GOD

We believe there is One true God Who exists eternally in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

JESUS

We believe that Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God – 100% God and 100% Man.  He was born of a virgin.  He lived a sinless human life and died on the cross as our substitute taking upon Himself the penalty for our sins, and He rose from the dead and ascended to heaven where He sits today at the right hand of God.  We believe that Jesus will return to earth at a time of God’s choosing.

THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe that the Holy Spirit is always present and at work making people aware of their need for Jesus Christ.  When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in us and then constantly reminds us of all Jesus said to us.  We believe the Holy Spirit guides us in our Christian walk, reveals our sin, and points us to the Father.

We believe the Bible is God’s Word, fully true, written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit.

We affirm that the core of the Christian faith is revealed in Scripture as “the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude 3; NRSV). We look to the Bible therefore as our authority and trustworthy guide, which “is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16; NRSV). We believe Scripture to be the church’s primary and final authority on all matters of faith, practice, and lifestyle.

OUR SINFULNESS

While all human beings are made in the image of God, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  We believe our sin separates us from God, and we all need a Savior.

SALVATION

We believe a person is saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  Before a person accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior, that person is living in spiritual darkness (John 8:12) and is separated from God by their sin (John 3:36, Ephesians 2:11-12).   Furthermore, we believe a person who is not in relationship with Jesus is far from God (Ephesians 2:13) and faces eternal separation from God.  A person is saved from that eternal separation from God as a free gift when that person places his or her faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:16).  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except by Me”(John 14:6).

THE BLESSING OF SALVATION BEFORE ETERNITY

Outside of a relationship with God through Jesus, personal peace and satisfaction in life are self-generated and will ultimately fade.  God does not intend for us to live by our strength alone.  Jesus invited us to go to Him with our weariness and our burdens, and He would give us rest from the grind of life (Matthew 11:28).  Finally, we believe that a relationship with Jesus leads to peace in this life.  “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me.  Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world”(John 16:33).

THE BLESSING OF ETERNITY

We believe that Jesus will return to earth personally and in bodily form, and He will usher in the final judgment and establish His Kingdom.  We do not know exactly what this will be like, nor do we know when it will happen (Matthew 24:36).  We do believe that our eternal destination in either heaven or hell is determined by our response to Jesus Christ.

We believe that we were formed by God to have an intimate friendship with Him.  In fact, we believe God so deeply desires that relationship with us that He created within us a desire for fellowship with Him. 

“God set eternity in our hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  He promises that if we approach Him through prayer, He will respond.  James 4:8 declares, “Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.”  What’s more, we believe God’s response is filled with blessing.  “Call to Me and I will answer you.  I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own” (Jeremiah 33:3).

We believe that God made us to need community.  He made us to be in community with Him, and He made us to be in community with others. God’s creation of humanity wasn’t complete and good until God made both man AND woman.  They were made to be helpers and companions (Genesis 2:18-25).

Jesus’ desire is for us to experience the same level of community with one another that He shares with the Father. “My prayer is… for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.”(John 17:20-21)  Paul wrote in Romans 12:5, “In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

Because of this need for community, we constantly strive to expand our offerings so that all members of our church have access to community-building activities like small groups, Bible studies, and Sunday school classes (Hebrews 10:24-25).

We believe that our faith in Jesus commands that we intentionally share our faith with others. Jesus declared that we, as His disciples, are “the salt of the earth”(Matthew 5:13), and “the light of the world”(Matthew 5:14). 

Those words maintain that it is impossible for us to separate our relationship with Jesus from the witness we are to give to others.  More importantly, those who do not know Jesus depend on His followers to tell them about the saving work of Jesus.  “But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him?  And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him?  And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?” (Romans 10:14).

There are two sacraments we practice: Baptism and Holy Communion.

BAPTISM

While baptism is not essential for salvation, we believe baptism is our initiation into the church and our identification as children of God and is a means by which we experience God’s grace in a tangible way.  We believe that we do not have to earn God’s grace, but that He shares His grace freely with all of His children.  In fact, we believe that before we recognize God’s grace at work in our lives, God has been at work, wooing us toward Him, as His sons and daughters.  “Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.  God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.  This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure” (Ephesians 1:4-6).

God’s choice happens regardless of our age or our response.  Infant baptism is predicated on God’s gracious choice, and since it is God’s choice, baptism is an act that should not be repeated.  However, those who are baptized as children must make the choice to confirm their belief in Jesus to continue as members of the church. 

Baptism of youth and adults is predicated on a profession of faith in Jesus and a repentance of sin.  We offer any of the three modes of water baptism which have been practiced throughout church history:  immersion, pouring, and sprinkling.  We accept any prior baptism in a Christian church, including infant baptism.  

HOLY COMMUNION

Like Baptism, Holy Communion is a means by which we experience God’s grace in a tangible way. Communion is an opportunity for us to renew our relationship with Jesus.  On the last night before His death, Jesus ate a special meal with His disciples.  We believe that Communion is an outward sign or symbol of the broken Body and shed blood of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). 

While we do not believe that the bread and juice literally transform into the actual flesh and blood of Christ, we do believe that in Communion we experience the very real presence and grace of Jesus Christ with us.  Our table is open to all persons who desire to come and receive.