Statement of Faith

GOD

We believe there is one living and true God, who is co-eternal, equally divine, existent in three persons: God the

Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They have distinct personal attributes, each playing a specific

role in the Godhead, yet are without divisions of nature, essence, or being. (Matt. 28:19, 2 Cor. 13:14, 1 Pet.

1:1-2, John 10:30, John 14:16-17)

We believe that God the Father is sovereign over all things. He is an intelligent, personal, and spiritual being,

preserver, ruler of the universe and the source of all life. God is eternal, self-existent, and unchangeable. He is

perfect in wisdom, power, holiness, justice, love, goodness, and truth. He is incomprehensible, yet we can

know Him personally, but we can never know Him exhaustively. (Gen.1:1, Ps. 93:1, John 4:24, Ps. 90:2, Mal.

3:6, 1 John 4:8, Prov. 2:6, Is. 6:3, Ps. 119:160, Ps. 119:68, Job 11:7, 1 John 1:5, John 5:26, Rom. 11:33-34, Ps.

145:3, Jer. 29:13)

We believe that God the Son became human in the person of Jesus Christ, was conceived by the Holy Spirit

within the womb of Mary, a virgin, and is full God and full man. We believe in his sinless life, his miracles, his

atoning death on the cross for sin, his resurrection from the dead, his ascension to the right hand of God the

Father, and his future return in power and glory. Through Jesus Christ, God has revealed himself to humanity

uniquely and powerfully. Christ is not merely a human teacher or prophet, but he is divine and God’s one and

only Son, and all things were created through him and for him. (Matt. 1:21, John 1:14, Col. 2:9, 2 Cor. 5:21,

John 6:26, Eph. 1:7, John 11:25, 1 Cor. 15:4, Matt. 24:30-31, Heb. 1:1-2, Col. 1:16-17, John 1:1)

We believe that God the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, full God in essence, glory, and power, yet

distinct from the Father and Son. He is not a mystical force or an impersonal person. He is a divine person

with a mind, emotions, and a will. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, regenerates, renews, and indwells the

believer at the moment of salvation. The Spirit comforts, sanctifies, empowers, teaches, and guides the believer

into all truth. He empowers the believer to be filled with the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience,

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Holy Spirit’s primary role is to point

towards Christ and to glorify Him. (Gen. 1:2, Is. 40:12-14, Eph. 4:30, Titus 3:5, 1 Cor. 6:19-20, John 16:8, Acts

9:31, John 16:13, Gal. 5:22-23, John 14:26)

THE SCRIPTURES

We believe in the Bible in its 66 books of the Old and New Testaments to be the only inspired, infallible, and

inerrant words of God. It was written by at least 40 different human authors over more than 4,000 years who

were all inspired by the Holy Spirit. It acts as the source of authority over morality, our beliefs, lifestyle, and

conduct. The Bible has a unified message of God redeeming his creation, and the unifying center of that

message is Jesus Christ. (Ps. 19:7, 2 Tim. 3:16-17, 1 Cor. 2:12-13, 2 Pet. 1:20-21, Heb. 4:12, Rom. 15:4, John

20:30-31)

CREATION

We believe that the Triune God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, is maker of Heaven and

Earth; and of all things visible and invisible, Creation speaks to the eternal power and divine nature of God.

We believe that the account in Genesis is factually true and not mythical. Consequently, we believe the

universe is the product of God’s creation, out of nothing in 6 days, by the word of His power. All three persons

of the Trinity – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – were involved in the creation of the world. (Gen. 1:1-2, Col.

1:16, Ps. 19:1, Ex. 20:11, Neh. 9:6)

SATAN

We believe Satan is the author of evil and a real spirit being, not simply a personification of evil. He fell from

Heaven because of his desire to usurp God’s throne. He is under the sovereign control of God and has been

given limited rule over the Earth until he is cast into the eternal lake of fire. He is the declared enemy of God,

the father of lies, the prince of darkness, and the accuser and tempter of the believer. Satan and his demons are

active on Earth today, seeking to kill, steal, and destroy what God has made and what he declares to be good.

However, Satan was defeated on the cross and the true believer has the power to resist him through faith in

Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. (Ez. 28:12-17, Rev. 12:9, 1 John 5:19, 1 Pet. 5:8-9, Eph. 6:10-17)

SIN

We believe that God created human beings in his own image to reflect his glory, enjoy his fellowship, and

accomplish his purposes in the world. He created all people to know him, love him, live with him, and glorify

him. However, when Adam and Eve believed Satan’s lie and disobeyed God, their actions brought sin into the

world, and they became subject to spiritual and physical death and relational separation from God. As a result,

all humanity has inherited their sin nature and has incurred the same penalty of death and corruption. (Gen.

2:17, Ps. 51:5, Rom. 5:12-19, Rom. 3:23, Is. 59:2, Rom. 1:18, 1 Tim. 5:14-15)

GRACE AND FORGIVENESS

We believe that there is grace and forgiveness offered to those struggling with any sin. Jesus wants to replace

our sinful desires with a desire for him so that we are no longer enslaved to sin. Through repentance and faith

in Christ, no one is outside the bounds of God’s amazing grace. (Eph. 2:8, Rom. 3:23-25, Rom. 6:6, Rom. 5:8)

SALVATION

We believe salvation is a gift of God, based on his grace alone, received by faith alone, and made possible by the

atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone. We believe that all who repent of their sins, place their trust in the

finished work of Christ, and receive forgiveness for their sins become a new creation and are made alive

together with Christ. This new life is characterized by a desire to live according to God’s will and pursue all the

things that please him through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Eph. 2:8-9, Rom. 10:9-10, Eph. 2:4-5, John 1:12, 2

Cor. 5:17, Col. 1:10, Rom. 8:5)

ETERNITY

We believe in the eternal existence of God, and that humans, being made in the image of God, will all be

resurrected to live forever. When Jesus Christ returns to this Earth, he will judge the living and the dead, and

each of us will be judged based upon how we responded to the person and work of Jesus Christ in this life.

Those who have trusted in Christ will spend eternity in the presence of God. Those who have rejected Christ

will be separated from the presence of God by their sin and will spend eternity apart from him in Hell with

Satan and his host of demons. (Ps. 93:1-2, John 11:25-26, Rom. 5:8-9, Matt. 25:31-46, Rev. 20:11-15, Heb.

9:27-28)

THE CHURCH

We believe that the true church is composed of persons who, by grace through saving faith in Jesus Christ, have

been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united together in the body of Christ, of which he is the Head. We

believe that Christ commanded the church to make disciples of all peoples, by going into all the world,

baptizing people in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that Christ

commanded. (John 4:23, John 17:21-23, 1 Cor. 12:12-26, Col. 1:17-20, Acts 9:31, Eph. 2:19-22, Rom. 12:4-5)

MARRIAGE

We believe that marriage is a God-ordained covenant union between one biological man and one biological

woman. Marriage was first instituted by God in the order of creation, given by God as an unchangeable

foundation for human life. Marriage exists so that through it humanity can serve God through children,

through faithful intimacy, lifelong commitment, and a properly ordered sexual relationship between a husband

and a wife. This union uniquely reflects Christ’s relationship with his Church. We believe that God intends

sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to one another. (Gen. 2:18-24,

Gen. 1:27-28, Eph. 5:22-23, 1 Cor. 6:16, Matt. 19:5-6, Mark 10:8-9, Heb. 13:4)

SEXUALITY

We believe the Bible speaks to the realistic power of sexual desire, both male and female, and the possibilities

of chaos and disorder that arise from those desires when they are not channeled in God’s proper order. All

sexual expression that lies outside of the covenant union of one man with one woman in marriage comes under

the biblical definition of sin and is an offense to God. Sexual immorality includes, but is not limited to

co-habitation, adultery, pornography, rape, homosexual and bisexual relations, polygamy, incest, and

bestiality. These are all a perversion of the sexual relationship as God intended it to be. When God’s good

boundary for sex is broken, sexual chaos ensues, and lives are desperately damaged. (1 Cor. 6:13-18, Gal.

5:19-21, Heb. 13:4, Eph. 5:3, Rom. 1:26-27)

GENDER

We believe that God created only two genders, male and female. These two distinct, complementary genders

together reflect the image and nature of God. They are equal in their dignity but different in their design and

calling. Gender is synonymous with biological sex and is exclusively binary. Scripture makes clear that gender

is not a by-product of individual choice or fluidity but is rather a consequence of divine design from the

moment of conception. To recognize gender identity apart from God’s design would be to deny God’s truth and

embrace a man-made truth. (Gen. 1:26-27, Deut. 22:5, Ps. 139:13-16, Rom. 1:24-25)

HUMAN LIFE AND ABORTION

We believe that God has an infinite value and unequivocal love for all human life, the aged, the physically or

mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are

therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life. We are convinced that the Bible strongly affirms

the dignity and value of the unborn. The Scripture passages cited below, and others, are evidence that God

accords human value, dignity, and personhood to the unborn from the beginning of conception. (Ps. 139-13-16,

Jer. 1:5, Ex. 21:22-25, Gen. 9:6)