THE BIBLE
We believe that the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is God breathed, so that it is without error in the original manuscripts and preserved by God and is the final authority and our standard for every age and every life. (Matthew 5:18; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21)
GOD
We believe in one God that eternally exists and reveals Himself in three persons – Father, Son, Holy Spirit – having each the same nature, attributes and perfections, worthy of the same worship and confidence. (Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19; John 1:1-2, 14, 10:30, 14:15-17; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
We believe in God as absolute and sole Creator and Sustainer of the universe, and that creation was by divine command, from nothing and not through an evolutionary process. (John 1:3, … 10; Acts 17:24-25; Genesis 1:1)
We believe that God, by His sovereign choice and out of love for men, sent Christ into the world to save sinners. (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 1:15; 1 John 4:14)
GOD THE SON
We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God in the flesh and fully man, that He was born of a virgin and that He lived a sinless life, in which He taught and demonstrated signs and wonders exactly as written in the four gospels. We believe that He was crucified, shed His blood, died to pay the penalty for our sins and was raised bodily from the dead on the third day. Forty days later He ascended to the Father’s right hand where He is Head of the Church and intercedes for believers. From there He is coming again personally, bodily and visibly to this earth to set up His millennial kingdom. (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6; Hebrews 1:1-2, 7:25; Luke 1:30-35; Ephesians 4:8; John 1:1-5, 10-14, 14:3; Colossians 2:9; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 1:3,11; Revelation 20:4)
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person and is God, possessing all the divine attributes. He convicts of sin, regenerates, indwells, baptizes and seals all believers at the moment of their salvation, filling them in response to a person’s willingness with the goal of conforming them to the image of Christ. (John 3:5, 16:7-11; Acts 5:3-4; Ephesians 1:13, 4:30, 5:18; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 12:13)
MANKIND
We believe that mankind was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell and inherited a sinful nature which separated us from God. We believe that all men are morally bankrupt, and of themselves utterly unable to do anything that would earn a right standing with God (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 1:18, 3:23, 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3, 12)
SALVATION
We believe that salvation is a free gift of God and is received by man through personal faith in Jesus Christ and by recognizing that he has paid the price for our sin. We believe that man is justified by grace through faith apart from works and that all true believers, once saved, are kept secure in Christ forever. (Acts 13:38-39; Romans 4:5, 6:23, 8:1, 38-39; John 10:27-29; Ephesians 2:8-9)
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
We believe that a Christian should walk in holiness and not after the flesh, with the goal of being conformed to the image of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a new creation, walking in the Spirit, the Christian learns to grow in faith, in obedience to Scripture, in prayer, in fellowship with the saints and in a life of service. We believe that the Christian will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to have his life evaluated according to his deeds. (Galatians 5:16-26; Hebrews 10:25; Ephesians 4:20-24; Hebrews 11:6, 12:1-2; John 17:17; Ephesians 6:18; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15)
THE CHURCH
We believe that the true Church is made up of all persons who are born by the Holy Spirit through saving faith in Jesus Christ; that they are united together in the body of Christ of which He is Lord and Head; and are commissioned for the God-given tasks of worshiping, fellowshipping, teaching, evangelizing and exercising our spiritual gifts. (Acts 2:42,47; Romans 12:5; Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:23-24; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2)
We believe that the establishment and continuance of the local church is clearly taught in the New Testament Scriptures. (Acts 14:27, 20:17, 28-32; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11)
We believe that the local church is autonomous and free of any external authority or control and placed by God to serve local believers and reach out to the community. (Acts 13:1-4, 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4; 1 Corinthians 3:9, 16, 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4)
We believe water baptism by immersion as a demonstration of personal devotion to Christ. We believe the Lord’s Supper (communion) is to be shared by believers to remember Jesus’ great sacrifice for us. Both baptism and the Lord’s Supper, however, are not to be regarded as a means of salvation. But both of which are an evidence of obedience and fellowship with the Lord. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38, 41, 8:12, 35-38; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29)
THE SECOND COMING
We believe in the personal, coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead, of the believer to everlasting glory and the unbeliever to judgment and everlasting punishment. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; Titus 2:11-13; John 14:1-6; Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:11-15; 2 Peter 3:10)
THE FAMILY
We believe in Family Life’s “Family Manifesto”. We invite you to read it in its entirety and evaluate the scriptures that are cited. The link is: http://www.familylife.com/about-us/what-we-believe/the-family-manifesto
These are just some of the excerpts:
We believe God, not man, created marriage. We believe marriage was the first institution designed by God. We believe the Bible teaches that the covenant of marriage is sacred and lifelong. The Bible makes it clear that marriage is a legally binding public declaration of commitment and a private consummation between one man and one woman, never between the same sex.
We believe God created marriage for the purpose of couples glorifying God as one flesh, parenting godly children, and enjoying sexual pleasure. As iron sharpens iron, we believe God uses marriage to sharpen a man and woman into the image of Jesus Christ. Just as the Trinity reflects equal worth with differing roles, we believe God created a man and a woman with equal worth but with differing roles and responsibilities in marriage.
We also believe that God allows for divorce in certain situations, not because He wills it, but because of the hardness of people’s hearts. We believe the Bible teaches that God allows for divorce in the case of adultery and in the case where an unbelieving spouse has chosen to abandon the commitment of marriage.
We believe God has allowed men and women, either by circumstance or by choice, to endure difficult and painful consequences in their marriages and family relationships. We also believe God gives abundant grace to the broken, blended, and single-parent families.
We believe children are the gifts of God and should be received and treated as such. We believe a child’s life begins at conception. We believe children have a special responsibility to God in obeying and honoring their parents. We believe a child’s identity and spiritual growth is either helped or hindered by his parents’ devotion to God, to one another, and to him. Parents should see themselves as God’s ambassadors, working to build strong character in the lives of their children through consistent godly living, nurturing, discipline, and teaching them right from wrong. We are committed to God’s plan for passing His love down through the ages by encouraging parents to love their children “so the generations to come might know” the love and forgiveness of Christ.
We rejoice in God’s wonderful plan for mankind. We invite all who are seeking God to investigate our beliefs as stated. We have seen his marvelous works in our family and His faithfulness in our lives. And for us, even through the valleys of life, the struggles of allowing God to shape and mold us, we have discovered no other belief that demonstrates God’s love and care for ALL mankind! HIS plan is amazing!
If you would like to know more about God’s love, grace and truth, please contact us. We would love to speak with you!