We believe in:

God.  We believe in the one true, holy, and living God.  This one God is Triune in essential being revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, distinct but inseparable, eternally one in essence and power. 

God the Father.  We believe in God the Father, the First Person of the Triune Godhead.  He is the loving creator of all things and reigns with providential care over all His creation.  He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise.  God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. 

God the Son.  We believe in Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Triune Godhead, truly God and truly man, in whom the divine and human natures are perfectly and inseparably united.  He is the eternal Word made flesh, the only begotten Son of the Father, born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit.  As ministering Servant he lived, suffered, and died on the cross.  He was buried, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven to be with the Father, from whence He shall return.  He is the only means of salvation for mankind and serves as Savior and Lord to all who believe in His name. 

God the Holy Spirit.  We believe in God the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Triune Godhead.  He convinces the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.  He leads humanity through faithful response to the Gospel into the fellowship of the Church.  He comforts, sustains, and empowers the faithful and guides them into all truth.  He offers the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) as ever-increasing confirmation of His ongoing work in the life of a believer. 

Holy Scriptures.  We believe in the full and complete inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, the 66 Books of the Old and New Testament.  This Word of God reveals completely and without failing in purpose all things necessary for our salvation and God’s sanctifying work in our lives.  It is to be received through the Holy Spirit as the true rule and guide for faith and practice.  Whatever is not revealed in or established by the Holy Scriptures is not to be made an article of faith nor is it to be taught as essential to salvation. 

Sin.  Mankind was originally created in the image and likeness of God but fell through disobedience, incurring not only physical death but also spiritual death which is separation from God.  All people are born with a sinful nature, are separated from the life of God, and can only be saved through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Prevenient Grace.  We believe in God’s active presence in our lives.  He works in the lives of people even before conversion helping people know right from wrong and stirring a desire to know God and return to fellowship with Him through Christ.  He loved us before we loved Him. 

Saving Grace (Salvation).  We believe God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.  The offering Christ freely made on the cross is the perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, redeeming humanity from all sin, so that no other satisfaction is required.  Jesus made a full atonement for all human sin and this Atonement is the only ground of salvation, sufficient for every individual.  Repentance is the act of turning away from sin in every area of our lives and to follow Christ, allowing us to receive His redemption of sin.  Those who are saved are justified and pardoned of all guilt and penalty of sin, receive regeneration – the new birth – into life in God, and are adopted as a child of God.  The Atonement is graciously experienced for the salvation of those incapable of moral responsibility and for the children in innocency but is experienced for the salvation of those who reach the age of responsibility only when they repent and believe.  God’s saving work is available for everyone but can be refused. 

Sanctifying Grace.  It is the will of God that each believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit and be sanctified wholly, being separated from sin and fully dedicated to the will of God, thereby receiving power for holy living, Spirit fruitfulness, and effective service.  Sanctification is the work of God’s grace through the Word and Spirit by which those who have been born again are cleansed from sin in thoughts, words, and acts, and are enabled to live in accordance with God’s will.  Salvation is not a static, one-time event in our lives.  It is the ongoing experience of God’s gracious presence transforming us into whom God intends us to be.  We believe the experience of sanctification does not deliver us from the infirmities, ignorance, and mistakes common to mankind, not from the possibility of further sin.  As a believer continues to guard against spiritual pride and be shaped through the Holy Spirit there is more than enough power for every believer to live victoriously over all sin. 

The Church.  We believe the Christian Church is the community of all true believers under the Lordship of Christ.  The Church is one (single in purpose for Christ), holy (under the Lordship of Christ), apostolic (connected to the Day of Pentecost), and catholic (“universal” – available for everyone throughout the world).  There is a spiritual unity of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.  Under the discipline of the Holy Spirit the Church fulfills its mission of making disciples among all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that Christ commanded. 

The Sacraments.  We believe the Sacraments, ordained by Christ, are symbols and pledges of the Christian’s profession and of God’s love toward us.  They are means of grace by which God works invisibly in us, quickening, strengthening, and confirming our faith in Him.  Two sacraments are ordained by Christ our Lord, namely Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. 

Baptism.  We believe Baptism signifies entrance into the household faith and is a symbol of repentance and inner cleansing from sin, a representation of the new birth in Christ Jesus, and a mark of Christian discipleship. 

Holy Communion.  Communion Supper instituted by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a sacrament, proclaiming His life, sufferings, sacrificial death, resurrection, and the hope of His coming again. The Lord’s Supper is a means of grace in which Christ is present by the Spirit. All are invited to participate by faith in Christ and be renewed in life, salvation, and in unity as the Church. All are to come in reverent appreciation of its significance, and by it show forth the Lord’s death until He comes. Those who have faith in Christ are invited by Christ to participate as often as possible.

Second Coming.  We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will come again.  We believe all people stand under the righteous judgment of Jesus Christ, both now and in the last day.  We believe in the resurrection of the dead; the righteous to life eternal, and the wicked to endless condemnation.