BIBLE
The Bible, (both Old and New Testaments) are the inspired Word of God. It gives direction and guidance to every believer. It is inerrant, authoritative, and applicable to our everyday lives, and is true in all that it teaches. As the flawless and living Word of God, it is our single authority for what we believe and how we live. Scripture is the authoritative revelation from God by which we know God’s will and Christ’s authority, and we seek to apply its teaching to the contemporary church and culture. (2 Tim 3:14-17, 2 Peter 1:16-21; 2 Pet 3:15-16)
GOD
There is one God, who has revealed Himself as the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and as the Holy Spirit. He is the source of all creation, which He sustains and is in the process of redeeming. The Father loves us and desires that we have fellowship with Him as His children. (Gen 1:1; John 1:1-2; Rom 8:19-22; Col 1:15-17, 1 John 1:3)
JESUS
Jesus is the incarnation of God the Son. He is both God and man. Jesus lived a sinless and exemplary life, died on the cross in our place, and rose again to prove His victory and empower us for life. Jesus is the Word who became flesh and now holds all authority in heaven and on earth. He is Savior and Lord. He made human salvation possible through His life, death on the cross, and bodily resurrection. He ascended into heaven where He is now our high priest and advocate. He is head of the Church. (Matt 28:18; John 1:14-18; 1 Cor 15:1-8)
HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Holy Trinity (Godhead). He works actively in the world, seeking to glorify Jesus. He convicts people of sin, righteousness, and the judgment to come. The Holy Spirit indwells believers individually and corporately in the Church. The miraculous gifts of the Spirit ended with the Apostles. However, we do recognize the power of the Spirit in the life of the believer, and that He has endowed believers with spiritual gifts to serve the body of believers and to enable the church’s mission to spread the gospel.
The Holy Spirit develops within the Christian a pure heart which results in Christ-like character expressed in private and public conduct and action. (John 16:5-11; Acts 5:3-4; Gal 5:22-25)
SIN AND SALVATION
Human beings were God’s creation and were created as sinless creatures to walk in fellowship with Him. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, their disobedience brought sin into the world. As a result, everyone has sinned and needs a savior. Every person has worth as a creation of God. . Every human from the moment of life (conception) is in the image of God (imago dei) and is a person to be nurtured and protected. Salvation comes by grace through faith based on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life are available to those who trust Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Salvation is by God alone through Jesus Christ alone. One accepts Christ as Savior through a conversion process that includes faith, repentance, confession, and baptism. A conversion has not taken place with the absence of one of these elements. (John 3:16; Acts 2:37-38; Acts 8:12; Acts 10:47-48; Rom 3:23-25; Rom 6:23; Rom 10:9-10; Eph 2:8-9)
BAPTISM
Baptism is a repentance of sins and public declaration of following Jesus. In New Testament baptism, the believer is immersed, crucified, and buried with Christ, and receives forgiveness of sin and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The believer is clothed with Christ and is saved because of God’s free gift of grace received by faith. (Acts 2:38; Rom 6:3-5; Gal 3:26-29; Col 2:12; 1 Pet 3:21-22)
THE GOSPEL
The gospel is the good news that Jesus lived a perfect life, died for our sins, was buried, and rose again three days later. We express our belief in the gospel through our obedience to God. We obey the gospel and apply it to our lives by repenting of our sins and being immersed in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of our sins. (Matt 28:18-20; Mark 1:14-15; Acts 15:7; Acts 2:37-39; Rom 6:3-4; 1 Cor 15:1-4; 2 Thes 1:8; 1 Pet 4:17)
THE CHURCH
The Church is the body of Christ on earth; the community of believers throughout the world who meet together on the Lord’s Day (Sunday) and are empowered by the Holy Spirit to reach lost people with the saving message of Jesus and to equip them to become spiritually mature disciple-makers. A person, upon surrender to Christ (salvation), is added to the Church. In addition, the priesthood of all believers means each Christian is called to be a serving minister. The Church’s mission is the Great Commission. (Matt 16:18; Matt 28:18-20; Acts 11:26; Acts 20:28; Hebrews 10:24-25; 1 Pet 2:9-10)
CHRISTIAN LIVING
Christians are to love God and love others. This love is expressed as believers worship and praise God joyfully and seek to live a life that is pleasing to Him. We are empowered to live a life pleasing to God through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Mark 12:28-31; Rom 8:13-14; 2 Cor 7:1; Gal 5:19-26; Heb 12:14; 1 John 3:16-20)
COMMUNION
Communion is the remembrance of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The Lord’s Supper is the celebration of the New Covenant, in which Christ’s body, the church, comes together each week and celebrates the covenantal relationship they have with Him and with each other. (Matt 26:17-29; Acts 2:42; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 11:17-33)
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
Gifts are given to believers at baptism and are to be used in God’s service. The Body of Christ is an assembly of believers, each using their unique gifts to bless others and to glorify God. When these gifts are used for the benefit of others, believers participate in the redemptive story of God's Kingdom here on Earth. (Rom 12:4-8; 1 Cor 12:4-6; 1 Pet 4:8-11)
THE FUTURE
Jesus Christ is coming again at the end of this age, whose end will be the final resurrection and the final judgment. At that time there will be the bodily resurrection of the dead—believers to eternal life with God and unbelievers to eternal judgment. Sin will be eradicated, and believers will live in fellowship with God for eternity. The righteous will inherit eternal life in heaven with Jesus Christ, and the unrighteous will suffer eternal death. (1 Thes 4:13-18; Rev 20:11-15)
MARRIAGE AND GENDER
Marriage has only one legitimate meaning which is sanctioned by God and joins one man and one woman in a single, covenantal union as delineated by Scripture. Marriage joins one man with one woman as their genders were determined at birth. The Biblical standard of faith and doctrine takes precedence over any new legal standard for marriage. (Gen. 2:24; Eph. 5:22–23; Mark 10:6–9; 1 Cor. 7:1–9)
God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage. Any other type of sexual activity, identity, or expression that lies outside of the Scriptural definition of marriage are contradictory to God’s natural design and purpose for sexual activity. (Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5; Lev. 18:1–30; Rom. 1: 26–29; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9–10; 1 Thess. 4:1–8; Heb. 13:4)
God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female, These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect God’s image and the image and nature of God, and the rejection of one’s biological gender is a rejection of the image of God within that person. (Genesis 1:26-27)