Affirmation of faith
What we believe:
1. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Rev 22:18-19, 2 Peter 1:20-21) “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
2. We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19, John 1:14, John 10:30, Luke 1:35) “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”
3. We believe in the deity and humanity of Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, in His present rule as Head of the Church and in His personal return in power and glory. (His full deity and full humanity of Christ (John 1:1–14; Hebrews 1:3–5, 2:5–18) / His virgin birth (Luke 1:26–38) /His sinless life (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15) / His miracles (John 10:31–38) / His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood (Matthew 26:28; 1 Peter 2:24) / His bodily resurrection (John 20:1–31; Acts 1:1–3; 1 Corinthians 15:1–8) / His ascension to the right Hand of the Father (Acts 1:4–11) / His present rule as Head of the Church (Ephesians 1:22, 5:23; Colossians 1:18) / His personal return in power and glory (Revelation 19:11–16; 22:7–21).
4. We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful men regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. (Ephesians 2:1 & 4, John 3:3 Corinthians 3:17-18) “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins, but God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.”
5. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life. (Romans 8:11-14, 26-27, 5-6, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18) "The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this sameSpirit living within you. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God."
6. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost, they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the barrenness of damnation. (Acts 24:15, John 5:28, Matthew 25:31-40, 1 Corinthians15:42-57) “having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be last resurrection of both the just and the unjust.”
7. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, with equality across racial, gender, and class differences. (Colossians 3:11) “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, fee, but Christ is all and in all.”
8. Cosmologically/Anthropologically— We believe that God wonderfully and immutably engendered each person and has created them as either male or female. (When using gender we are not using it as is increasingly common in the culture and courts where gender is fluid, chosen and often non-related to sexuality but rather in its original context and meaning— that God engendered (beget...caused to come into existence). We believe that these two distinct, complementary sexes together reflect the image and nature of God. We believe that God created marriage to be exclusively the union of one man and one woman, and that intimate sexual activity is to occur exclusively within that union.
9. Ecclesiologically—We believe The Church is God's instrument and plan for REACHing the world as expressed through different denominational and congregational traditions.
10. Missiologically— We believe in focusing on The Great Commission to go into all the world and make Disciples as expressed in both attractional and missional outreaches.
11. Soteriologically— We believe in the Gospel-Centricity of Evangelistic Disciplemaking as expressed in seeking to disciple converts to full spiritual maturity. Please read the following statements.