STATEMENT OF FAITH
GOD
There is one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having unlimited knowledge and power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.
We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus—Israel's promised Messiah and fulfiller of the covenant promises of God—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.
We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. The Spirit regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
THE BIBLE
The One True God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words and works of human authors. As the inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.
HUMANITY
God created human beings, male and female, in His image, but they sinned, choosing to know evil rather than to only know the perfect goodness of God’s creation. In union with all humans, we are all sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed. Through this rescue, reconciliation, and renewal we believe that human thriving is now possible, though the world of human experience remains flawed by sin.
THE GOSPEL
The Gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Universe. We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe this gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will judge the whole world, assigning those who refuse the Gospel to condemnation and eternal punishment and assigning those who are faithful to Jesus to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace.
THE CHURCH
The true people of God, the church, comprises all who have been brought into covenant relationship with God by His grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed of believers who visibly and tangibly express the gospel. This living community confirms and nourishes the believer.
OBEDIENCE
God's justifying resurrection power must not be separated from its present, sanctifying power in our lives today. Good works and salvation must not be seen as independent; “salvation” is the thriving human life, lived as God generously created it to be lived. God therefore commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith for the glory of God, with care for one another, compassion toward the poor, and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed. Proclamation of the Gospel (evangelism) cannot be separated from our love of the entire human being, and the entire human race. This is because where true salvation enters a human life there obedience necessarily follows.
THE RETURN
We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.
In the present time, Christ stands before us with eyes blazing with fire, calling us to a life of radical devotion to His worship and His mission. We proclaim, with Him, the Kingdom of God is in our midst.
SEXUAL DESIGN
God’s design for sexual intimacy is to be expressed only within the context of marriage. God instituted marriage between one man and one woman as the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society. For this reason, we believe that marriage is exclusively the lifelong, monogamous union of one man and one woman.