What We Believe
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
We believe that the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God. We believe the Scriptures, being the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, to be completely inerrant in the original writings, and absolutely authoritative and infallible (II Tim 3:16-17; II Pet. 1:21).
We believe there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Deut 6:4; matt 28:19, II Cor 13:14).
We believe in the deity of Christ, His virgin birth, and shed blood for the atonement of all, bodily resurrection, and ascension into Heaven to be our Intercessor (Matt 1:23, Heb 9:22, Matt 28:6, Acts 1:11, I Tim 2:5).
We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, makes believers children of God through the New Birth, baptizes them into the body of Christ (I Cor 12:13), assures them of a place in Heaven, and by His indwelling and filling He enables Christians to live godly lives (Eph 5:18). His true work is revealed in glorifying Christ, not Himself (John 16:7-11, I Cor 6:19-20).
We believe the Genesis account of creation in 7 literal 24 hour days, that man was created by the direct act of God’s power, not by an evolutionary process. We believe God created the universe with age.
We believe it was with Adam that sin came and death by sin (Rom 5:12). We believe that all men are by nature and choice sinful and lost, and have within themselves no possible means of salvation (Rom 3:10, 23).
We believe in salvation by grace through faith in all ages; that salvation is the free gift of God, not by any virtue or works of man, but received only by the choice of personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; that all true believers possess the gift of eternal life, a perfect standing, adoption into the family of God, and the divine guarantee that they shall never perish but are eternally secure (Eph 2:8-9, John 10:27-30, Rom 3:24-28, Rom 6:23).
We believe in the existence of Satan, the deceiver and prince of this present world, that he was defeated and judged at the cross, and therefore his final doom is certain (Is 14:12-17, Eph 6:12, Gen 3:15, Rev 20:20).
We believe in the imminent rapture of the Church (I Thess 4:13-17). The tribulation period follows, during which God will pour our His righteous judgment upon the unbelieving world. Afterward, God the Son will descend in His Second Coming that will be personal and visible. He will then set up His millennial kingdom, and with His church, He will rule over all nations for 1,000 years (Rev 4:3-20).
We believe that at the death of the saved they go immediately to be with Christ in Heaven. Their bodies will be raised at the rapture, after which their works will be judged and rewards given. We believe that at the death of the unsaved, they descend immediately into Hell until the final day of The Great White Throne Judgment. There they shall be raised from the grave, judged, and cast into the Lake of Fire, the place of everlasting torment (Rev 20:15, II Cor 5:8 & 10, Luke 16:19-31).
We believe in everlasting conscious blessedness of the saved in heaven, and the everlasting conscious punishment of unbelievers in the Lake of Fire (Rev 21:3-4, 8).
We believe in the priesthood of all believers, that Christ is our Great High Priest, and through Him every born again person has direct access into God’s presence without the need of a human priest. The believer has the right and responsibility to personally study and interpret the Scriptures as guided by the Holy Spirit (I Pet 2:9, II Tim 2:15, Heb 4:14).
We believe that the New Testament Church (the first, beginning at Pentecost) is an organized body of believers who practice Scriptural ordinances (I Cor 11:23-32, Acts 2:41-47), seek to edify its members in love (Eph 4:11-16), and encourage one another to glorify God with a life of obedience and faithfulness (I Cor 15:58, Heb 10:24-25).
1. Baptism by immersion of Believers ONLY as an identification with Christ (I Pet. 3:21, Acts 2:47, 10:48, 8:36-39). Baptism is in no way a component necessary to salvation, but is willingly and gladly submitted to as an act of obedience by the believer.
2. The Lord’s Supper (to commemorate His broken body and shed blood) to be partaken by any obedient believer present (I Cor. 11:23-32).