Embedded Files
1. The Scriptures Inspired.
1. The Scriptures Inspired.
We believe the books of the Old and New Testaments constitute the Holy Scriptures. They are the inspired and infallible Word of God, fully inerrant in their original manuscripts and superior to all human authority and have been transmitted to the present without corruption of any essential doctrine. We believe they contain all things necessary for salvation. Both in the Old and New Testaments, life is offered ultimately through Christ, with the New explaining the Old. The Bible is the revealed message of God to man. (I Corinthians 10:1-11; II Timothy 3:15-17; II Peter 1:21).
2. The One True God.
2. The One True God.
The one true God has revealed Himself as the “I AM,” the Creator, and Redeemer of mankind. The triune Godhead consists of one true God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son, and the Holy Spirit. (John 10:36; 14:26; 20:21-22)
3. Heavenly Father.
3. Heavenly Father.
God has revealed Himself as Father expressing His care toward His children both in giving good gifts (James 1:17-18) and disciplining His children for their growth (Hebrews 12:5-11). The Father adopts spiritual orphans into His royal family through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:5).
4. Son of God, Jesus Christ.
4. Son of God, Jesus Christ.
We believe in the deity and humanity of Jesus of Nazareth, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal returning in power and glory. (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18, 23; Luke 1:34-35; Romans 3:22-25a; Hebrews 2:17-18).
5. The Holy Spirit.
5. The Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the Helper Jesus promised would come to exalt Jesus, convict us of sin, regenerate our hearts, lead us to truth, and empower us for spiritual life. We believe the Holy Spirit is of the same nature, majesty, and glory, as the Father and the Son, truly and eternally God. (John 14:15-18, 25-28; 2Cor 13:14; Eph 2:15,22).
6. Creation.
6. Creation.
We believe the triune God created the universe apart from pre-existing materials. We believe in the historical accuracy of the Bible including the first eleven chapters of Genesis. (Genesis 1:1; Nehemiah 9:6; Psalms 102:25; Acts 14:15).
7. Satan.
7. Satan.
We believe that Satan was originally created by God. He rebelled against God. As a result, he became depraved, the devil and adversary of God and His people, the leader of a host of angels who fell with him. Satan has been judged and defeated at the cross and awaits his ultimate doom. (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Ephesians 2:2; I Thessalonians 3:5; I Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:9; 20:1-3; 7-10).
8. The Fall of Man.
8. The Fall of Man.
God created the original humans good and sinless. However, man by voluntary transgression fell and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:17; 3:6; Romans 5:12-19).
9. The Salvation of Man.
9. The Salvation of Man.
Man's only hope of redemption is by grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God. (Ephesians 2:8,9; Hebrews 9,10)
Conditions to Salvation. Salvation is a free gift received through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, being justified by grace through faith, man becomes an heir of God according to the hope of eternal life. (Luke 24:47; John 3:3; Romans 6:23; 10:13-15; Ephesians 2:8; Titus 2:11, 3:5-7)
The Evidence of Salvation. The inward evidence of salvation is the direct witness of the Spirit (Romans 8:16). If anyone is born of God, they will love Him and love others (Matthew 22:37-40; I John 4:1-17). All who are in Christ will bear good fruit. (Luke 6:43-46; John 15:1-8).
10. Eternity.
10. Eternity.
We believe the Scriptures clearly teach there is a conscious personal existence after death. The final destiny of each person is determined by God’s grace and the sinner’s response. Heaven with its eternal glory is the destiny of those who choose the salvation which God provides through Jesus Christ, but hell with its everlasting misery and separation from God is the final abode of those who neglect this great salvation. (Luke 13:22-30; 16:19-31; 23:39-43; John 11:25-26).
11. God's Purpose for Humanity.
11. God's Purpose for Humanity.
We believe that the purpose of man is to glorify God by enjoying and obeying Him. The two great commandments which require us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and our neighbors as ourselves, summarize the divine law as it is revealed in the Scriptures (Matthew 22:37-40). They are the perfect measure and norm of human duty, both for the ordering and directing of families and nations, and all other social bodies, and for individual acts, by which we are required to acknowledge God as our only Supreme Ruler, and all persons as created by Him, equal in all natural rights. Therefore, all persons should so order all their individual, social and political acts as to give to God entire and absolute obedience, and to assure to all the enjoyment of every natural right (Galatians 5:1,13-14; Philippians 2:3-11).
12. The Church and Its Mission.
12. The Church and Its Mission.
The Church is the entire Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointment for the fulfillment of the great commission. The members of the Body of Christ have been commanded to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19), and love the Lord with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind; and love our neighbor as ourselves (Luke 10:27). Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the Universal Church whose names are written in heaven (Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:22; Hebrews 12:23).
God's purpose concerning man is to seek and to save that which is lost, to be worshipped by man, and to build a body of believers in the image of His Son:
To evangelize the world (Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16).
To be a corporate body who worships God together (I Corinthians 12:13).
To build the saints into the image of His Son (Ephesians 4:11-16; I Corinthians 12:28; 14:12).
13. Holy Living.
13. Holy Living.
The believer is separated unto God and from that which is evil. By God’s grace, each believer’s conduct should reflect the separation to which God has called them. (Romans 12:1-2; I Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 13:12)
14. Tithes, Offerings.
14. Tithes, Offerings.
The needs of the New Testament Church, its varied ministries along with its God ordained leadership are to be met by the tithes and offerings of the believers (Genesis 14:17-20; Matthew 23:23; I Corinthians 16:1; II Corinthians 9:6-7). Christians are also admonished to attend to the poor and needy. (1 John 3:17; Matthew 6:1; Acts 9:36, 10:2-4, 11:29, 24:17, 20:35; Galatians 2:10; Romans 15:25-27; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4)
15. Obedience/Disobedience to Human Decrees.
When the edicts, decrees, actions, and/or laws of the civil government conflict clearly with the Word of God we will obey God rather than man as multiple examples in Scripture show. (Acts 4:18-20; 5:29; Exodus 1:15-2:10; Joshua 2:3-7; 1 Samuel 19:1-16; Daniel 3 & 9; Acts 17:7; Revelation 14:9-12)
16. Racism.
God created all mankind equal in value and imputed upon them dignity and the “Image of God” (Genesis 1:26-27). One is never partially in the Image of God any more than one may be partially alive. Attempts to identify, treat, or view certain people or groups as lesser members of humankind are a blasphemous affront to our Creator. Racism in all its forms is sin. Self-indulgent pride in “race,” therefore, must be regarded as idolatry in one of its most ugly forms. We believe racial prejudice insults the Creator. Secondly, racism is an attempt to reverse the redemptive act of Christ. In Jesus Christ, God became a Man and so identified Himself fully with every member of the human family in whatever race, nation, or culture they may be found. Jesus Christ has removed all barriers that stand between human beings, giving reconciliation through His cross. (Gen. 1:26-27; 9:6; Jn. 13:35, 15:12; Acts 17:24-26; 1 Cor. 1:13; Gal. 3:26-28; Eph. 2:13-22; 1 Tim. 2:3-6; 1 John 2:9-10)
17. Communion.
The Lord's Supper, consisting of the elements - bread and fruit of the vine – is the symbol of Christ’s work on the cross; a memorial of His suffering and victory over sin; and is enjoined by all believers "until He comes!" (Matthew 26:26-28; 1Corinthians 11:23-34)
18. Baptism in Water.
The ordinance of baptism by full immersion in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, into the Lord Jesus Christ is commanded in the Scriptures. All who repent and believe on Christ as Savior and Lord are to be baptized. Thus, they declare to the world and the Church their old self died with Christ and that they also have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life. (Matthew 3:13-17; 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 10:47-48; Romans 6:4)
19. The Baptism in Holy Spirit.
There is a subsequent baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2; 9:17; 19:6) in addition to the work of the Holy Spirit at conversion (1Cor 12:13 Titus 3:5-6). Common evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit are flowing in the gifts (1Cor 12:7-11) and speaking in other tongues. (Acts 10:45,46; 1Cor 14:5,18)
20. Spiritual Gifts.
The Holy Spirit distributes to the believer Spiritual Gifts as He wills. As members of the Body of Christ we should work together using the manifestation of the Spirit through those different gifts for the common good. (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-12)
21. The Second Coming of Christ.
We believe in the certainty of the personal return of Christ Who will come back the way He went away (Acts 1:11). Looking for His appearing brings us comfort and hope. (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:13)
XXII – STATEMENT ON MARRIAGE AND SEXUALITY
We believe that marriage is a holy institution that reflects the relationship between Jesus Christ and His church (Ephesians 5:21-32). The wedding ceremony itself pictures the joining together of the church with Christ for eternity (Revelation 19:7).
We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to only occur between a man and a woman who are married to each other. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of biblical marriage. We believe that any form of sexual immorality, such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography, or any attempt to change one’s gender, or disagreement with one’s biological gender, is sinful and offensive to God.
We believe specifically that homosexual behavior is sin because it is disobedient to the most basic scriptural and moral teachings which define the church; for example, “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable.” (Leviticus 20:13 NIV). When the church condones detestable behavior, it becomes detestable to God. (Romans 1:25–27, 1 Cor. 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 1:9-10). It is sin because it violates the created order for families. Condoning homosexual behavior brings destruction upon the church institution (Genesis 19:4–11, 24-25), and any governmental effort to force religious institutions to condone homosexual behavior is the government attempting to destroy the church. Furthermore, it is also clear that Jesus authoritatively affirmed the continuing validity of the Old Testament moral law, including prohibitions against homosexual behavior. (Matthew 5:17-19, 27-28).
All ministries, ministers, officers, employees, volunteers, and members on every level are prohibited from condoning or engaging in homosexual practices. Churches, ministers, officers, employees, and members are also expressly forbidden to participate in or aid in any way same-sex weddings, unions, or related religious services, or to allow any church owned or controlled facilities, assets, resources, and intangible property to be used for homosexual weddings or activities or in a manner inconsistent with this statement. (2 Cor. 6:14).
We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of the church as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to the church members and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by the church in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, should abide by and agree to this Statement on Marriage and Sexuality and conduct themselves accordingly.
We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Although all church positions are limited to those subscribing to church faith and practice, all persons are welcome to attend church service, provided they do not bring disturbance or present a safety concern for anyone, for Christ calls upon all persons to come to Him and to leave their sin.
We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with scripture nor the doctrines of the church.
XXIII – STATEMENT ON THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE
We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including babies in the womb, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death.
We seek to live and express our faith in a manner consistent with our calling to defend, protect, and value all human life.
All ministries, ministers, officers, employees, volunteers, and members on every level are prohibited from condoning or engaging in practices or procedures which result in abortion. All ministries, ministers, officers, employees, volunteers, and members are also expressly forbidden to participate in the promotion of abortion or aid in any way, or to allow any church owned facilities or resources to be used for the promotion of abortion in any form.
We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of the church as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to the church members and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by the church in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, should abide by and agree to this Statement on the Sanctity of Human Life and conduct themselves accordingly. (Exodus 20:13; Psalms 139:13-14; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:41-44)
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