WE BELIEVE

That the Holy Spirit inspired the human authors of Holy Scripture so that the Bible is without error in the original manuscripts. We receive the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments as our final, absolute authority; and it is, therefore, our infallible rule in all matters.

THE TRINITY

WE BELIEVE there is one God. He is the eternal King. He is an infinite, unchangeable Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, goodness, justice, power and love. As the only true and living God, He exists in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory

JESUS

WE BELIEVE that in the fullness of time, God honored His covenants with Israel and His prophetic promises of salvation by sending His Son, Jesus, into the world. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, both fully God and fully man in one person. He is humanity as God intended us to be. Jesus was anointed as God’s Messiah and empowered by the Holy Spirit, inaugurating God’s kingdom reign on earth, overpowering the reign of Satan by resisting temptation, preaching the good news of salvation, healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead. Gathering his disciples, he reconstituted God’s people as his Church to be the instrument of his kingdom. After dying for the sins of the world, Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day, fulfilling the covenant of blessing given to Abraham. In His sinless, perfect life, Jesus met the demands of the law; and in His atoning death on the cross, he took God’s judgment for sin, which we deserve as law-breakers. By His death on the cross he also disarmed the demonic powers. The covenant with David was fulfilled in Jesus’ birth from David’s house, His messianic ministry, his glorious resurrection from the dead, His ascent into heaven and His present rule at the right hand of the Father. As God’s Son and David’s heir, He is the eternal Messiah-King, advancing God’s reign throughout every generation and throughout the whole earth today.

THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

WE BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Church at Pentecost in power, baptizing believers into the Body of Christ and releasing the gifts of the spirit to them. The Holy Spirit brings the permanent indwelling presence of God to us for spiritual worship, personal sanctification, building up of the Church, gifting for ministry, and driving back the power of Satan by the evangelization of the world through proclaiming the word of Jesus and doing the works of Jesus. WE BELIEVE that the fruit of the Spirit is the manifest character of Christ in the believer’s life.

SATAN AND DEMONIC HOSTS

WE BELIEVE that Satan, originally a great, good angel, rebelled against God, taking a host of angels with him. He was cast out of God’s presence and as a usurper of God’s rule, established a counter-kingdom of darkness and evil on the earth

CREATION OF MAN, THE FALL AND ORIGINAL SIN

WE BELIEVE that God created mankind in his own image, male and female, for relationship with Himself and to govern the earth. Under temptation of Satan, our original parents fell from grace, bringing sin, sickness and God’s judgement of death to the earth. Through the fall, Satan and his demonic hosts gained access to God’s good creation. Creation now experiences the consequences and effects of Adam’s original sin. Human beings are born in sin, subject to God’s judgment of death, and captive to Satan’s kingdom of darkness.

SALVATION ONLY THROUGH CHRIST

WE BELIEVE that the whole world is under the domination of Satan, and that all people are sinners by nature and choice. All people, therefore, are under God’s just judgment. Through the preaching of the Good News of Jesus and the kingdom of God and the work of the Holy Spirit, God regenerates, justifies, adopts and sanctifies through the blood of Jesus by the Spirit all who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. By this, they are released from Satan’s domain and enter into God’s kingdom reign.

INDWELLING AND FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

WE BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ, and that He is our abiding helper, teacher, and guide. We believe in the filling or the empowering of the Holy Spirit for ministry today subsequent to conversion. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit and in the exercise of all of the biblical gifts of the Spirit. We practice the laying on of hands for the empowering of the Spirit, for healing and for recognition and commissioning of those whom God has ordained to lead and serve the Church.

THE CHURCH

WE BELIEVE in one, holy, universal Church. All who repent of their sins and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and form the living Body of Christ, of which He is the head and of which we are all members. WE BELIEVE that the Church is God’s primary instrument through which He is fulfilling His redemptive purpose in the earth. To equip the saints for the work of ministry, God has given apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. We also affirm the priesthood of all believers and the importance of every Christian being joined with, and actively involved with, a local community of saints. We believe that women, no less than men, are called and gifted to proclaim the gospel and do all the works of the Kingdom. However, final governmental authority in the Church has ideally been entrusted to men.

ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH

WE BELIEVE that Jesus committed two ordinances to the church – Water Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Both are available to all believers. Water Baptism, immersion the preferred method, is the New Covenant sign of circumcision of the heart. We believe through baptism we are identified with Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. WE BELIEVE that through the Lord’s Supper the believer renews and affirms the reality of Christ’s death, resurrection and imminent return.

LIFE AFTER DEATH

WE BELIEVE that when the Christian dies he/she passes immediately into the presence of Christ, there to enjoy conscious fellowship with the savior until the day of the resurrection and glorious transformation of the body. The saved will forever dwell in fellowship with the Triune God. We also believe that when the unbeliever dies, he/she is consigned to hell, there to wait the day of judgment when he/she shall be punished with eternal separation from the presence of God.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND FINAL JUDGMENT

WE BELIEVE that God’s kingdom has come in the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, that it continues to come in the ministry of the Spirit through the Church, and that it will be consummated in the glorious, visible and triumphant appearing of Christ – His return to the earth as King. After Christ returns to reign, He will bring about the final defeat of Satan and all of his minions and works, the resurrection of the dead, the final judgment and eternal blessing of the righteous, and eternal conscious punishment of the wicked. Finally, God will be all-in-all, and His kingdom, His rule and reign, will be fulfilled in the new heavens and the new earth, recreated by His mighty power, in which righteousness dwells and in which he will forever be worshiped.