What We Believe
Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine ... -- 2 Timothy 4:2-3
WHAT WE DO NOT BELIEVE:
• We reject a man-centered worship and any gospel message that denies the sovereignty of God in all things especially in salvation.
• We reject that a person must speak in tongues to be saved or to know they are filled with the Holy Spirit.
• We reject that a Christian can be demon possessed.
• We reject the faith movement teachings of “positive confession” or “health and wealth.” These false teachings says that we, like God, have the ability to create our own reality by the confession of our lips and that God is obligated to heal because of the positive confession of our lips.
• We reject the notion that a person living in sickness or poverty is settling for less than a full inheritance in Christ. It's our desire that people be healed of sickness and delivered from poverty, but no one is a second-rate citizen of the Kingdom if they are experiencing these life situations.
• We reject that “prophecy” given through the gift of prophecy is equal to or supersedes the Word of God. The Bible -- the Word of God -- is the completed Word of prophecy given by the Holy Spirit. It is not being added to today or superseded.
• We reject teaching based upon humanistic secular psychology and philosophy. While we respect our fellow believers who work in mental health, we believe the central mission of the church is to proclaim God’s Word to a lost and hurting world. It is God’s Word that changes lives for the better.
• We reject a man-centered worship and any gospel message that denies the sovereignty of God in all things especially in salvation.
• We reject that a person must speak in tongues to be saved or to know they are filled with the Holy Spirit.
• We reject that a Christian can be demon possessed.
• We reject the faith movement teachings of “positive confession” or “health and wealth.” These false teachings says that we, like God, have the ability to create our own reality by the confession of our lips and that God is obligated to heal because of the positive confession of our lips.
• We reject the notion that a person living in sickness or poverty is settling for less than a full inheritance in Christ. It's our desire that people be healed of sickness and delivered from poverty, but no one is a second-rate citizen of the Kingdom if they are experiencing these life situations.
• We reject that “prophecy” given through the gift of prophecy is equal to or supersedes the Word of God. The Bible -- the Word of God -- is the completed Word of prophecy given by the Holy Spirit. It is not being added to today or superseded.
• We reject teaching based upon humanistic secular psychology and philosophy. While we respect our fellow believers who work in mental health, we believe the central mission of the church is to proclaim God’s Word to a lost and hurting world. It is God’s Word that changes lives for the better.
WHAT WE DO BELIEVE:
• We believe in the Tri-unity of the Godhead — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each existing as separate Persons yet one in essence. There is only one God. (Isa. 45:21; John 1:1-3; Rev. 1:8; 1 John 5:7)
• We believe in the inerrancy of Scripture; that the Bible -- both Old and New Testaments -- is the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. (2 Tim. 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Thess. 2:13)
• We believe all mankind is sinful by nature and under the condemnation of God and thus unable to come to God apart from salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and His bodily resurrection from the dead; that Salvation is received by faith alone apart from any works; and that Salvation is a gift of God’s grace and mercy, neither of which are earned nor deserved. (John 3:14-16; Rom. 5:8,9; Heb. 9:11,12; 1 Peter 2:18,19; Rom. 10:9,10; Rom. 5:1; Rom. 4:4,5; Eph. 2:8,9; John 14:6; Luke 13:3)
• We believe God the Father is the personal, transcendent, and sovereign God over all things. (Isa. 45:21)
• We believe Jesus Christ is fully God and human, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided our eternal salvation through His substitutionary death on the cross, and bodily resurrection, that He ascended back to the right hand of God the Father, and He ever lives to make intercession for us. (John 1:1-3)
• We believe the Holy Spirit is fully God, that He indwells all those born-again, that He fills believers for service, that He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, that He is the moving cause of salvation (in that He draws us unto the Father and Jesus Christ so as to be saved), and that He is the indwelling power for victory over the sins of the flesh. (1 Cor. 6:19; Eph. 5:18; Eph. 1:13, 14)
• We believe the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Scriptures are valid for today if they are exercised within the Scriptural guidelines; that the Holy Spirit gives these gifts as He wills; and that no believer will have all the gifts, nor must every believer manifest any one particular gift so as to evidence the baptism (filling) of the Holy Spirit. As believers, we are to covet the best gifts and exercise them in love, that the whole Body of Christ might be edified. We believe that love is more important than the most spectacular gifts and without love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless. (1 Cor. 13:1-3; 1 Cor. 12-14; Rom. 12)
• We believe there are two church ordinances — Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is by immersion in water and is a testimony of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of our Lord’s death until He returns and should be taken after careful self-examination. (Acts 8:36-39; 1 Cor. 11:23-32)
• We believe church government should be simplistic rather than a complex bureaucracy. We depend on the Holy Spirit to lead, rather than on fleshly promotion. (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22-23; 1 Cor. 12:27,28) The church is governed by an Eldership made up of godly men in accordance to the qualifications found in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.
• We believe the Church is the Body of Christ expressed both universally and locally and that Jesus Christ is the head of the Church both locally and universally. (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22,23)
• We believe God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We believe God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by any means. (Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5,13; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom.1:26-29; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4)
• We believe the only Scriptural marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; 1 Cor.7:10; Eph. 5:22-23)
• We await the rapture of the church and we believe that the second coming of Christ with His saints to rule on the earth will be personal, pre-millennial, and visible. (1 Thess. 4:13-18; Matt. 25:31-46; Rev. 19:11-21)
• We believe that our services and gatherings must focus on a personal relationship with God through worship, prayer, and the teaching of the Word of God. Our teaching is both expositional and topical.
• We believe in the Tri-unity of the Godhead — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each existing as separate Persons yet one in essence. There is only one God. (Isa. 45:21; John 1:1-3; Rev. 1:8; 1 John 5:7)
• We believe in the inerrancy of Scripture; that the Bible -- both Old and New Testaments -- is the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. (2 Tim. 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Thess. 2:13)
• We believe all mankind is sinful by nature and under the condemnation of God and thus unable to come to God apart from salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and His bodily resurrection from the dead; that Salvation is received by faith alone apart from any works; and that Salvation is a gift of God’s grace and mercy, neither of which are earned nor deserved. (John 3:14-16; Rom. 5:8,9; Heb. 9:11,12; 1 Peter 2:18,19; Rom. 10:9,10; Rom. 5:1; Rom. 4:4,5; Eph. 2:8,9; John 14:6; Luke 13:3)
• We believe God the Father is the personal, transcendent, and sovereign God over all things. (Isa. 45:21)
• We believe Jesus Christ is fully God and human, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided our eternal salvation through His substitutionary death on the cross, and bodily resurrection, that He ascended back to the right hand of God the Father, and He ever lives to make intercession for us. (John 1:1-3)
• We believe the Holy Spirit is fully God, that He indwells all those born-again, that He fills believers for service, that He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, that He is the moving cause of salvation (in that He draws us unto the Father and Jesus Christ so as to be saved), and that He is the indwelling power for victory over the sins of the flesh. (1 Cor. 6:19; Eph. 5:18; Eph. 1:13, 14)
• We believe the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Scriptures are valid for today if they are exercised within the Scriptural guidelines; that the Holy Spirit gives these gifts as He wills; and that no believer will have all the gifts, nor must every believer manifest any one particular gift so as to evidence the baptism (filling) of the Holy Spirit. As believers, we are to covet the best gifts and exercise them in love, that the whole Body of Christ might be edified. We believe that love is more important than the most spectacular gifts and without love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless. (1 Cor. 13:1-3; 1 Cor. 12-14; Rom. 12)
• We believe there are two church ordinances — Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is by immersion in water and is a testimony of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of our Lord’s death until He returns and should be taken after careful self-examination. (Acts 8:36-39; 1 Cor. 11:23-32)
• We believe church government should be simplistic rather than a complex bureaucracy. We depend on the Holy Spirit to lead, rather than on fleshly promotion. (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22-23; 1 Cor. 12:27,28) The church is governed by an Eldership made up of godly men in accordance to the qualifications found in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.
• We believe the Church is the Body of Christ expressed both universally and locally and that Jesus Christ is the head of the Church both locally and universally. (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22,23)
• We believe God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We believe God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by any means. (Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5,13; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom.1:26-29; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4)
• We believe the only Scriptural marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; 1 Cor.7:10; Eph. 5:22-23)
• We await the rapture of the church and we believe that the second coming of Christ with His saints to rule on the earth will be personal, pre-millennial, and visible. (1 Thess. 4:13-18; Matt. 25:31-46; Rev. 19:11-21)
• We believe that our services and gatherings must focus on a personal relationship with God through worship, prayer, and the teaching of the Word of God. Our teaching is both expositional and topical.