restraining influence on sin (Genesis 31:7; Romans 2:15; 13:1-4), and gives man an intellectual understanding of His existence (Romans 1:21). Through these means and others, God demonstrates His love, patience, and kindness toward sinners.

We believe that salvation is wholly by God’s grace (Ephesians 1:7; 2:9-10), through the finished work of Jesus Christ and His substitutionary death (1 Peter 3:18) and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). God chose those whom He graciously regenerates, saves, and sanctifies to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:4, 6; Colossians 1:12-13). Salvation from sin and spiritual death is found in Christ and Christ alone (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). The blessings of salvation are offered freely to all by the Gospel (John 3:16), and it is the responsibility of man to respond to that gospel by repenting of his sin and trusting in Jesus with obedient faith (Romans 10:9-10; John 5:24). We acknowledge that from man’s perspective there appears to be a great tension between sovereign election and human responsibility (Romans 9:19-23; John 6:35-37, 44); however, we know that God’s ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9) and confidently rest in the fact that these matters are settled in His infinite wisdom.

We believe that those who are truly born again are kept secure forever in Christ (John 6:39-40; 10:27-29) and are enabled by God to persevere to the end (Philippians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Jude 24). Those whom God calls, He sanctifies, and these will He also glorify (Romans 8:28-30). This security is a cause for believers to rejoice, but it is not to be regarded as a license for sinful living (Romans 6:1-2; Galatians 5:13). Those who profess faith in Christ, but who later harden their hearts toward Him, show that their faith was not genuine and they were not born of God (Hebrews 3:14; 1 John 2:19).

We believe in the church, the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18-24). The church is comprised of all regenerate believers from its beginning at Pentecost until it is taken out of the world by the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:47; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:26-27; Philippians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 4:16; Titus 2:13; James 5:8-9). We believe that professing Christians are called to commit themselves to active participation in a local church. Among the primary functions of the local church are worship (John 4:23; Colossians 3:16), teaching (Ephesians 4:11-12, 15-16; 2 Timothy 2:2, 4), fellowship (1 Thessalonians 4:18; Hebrews 3:13, 10:25), and discipline (Romans 15:1; Galatians 6:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:14; Hebrews 13:7). These ministries of the local church equip believers to go out into the world to be witnesses unto Christ and to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; James 5:20; 1 Peter 3:15).

We believe that marriage unites one man and one woman in a lifetime commitment to each other (Genesis 2:23-24; Matthew 19:4-6). Marriage provides for intimate companionship, pure sexual expression (Genesis 2:25; Ephesians 5:31-33), procreation, and reflects the relationship of Christ and the church (Genesis 1:28; Proverbs 5:15-19; 1 Corinthians 7:1-5). A husband is commanded to love his wife as Christ loved the church. A wife is commanded to respect her husband and submit to him as the church submits to Christ (Ephesians 5:22-33).

We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between one man and one woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, or pornography is a sinful perversion of God’s gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance (Genesis 2:24; Genesis 19:5,13; Genesis 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4). Such sinful behavior, if not repented, is a barrier to membership and leadership in this body of believers.

All parents who are members of the Church may, if they do desire, have their children dedicated at a time to be designated. This service will give the parents the opportunity to publicly acknowledge their child as a gift from God and will likewise serve as a pledge on the part of the parents and the congregation to bring the child up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and biblical standards. The service may only consist of a few words from the pastor and a prayer of dedication.

We believe that Jesus Christ will return in a visible, bodily, and glorious fashion to establish His Messianic Kingdom for a thousand years on the earth (Acts 1:11; Revelation 20:1-7). We believe in the resurrection of the dead (John 5:28-29; 1 Corinthians 15:42-44; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-16; Revelation 20:12-13), and that believers in Christ will enjoy eternal blessedness in His presence in the new heaven and new earth (John 14:2-3; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Revelation 21:1-7). Those who are not in Christ, because they remain in sin (John 8:21-24) and do not believe and obey the Gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:8), will justly suffer eternal and conscious torment for their sins (Matthew 13:41-42; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9), apart from the presence of God (Matthew 7:21-23; Revelation 20:15, 21:8).