What We Believe

These are a few of our beliefs about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, salvation, the church and our lives as Christians. We welcome your questions.    — The elders and ministers

We believe God is the creator life.

Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… ²⁷ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him. male and female…

The eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful God of the universe created the heavens, the Earth, and all life. God created humankind in His own image to live in a state of communion with Him, reflecting His divine image–to be like Him, to walk with Him in this life, and to live with Him forever. God is the creator of life and, thus, worthy of all our praise and devotion.

We believe the Bible is the inspired word of God and our ultimate authority.

There is no other God. Therefore there is no other word from any other god. By inspired, we mean that the Bible is God-breathed–God provided its message and its meaning. For, through the Bible, God reveals to us himself, his eternal purposes, and his purposes for us–equipping us both for this life and for eternity.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

2 Peter 1:20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, ²¹ for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

We believe there is one God, who is triune in expression and function but with one purpose:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

God the Father, we recognize as Jehovah God or the LORD God of the Old Testament. Jesus is the Son of God, God in the flesh, who through His earthly life explained and exemplified the nature of God and God’s will for out lives. And the Holy Spirit of God is a gift, our guide and the seal of our divine inheritance.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Jesus Anointed One of God–in His day called Messiah–in our modern language called Christ–the Son of God. His miraculous conception, HIs birth, life, ministry, miracles, teachings, sacrificial death and resurrection fulfilled ancient prophecies. As the Son of God, Jesus is Lord, and we are his followers (or disciples). He is our Rabbi (teacher), and we are his students. He is our master, and we are his servants. He calls us to join him in the kingdom (the rule of God) to become as He is by following his teachings and example.

The Holy Spirit of God is active in our lives as Christian, leading us away from sin and toward God, as well as our guarantee of God’s ownership and eternal life.

Romans 8:13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

2 Corinthians 1:13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

There is one God, who is triune in expression and function but with one purpose: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We believe the need for salvation is common to all humankind and, ultimately, of eternal importance.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We believe Jesus Christ is Savior of the world and that salvation is found only in him.

John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

We believe we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ event when we were dead in our transgression, made us alive together with Christ, ⁶ and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

We are saved by grace, through faith, not of as a result of our own works. The spiritual and eternal effects of our faith, repentance , confession and baptism into Christ are God’s doing not ours. God saves us at and through the cross, where Jesus died our death and paid the price to redeem us, to make the gift of salvation possible. Salvation is a gift from God.

We believe that our response to God’s grace in the cross of Christ, to receive the gift of salvation, should include:

Faith

Hebrews 11:6 … without faith it is impossible to please [God], for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek him.

Repenting of our Sins

Luke 24:46 Jesus said, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷ and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Acts 17:30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,

Confession that Jesus is Lord

Philippians 2: 9 Therefore, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Baptism into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins

After the resurrection and live appearances of Jesus, on the day of Pentecost the apostles preached the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” ³⁸ Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself… ⁴¹ So then, those who had received his word were baptized and that day there were added about three thousand souls.

Later the apostle Paul would declare that same message as of first importance.

1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our winds according to the Scriptures, ⁴ and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

That is the Gospel message. The Gospel response is to share in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, through baptism. Thus, in teaching the Christians in Rome to turn away from sin, Paul reminded them that they had been baptized into Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.

Romans 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. ⁵ For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,

Continuing in the Faith

Colossians 1:22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach — ²³ if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel…

Hebrews 6:11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, ¹² so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

We believe that Christ is head of the church, the church is the body of Christ, and each Christian has a part in it.

Ephesians 1:22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, ²³ which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all

1 Corinthians 12:12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also in Christ… ¹⁴ For the body is not one member, but many… ¹⁸ But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired… ²⁶ And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. ²⁷ Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

The church is overseen by elders, who guide it’s direction and spiritual health.

Acts 14:23 When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Acts 20:28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Our elders have proffered the following statement of intent:

“To maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, we will be careful to distinguish between a “stumbling block” that causes someone to fall back into sin and a violation of someone’s comfort zone. We, as leaders, will not address “stumbling blocks” and “comfort zone violations” as if they are the same thing. We will teach against both the spirit that  would inspire someone to flaunt their freedom in a haughty way and the spirit that would inspire someone to impose their opinions and preferences about non-biblical matters on others.” (Romans 14-15)

We believe we are called to love and forgive.

Matthew 22:37 Jesus [said], “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” ³⁸ This is the greatest and foremost commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Mark 11:25 Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.

We believe we are called to follow Jesus, as His disciples.

As disciples (devoted followers) of Jesus:  1) We should commit to growing spiritually through the regular and consistent exercise of Christian disciplines; including Bible study, meditation, fasting, prayer, worship and the sacrificial giving of the time, talents and financial resources with which God has interested us. 2) We should commit to calling more people to be followers of Jesus in our community be developing relationships, sharing our testimony of lives following Jesus and teaching those who desire to become disciples. 3) We should commit to regularly and consistently meeting with other disciples, being devoted together in the worship assumably and in home groups for fellowship, praise, teaching and encouraging one another, so that we are Spirit-led, Spirit-fed and Spirit-filled.

We believe that God calls those who, through the cross of Christ, are in covenant relationship with Him, to share in common with Him and with each other.

We share in the convenient meal we call “the Lord’s Supper” of “communion” to commemorate Jesus’ death on the cross, which brings us into covenant relationship with God, and to celebrate our covenant with God. Sharing in the covenant meal together symbolized that we are one with God and, thus, one with each other, as we also recommit and rededicate ourselves to living before God — and living with each other — according to our covenant with God.