Doctrinal Statement
The Holy Scriptures
We believe that the Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God, His Revelation to man, inerrant in the original writings and that it is the supreme and final authority in all matters of doctrine, faith, and life. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
The Trinity of the God-Head
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)
The Pre-Existence, Deity, and Incarnation of Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ ever existed with the Father and Holy Spirit and that in His incarnation was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary and is true God and true man. (John 1:1-19 & 1 Timothy 3:16)
The Creation and Fall of Man
We believe that man was created in the image of God; that he sinned and incurred not only physical death but spiritual death, which is separation from God; and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature, are totally depraved and for those that reach moral responsibility become sinners in thought, word, and deed, and that they must be born-again to be accepted by God. (Romans 5:12; Romans 3:10; Romans 3:23; John 3:1-21)
The Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ
We believe that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who believe in Him are saved on the grounds of His shed blood. We believe that He arose bodily from the dead and on the third day in the same body in which He suffered and died. We also believe that our Lord ascended into Heaven; that He is now seated at the right hand of the Father and is our High Priest and Divine Advocate with the Father. We believe that by His finished work of the Cross and His unceasing ministry of intercession in Glory, that Jesus Christ has procured for every believer Eternal Redemption, Eternal Salvation, and Everlasting Life. (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4; Romans 5:9; John 20:27; Mark 16:19; Hebrews 5:9, 7:25, 8:1, 9:12; 1John 2:1; John 3:16)
The Personality and Ministry of the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person, that He convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, that He regenerates the sinner by the Word of God, that He permanently indwells the church, and the body of each believer, that He seals, enlightens, and instructs, and guides every born-again person, and that He is the sufficient power for godly living, Christian service and spiritual worship. (John 16:7-15; John 3:5-7; 1 Peter 1:23; Ephesians 4:30; John 14:16, 17, 26)
The Nature of the Church
We believe that the church of Jesus Christ was begun at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended from Heaven and came into the Church; that it is composed solely of born-again people who have been called out from among the Jews and Gentiles to become the Body and Bride of our Lord. Christ, glorified in Heaven, is its Head, and the Holy Spirit on earth is the active agent of the God-Head who ever seeks to bring about within its rank conformity and obedience to the Word or God and the Will of God. The one body unites believers to each other, and all to Christ; and its chief purpose of existence is to proclaim the Gospel to the world. (Acts 2; Acts 1:8; Acts 15:14; Romans 1:16; Ephesians 5:23-24)
Ordinances
We believe that ordinances of the New Testament Church are significant above any other that Christians are commanded to observe. While recognizing that Water Baptism has no saving merit it is our conviction that after one is saved, Baptism is the next step in order to portray to the world the believer’s union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. It is our conviction that the scriptural method of Water Baptism is complete immersion. We believe that Jesus Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper to commemorate His death until He come. We further believe that Water Baptism by immersion is observed but once, but the Lord’s Supper is commemorative and is to be observed often as a memorial of the broken body and the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Matthew 28:19; Matthew 3:13-17; 1 Corinthians 11:23-33; Acts 8:31-38)
Our Lord’s Second Advent
We believe in the Blessed Hope, the personal, pre-millennial, pre-tribulation, and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which is known as the Rapture of the Church. We also believe in the personal, visible, and glorious return of Christ to earth with His saints at the end of the Great Tribulation. This phase of His coming is known as the Revelation of Jesus Christ. When He returns to earth with His saints, we believe that Jesus Christ will establish His millennial kingdom and will reign for one thousand years. (Titus 2:13; 1Thessalonians 4:13-17; John 14:3; Revelation 19:11-21, 20:1-6)
