Our Essential Beliefs*
God
We believe there is only one God who created, rules, and maintains everything in the universe. God is perfect without any faults. It is completely amazing that even though he is one God, within him there have always existed three Persons who we know as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We can’t help but worship and live our lives for this God who wants a personal relationship with us!
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Living Word. Jesus always existed with his Father in heaven, and came to earth as a human child. He was miraculously conceived by his virgin mother and the Holy Spirit. This means that Jesus was completely God and completely man. Even though Jesus never sinned, he took all the punishment for our sins when he died on the cross. After three days in a grave Jesus physically came back to life and hung out with his followers who testified to his resurrection. Later he returned to heaven where he is God’s right hand man and our High Priest. This means that Jesus Christ is continually praying (interceding) and bringing us before God. We gladly follow Jesus as our Lord and God.
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit has come to make his home in our hearts where he helps transform our lives so that we become more like Jesus Christ. The Spirit also makes us aware when we sin and draws us back to Jesus when we get off track. He gives us new life, spiritual gifts, and the power to use those gifts to serve God and love others. He teaches us the truth of God’s word in the Bible and supernaturally helps us to apply it to our lives. All this brings glory and honor to Jesus Christ. The Spirit is our guarantee that we will live beyond this life and be with God forever!
The Bible
All Scripture (the Bible) is true, reliable, and without error. It is God’s words for us to believe and put into practice. There is no area of our lives where we do not submit to its principles and truth. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and unified story of the way God has brought us salvation. The climax of the story comes when we realize that the words of God are not just ink on a page but come alive in the person Jesus Christ, the Living Word. The whole Bible is completely inspired by the Holy Spirit and has the final authority for every matter on which it speaks. (John 1:1-2,14, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21, 3:15-16)
Salvation
Our sin separates us from God. We are saved from the punishment we deserve because of God’s grace. The great news is that this grace is a free gift from God – there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. When we trust Christ alone for our salvation, say we are truly sorry for our sins and that we don’t want to live that way any longer, God chooses to look at us and say “you are righteous!.” In other words, God gives us a clean spiritual record. We can only become children of God and eligible to inherit eternal life when we receive Jesus in our hearts and are born again of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 3:23; 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9, John 1:12-13; 4:5)
The Church
The true Church is made up of everyone, all over the world, who has trusted Jesus Christ for their salvation and who lives their life depending on God’s Spirit. If you look around you will see that God’s local Church is made up of imperfect people who teach God’s Word with integrity, celebrate the Lord’s Supper, and baptize with water those who have decided to follow Jesus. The church uses loving discipline to help each member stay close to God. And the church is a spiritual family that lives and shares life together. Don’t worry, the church will become perfect when Jesus comes back!
Eternal Destiny
Jesus Christ will come back to the earth in an obvious and physical way. He will judge everyone living at that time and everyone who has ever lived in the past. He will complete God’s plan for the history of the world. Believers will have the joy of spending eternity (that’s for ever and ever) with God. We are looking forward to this, so hurry up Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20)
The Great Commission
Jesus commands all believers to tell people about him — in our neighborhoods and all over the world. He tells us to teach them, train them, and baptize them (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus loves us deeply and calls us to respond to his love with a radical commitment to live a life of love and service, even if we have to deny our own wants to do it (Luke 9:23-25). “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
Love in Practice
The Bible is clear on the things that are important to our salvation and faith (the essential beliefs), yet there are other areas on which it is silent (non-essential issues). The church recognizes that it should not tell people what to do in areas where scripture is silent, but leave it to each person to take personal responsibility for asking the Lord to lead them in those areas. Love is the ultimate expression and goal of what we believe (Matthew 22:37-39).
* This states our beliefs in everyday language. Please call the office if you prefer the statement of our beliefs with formal theological terms.