Our complete ministry is based on what we believe the Bible teaches, summarized here in our Statement of Faith:

The Bible

Throughout history God has revealed himself in a variety of ways, and God has preserved the substance of this revelation in the Bible. When we say "the Bible", we mean the sixty-six books of the Old Testament and New Testament. These books were written by divinely chosen authors, prompted and guarded by the Spirit of God. Strictly speaking, this inerrancy of the Bible, applies to its books as originally written, but we can be confident that we have the original text of the Bible in the copies and translations we possess today because God has preserved those writings. (See Matthew 5:17-18, John 16:12-15, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, and 2 Peter 1:20-21)

God

There is only one God, who is the creator of this universe. God, who is a God of love and justice, has always existed and will always exist. He is the ultimate authority over all persons and things, and he answers to no higher being or principle. He is holy, unique, perfect, and free from all the limits and imperfections experienced by creatures. He exists eternally in three divine persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; this is a mystery. (Genesis 1-2; Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

Christ

We believe in the absolute and essential deity of Jesus Christ, in His eternal existence with the Father in pre-incarnate glory, in His virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, triumphant ascension, mediatorial ministry and personal return.

The Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit is a fully divine person. The Spirit makes the work of Jesus Christ effective in us by convincing us that we have sinned against God, that we therefore fail to meet God's standard for human life, that we are subject to God's judgment for that reason, and that Christ is the answer to our need. The Spirit indwells all those who believe in Jesus. and gives gifts and a new spiritual ability to understand God's Word and live in obedience to it. By indwelling us he sets us apart as God's children; he continues to transform us into faithful followers of Christ; and he will in the end make us fully like Christ. (John 7:37-39; 14:16-17; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13)

Satan

Satan (also called the Devil) exists as an evil, personal, spirit-being who opposes the work of God in the world. Satan is a fallen angel (Genesis 3:1-15; Job 1:6-12; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 1 Peter 5:8-9)

Man

Human beings were created by God to be like him in every way which is necessary in order to be in relationship with him. They serve as God's visible representatives in the exercise of responsible dominion over the created world. Our first parents sinned by disobeying an explicit divine command and thus brought ruin on the human race. The Bible describes this ruin in terms of "death": spiritual, physical, and eternal death. (Genesis 1:26-27; 3:1-24; Romans 5:12-19; Ephesians 2:1-3)

Salvation

Although God could have left all human beings in their sin and guilt, in love, he freely and graciously chose to deliver us from our ruined condition. He provided his eternal Son to become human in order to save us. On the basis of this work of Christ on our behalf, God accepts as perfectly righteous all those who trust in Christ who died and rose again. We come to believe in Christ because God does a special work of grace to overcome our sinful disposition and draw us to him. (John 6:35-40; Romans 3:19-26; 8:28-30; 1 Peter 1:18-23)

Future Things

We believe that Jesus Christ will return personally, bodily, and gloriously, just as he promised and his apostles affirmed. In the end Christ will raise from the dead all who have ever lived, and he will declare God's perfect judgment concerning every person. Those who have been saved will live eternally in the perfect, renewed creation, and those who have been unrepentant will exist eternally in the conscious punishment of hell. (Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:28-29; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20-22)

The Local Church

The universal church, the community of believers in Christ, is manifested in local churches throughout the world. A properly ordered local church is a loving community of persons who have confessed their faith in Christ by being immersed in Christian baptism, and who by their baptism have committed themselves to one another as well as to Christ. (Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:1-16; 1 Timothy 3:1-15; 1 Peter 2:9-10)

Ordinances

Among the things commanded by Christ, there are two visible symbols of the gospel which he instituted for observance by his followers until he returns, one as a sign of Christian initiation and the other as a means of ongoing nurture:

(1) Baptism is the immersion in water of a confessing believer. The act is a powerful symbol of union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection, with all that this implies about our death to our old life and our spiritual rebirth. (Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 6:3-4)

(2)The Lord's Supper is a symbolic meal in which believers together partake of bread and wine as a tangible reminder of the body and blood of Christ which were offered up for our salvation. By this act of eating and drinking, the whole community of believers proclaims the Lord's death until he returns. (Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-34)

The Church and State

We believe in the entire separation of church and state.

Religious Liberty

We believe in religious liberty; that every man has the right to practice and propagate his beliefs.

The Lord's Day

We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord's day and that, in a special sense, it is the divinely appointed day for worship and spiritual exercise.

Civil Government

We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interest and good order of society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honoured and obeyed, except only in the things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the only Lord of the conscience and Prince of the kings of the earth.