Vision & Beliefs

There is only one true living God. He is the Creator and Sovereign Ruler of the universe.  He is all glorious, self-existent, eternal and perfect in every way.  God exists in three persons – God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit making up a triune Godhead.  All three members of the Godhead are distinct in their persons but one in essence and co-exist in perfect unity. Each person in the Godhead is fully and completely God.

He is spirit. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is holy, just, good, and truthful. He is love and full of compassion, grace, and mercy. He is wrathful toward sin and a righteous judge in whom all creation is accountable. He relates to His people as a loving, caring, Father. He is sovereign over all facets of the universe and the One who oversees the eternal plan of redemption.

Jesus is the second person of the triune Godhead. He is God who became man when He was miraculously conceived in the womb and born of the Virgin Mary. Since His incarnation, He exists as both God and man in one person without confusion or mixture. While on earth, though He endured many trials and temptations, He lived a life of full obedience to God the Father completely void of sin. He carried out perfectly God’s plan of redemption, as He became the substitute for sinful humanity by bearing their sin upon Himself and suffering and dying under the wrath of God the Father. With His life and death, He fully satisfied the wrath of God as a payment for the sin of humanity when He was crucified on the cross at Calvary. He was resurrected from the grave 3 days after His crucifixion to live and reign as Lord and Savior forever. After His resurrection, He ascended to heaven’s glory and will return to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords forevermore.

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the triune Godhead. He has been at work since the beginning of time sharing in the work of creation, performing miraculous signs and wonders, empowering the preaching of God’s people, and inspiring the writing of Scripture. He convicts of sin and the unsaved of their need for salvation in Christ. He also empowers the believer from the moment of salvation. He gives spiritual gifts to the saved for the purpose of serving the church and advancing the kingdom of God throughout the earth.

All of humanity is sinful and in need of God’s forgiveness. All sin is against an infinitely holy God and deserving of an infinitely equal punishment. Therefore, every person stands to be eternally condemned under the wrath of God as judgment for his/her sin. Being a God of love and mercy and grace, God made provision for mankind’s sin to be forgiven through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through living a perfect life of obedience, dying in our place, and being resurrected from the grave, Christ absorbed our punishment, appeased the wrath of God against us, and secured our justification by which our sin is forgiven and we are made right with God. The atonement of Christ for sin is a universal offering of salvation to any person who puts their faith in Christ and trusts Him as their Lord and Savior. Salvation is on the basis of God’s grace alone through faith in Christ alone completely apart from works or anything that can be done by an individual to earn or merit his/her salvation.

The church is universal and is composed of all those who have put their faith in Christ and received Him as their Lord and Savior. The church is united to Christ through faith in Him and is made up of one body with Christ Himself as the authority and head over all. The universal church is made up of local churches. The local church’s ultimate purpose is to glorify God as we worship Him, connect with and care for each other, reach the lost, and grow in our relationship with Christ.  Each member of the local church should find a suitable ministry for his/her gifts and employ those gifts in service of the church as well as support the church’s life and ministry through giving.

We were created to exist forever.  We will either exist eternally separated from God in hell or in the presence of God in heaven.  Both heaven and hell are places of eternal existence.

The Bible consists of 66 books that make up the Old and New Testaments. The Bible is the infallible word of God and is without error in its original manuscripts. Human authors all under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit wrote it. The Bible is God’s Word for all peoples, for all places, and for all times. It is the sole source of authority concerning all matters of life, eternity, and salvation. The Bible is the foundational authority of faith and practice for the Church.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the two ordinances of the church.  Baptism by immersion is a person’s public profession of faith in Jesus Christ and is to be done as soon as possible upon one’s profession of faith in Christ for his/her salvation. The Lord’s Supper is to be observed in a regular and consistent manner within the church as a celebration and remembrance by all believers of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Spiritual gifts are God-given abilities for service.  Every believer has at least one gift, often times more than one, but no believer has all the gifts.  All the gifts work together and are for the benefit of the entire body of Christ and are to be used for the glory of God, the building up of the church, and the advancement of God’s kingdom.