What We Believe
- We faithfully and radically endeavor to follow Jesus in the present day, seeking to fulfill the Great Commission, and to provide an authentic, biblical, credible witness to all those to whom He leads us.
- We hold to the highest view of, and respect for, the Holy Scriptures. We believe that the Bible is the inspired, infallible, authoritative Word of God and that it leads to obedience to Jesus. We hold that its interpretation and application must be consistent with the words, spirit and intent of Christ.
- We affirm the full deity and the full humanity of Jesus Christ. We believe that God sent His Only Son, Jesus, to die on the Cross for our sins so that we would not have to be eternally separated from Him. We reject the teaching that there is salvation outside of Christ. We declare the message of the Gospel plainly and openly, by word and by deed, believing that every person must confess Jesus as Lord in order to receive God's free gift of Eternal Life. We endeavor, as we receive the keys to the Kingdom of God, to give Him full and complete access to every “room” in each of our spiritual “houses,” not just one room for a brief visit from time to time.
- We understand the family to be the keystone in God's plan for spiritual growth and emotional stability. We affirm the biblical ideal of monogamous, heterosexual marriage – one man for one woman – until death does the parting. We reject any notion of “same-sex marriage.” We understand the Bible as teaching that premarital, extramarital and homosexual activity, as well as lusting of any kind, is sin and is not the will of God for the believer. We also believe that God deals graciously with the truly repentant heart.
- We strongly encourage women, as well as men, to use the gifts God has given to them to edify the Body and bless the Church.
- We affirm the importance of Biblical love in all human relationships. We believe that this calls for the rejection of all forms of selfishness and violence – including abortion and child and spousal abuse. We oppose any kind of personal retaliation between individuals.
- We advocate passionate spirituality, encouraging all to fall more in love with Jesus and less in love with the world.
- We affirm the ‘ministry gifts' God gives for the building up of the Kingdom of God, and we believe that these Gifts are operative until the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- We support local, as well as world, evangelization – both through our going as well as our giving.
- We believe in the baptism of believers with water, as a witness and a pledge of their covenant with God. It signifies their identity with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It is a sign of their cleansing from past sin, and their commitment to follow Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is also a renunciation of the world, the flesh and the devil.
- We believe that through the celebration of communion, The Lord's Supper, the Church renews its covenant with God and with one other, and participates in the life and death of Jesus Christ until He comes.
- We place our hope in the reign of God and its fulfillment in the day when Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; the unsaved to be sent into everlasting punishment of hell fire and the saved into eternal bliss with Christ. We await God's final victory, the end of this present age of struggle, the resurrection of the dead, and a new heaven and a new earth.