The Gospel
The word Gospel means “good news.” In a world filled with disappointment and despair, God’s Word offers help and hope. In fact, it is more than just help for your earthly life: the Bible shares the key to eternal life by explaining how you can have a relationship with your Creator through His Son, Jesus Christ. Every individual needs what Christ has provided because God is holy and we are not. Our sins have separated us from a God who is also just. He cannot and will not merely overlook our rebellion. But he is also loving. In his love, God has provided a way to be both just and to treat sinners as if they had never sinned. That way involved sending his eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to live the perfect life required of us but which we could not live. In a wonderful exchange, the innocent Christ offered to trade places with sinners, suffering the punishment of our sins and offering his perfect record of righteousness to us in their place. Lest we have any doubts about it, God erased them by raising Christ from the dead, assuring us that his words were true and his atonement was sufficient. This salvation is now offered as a gift of grace to be received by faith. With this gift comes the presence of God in the believer's life and the power of God to live like the new creation they are.
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STATEMENT OF FAITH
THE SCRIPTURES
The Holy Scriptures. We believe that the Bible, Old and New Testament Scriptures, as given in the original languages is both the verbal (each word) and plenary (in its entirety) inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed and are, therefore, the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to Man. (Hebrews 4:12-13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Romans 10:13-17; 2 Corinthians 3:18). God has preserved His Word for us through thousands of manuscripts and versions that have been copied and translated from the originals. Any translation that faithfully, reverently, and skillfully renders the words of the original languages into another language is God's Word (Numbers 23:19; Psalm 12:6; Matthew 24:35; John 17:17).
THE GODHEAD
We believe in one triune God, eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; John 14:10, 26; 2 Cor. 13:14)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men. (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Luke1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; 2 Cor. 5:19-21; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-8) He accomplished our redemption through his death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice, and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Acts 2:18-36; Rom. 3:24-25; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 Peter 1:3-5) We believe that Christ ascended to Heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate. (Acts 1:9-10; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 9:24; 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2)
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1:13-14) He is the divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and apply the Scriptures. It is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit but, while the believer can grieve, tempt, and quench the Holy Spirit, though these actions do not result in the loss of the Spirit's indwelling . (Eph. 1:17-18; 5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27)
CREATION
We believe that the triune God created the universe out of nothing for His glory. We believe the Genesis account of creation is neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of God’s creation of the universe in six literal, 24-hour days. (Genesis 1:1; Revelation 4:11; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Job 33:4).
SALVATION
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God; but that in Adam’s sin the human race became guilty of sin, inherited a sinful nature, and was alienated from God. Man is totally depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-19) We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by repentance of sin and personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who shed His blood on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. We believe that any sinner who responds to God’s grace with repentance and faith will be saved. (Matt. 12:31-32; John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:9) We believe that once a person is saved, he is kept by God’s power and remains secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1; 38- 39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1 Pet. 1:4-5) Scripture is clear that there will be individuals who profess to be saved and may, for a time, evidence some of what appears to be fruit of salvation but who ultimately fall away. Because true believers persevere in their faith by the grace of God, these give evidence that they were never truly born again. (Mat. 7:22-23, 24:13, Luke 8, Rev. 2:11)
HEAVEN AND HELL
We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 20:4-6) This future hope will culminate in a new creation: a glorious kingdom, prepared for the saints, without sin, and under God's perfect rule. There we will fellowship with God and one another, rejoicing in the beauty of the New Jerusalem and reigning with God forever. (Revelation 21:3-4; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1; Romans 8:19-21; Matthew 25:34; John 14:1-3; Revelation 22:3; Revelation 19:9; Luke 22:18; Revelation 21, 22:5; Psalm 16:11).
We believe that Hell is a place of conscious torment, a place prepared for the devil and his angels but which will be the final and eternal destination of the souls and bodies of all those who, like him, rebel against the Creator (Matthew 5:22, 29; Revelation 19:20, 20:15).
This statement is a summary of some of our core beliefs. For a complete copy of our doctrinal statement, please contact us.
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