Our Beliefs

The Bible
The Bible is the verbally (each word) and plenary (complete) inspired word of God in the original autographs (II Tim. 3:16).  It is the sole authority of faith and practice for every believer (Matt. 15:3; I Cor. 2:14).  The Word of God is complete in the sixty-six books of the Bible we now have, and nothing may be added to it or taken from it (Rev. 22:18,19). We believe in a literal interpretation of the Scriptures.

The Godhead
God exists in three persons all equal with each other and eternal in one being (Deut. 6:4; Ps. 90:1,2).  The three persons of the Godhead are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14).

Jesus Christ
We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ.  He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary Matt. 1:18-25); He is God manifest in the flesh (Jn. 1:1,14); He was sent by the Father for the purpose of being the perfect, sinless sacrifice for the sins of mankind (Jn. 3:14-17); He died in our stead, was buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures (I Cor. 15:3,4).

The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is a Divine Person equal with the Father and Son and of the same nature (Matt. 28:19,20; II Cor 13:14).  He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment (Jn. 16:7-11). He indwells and sanctifies the believer (Rom. 8:9-11; I Pet. 1:2).

Creation
The Genesis account of creation is the literal, historical account of the direct and immediate creative acts of God apart from any evolutionary process of any kind (Gen. 1:1-2:25; Col. 1:16; Jn. 1:3,10).

Man
Man was created from the dust of the ground by a direct act of God.  He was created sinless and innocent in the image of God, but through disobedience to his Creator, he incurred physical and spiritual death (Gen 1:1-3).  This spiritual death occurred immediately after the original sin of man in the Garden of Eden (Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:1).  The eventual consequences of sin are physical death (Heb. 9:27), and the second or eternal death in hell (Rev. 20:11-15).  By faith in Christ alone man is able to be restored to the original condition of his creation in part now (II Cor. 5:17; Col. 3:10), and eventually in the whole at the resurrection (Rom. 8:19-23; I Cor. 15:51-54; Phil. 3:21).

Salvation
Salvation is granted to sinners solely by the grace of God apart from any human effort or merit.  Man responds to this grace by placing faith in Christ alone (Acts 16:31; Eph. 2:8,9). Biblical faith involves repentance which is a change of mind toward sin and the Savior (Lk. 21:47; 13:3; Acts 26:20). We believe in the eternal security of the believer (Jn. 10:28).

The Church
The Church exists universally as the bride of Christ with Christ as her redeemer and head (I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:20-23; 3:3-11; Col. 1:18), and locally as a distinct group of believers (being part of the universal bride) who organize for the purpose of edifying one another and evangelizing the lost (Eph. 8:11-13; II Cor. 5:18-21).  The local church is led by a pastor and a group of elders whose duties are to feed the flock (I Pet. 5:2), protect the flock from false teachers and sinning brethren (Acts 20:28-32; I Tim. 4:16), and to be an example to the flock (I Pet. 5:3).

Ordinances
The ordinances of the church are baptism by immersion [for the purpose of obedience and identification with Christ (Matt. 28:19; Rom. 6:3-5)] and the Lord’s supper [in which the cup and bread are consumed by obedient believers for the purpose of symbolically commemorating the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross and looking forward to His return (I Cor. 11:17-34)].  Neither of these ordinances is in any way a means of salvation.

Separation
Ecclesiastical — The church must stand against and separate from all forms of religious error, apostasy, and compromise.
Personal — Individual believers have the responsibility of separating from all manner of sinful practices and philosophies of this world.  This is done in order to be a proper example to weaker brethren and to bring glory to the name of Christ before a sinful world (Rom. 12:1,2; II Cor. 6:14-18; I Jn. 2:15-17).

Future Events
We believe that the rapture of the church is the next event in the prophetical future, prior to the tribulation (Rev. 4-19).  This seven-year tribulation will end with the battle of Armageddon (Rev. 19) and the Second Coming of Christ. Jesus Christ will then have a literal, 1,000 year reign on the earth known as the millennium (Rev. 20:1-6).