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BELIEFS
About What We
Believe
In essential beliefs--we have unity.
"There is one Body and one Spirit. .
.there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father
of us all. . ." (Ephesians 4:4-6)
In non-essential beliefs--we have liberty.
"Accept him whose faith is weak, without
passing judgment on disputable matters. . .Who are you to judge
someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls . .
.So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. . .So
whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and
God. " (Romans 14:1, 4, 12, 22)
In all our beliefs--we show love.
". . . If I hold in my mind not only all
human knowledge but also the very secrets of God, and if I have the
faith that can move mountains-but have no love, I amount to nothing
at all." (1 Corinthians 13:2 Philip's Trans.)
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We believe in majoring on
the majors and minoring on the minors. |
The Essentials We Believe
GOD
God is the Creator and Ruler of the Universe.
There is one true Holy God, eternally existing in three
persons-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and
equally possess all the attributes of deity and characteristics of
personality.
In the beginning God created, out of nothing,
the World and all the things therein. By His sovereign power He
continues to sustain His creation and to fulfill His redemptive
purposes. (Genesis 1:1, 26, 27, 3:22; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 1
Peter 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is God’s eternal Son. He is
co-equal with the Father. He allowed Himself to be born of a virgin
through a miraculous conception of the Holy Spirit, without ceasing
to be God. Being true God and true man, He lived a sinless human
life, and voluntarily offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for
our sins by dying on a cross as our substitute. He arose from the
dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death.
He ascended to Heaven and will return again to earth some day,
personally and visibly, to consummate history and the eternal plan
of God. (Matthew 1:22,23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5, 14:10-30; Hebrews
4:14-15; 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4; Romans 1:3, 4; Acts 1:9-11; 1
Timothy 6:14, 15; Titus 2:13)
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father
and the Son of God. He is present in the world to make men aware of
their need for Jesus Christ. He enlightens the minds of sinners,
awakens in them a recognition of their need of a Savior, and brings
spiritual life to them. At the point of salvation, He permanently
indwells every believer to become the source of assurance, strength
and wisdom, and uniquely endows each believer with gifts for the
building up of the body of Christ--the Church. The Holy Spirit
guides believers in understanding and applying the Scriptures. As
Christians, we seek to live under His control daily, to exhibit
Christlike character, and to bear fruit to the glory of the Father.
(2 Corinthians 3:17; John 16:17; John 16:7-13, 14:16, 17; Acts 1:8;
1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:16; Ephesians 1:13, 5:17-21; Galatians 5:25)
HUMAN BEINGS
Men and women were created in the image and
likeness of God but rebelled against God through personal
disobedience. This rebellion led to their alienation from God and
the corruption of their spiritual nature which renders them
incapable of pleasing God on their own merit or saving themselves.
The rebellion and fall of man took place at the beginning of human
history, and all individuals since have suffered these consequences
and are thus in need of the saving grace of God. (Genesis 1:27;
Psalm 8:3-6; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:1, 2)
SALVATION
Salvation is God’s free gift to us, but we
must accept it. It is offered to all, but individually received by
personal faith in Jesus Christ, alone, for the forgiveness of our
sins. Salvation is wholly a work of God’s free grace, not the
result, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness. We can
never on our own satisfy God’s righteous demands for salvation.
Eternal life and the forgiveness of sins begins the moment one
transfers their trust from themselves to Christ for forgiveness of
their sins. Salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God,
not by the self-effort of Christians, and when God has begun a
saving work in the heart of any person, He promises to continue
performing it until the day of its completion. We are involved in
this process by choosing to follow Christ, trust Him, and obey Him
as our lives are transformed. If you have been genuinely saved, you
cannot "lose it". (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8, 9; John
14:6, 1:12; Titus 3:5; Galatians 3:26; Romans 5:1, 8; Philippians
1:6, 2:12-13; John 10:29-30; 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25;
1 Peter 1:3-5)
HUMAN DESTINY
People were created by God to exist forever.
Death seals the eternal destiny of each person. For all mankind,
there will be a bodily resurrection and a judgment that will
determine the fate of each individual. Those who have not personally
trusted Jesus Christ will be separated from God into everlasting
punishment for their rejection of God. Believers will be received
into eternal communion with God and will be rewarded for works done
in this life. (John 3:16, 2:25, 5:11-13; Romans 6:23; Revelations
20:15; Hebrews 9:27; Matthew 18:8, 25:44, 46)
THE CHURCH
The Church is the living Body of Christ on
Earth and at the point of salvation a person becomes a member of
Christ's Body--the Church. There is one true Church universal,
comprised of all those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior.
The Scriptures encourage believers to gather
together to devote themselves to worship, prayer, teaching of the
Word, observance of baptism and communion as ordinances established
by Jesus Christ, fellowship, service to the body through the
development and use of talents and gifts, and outreach to the world.
Whenever God’s people meet regularly, there
is the local expression of the Church. Under the watch care of
elders and the supportive leadership of deacons, its members are to
work together in love and unity, intent on the one ultimate purpose
of glorifying Christ. (Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 2:19-22, 5:23-24;
Acts 2:41-47; Matthew 16:15-18; Colossians 3:21; Revelation 4:11;
Ephesians 4:11-13; Matthew 22:36-40, 28:19-20; Romans 12:3-16; 1
Corinthians 12:4-12; Acts 1:8)
FAITH AND PRACTICE
Scripture is the final authority in all
matters of faith and practice. This church recognizes that it cannot
bind the conscience of individual members in areas where Scripture
is silent. Rather, each believer is to be led in those areas by the
Lord, to Whom he or she is ultimately responsible.
We believe the Statement of Faith to be an
accurate summary of what Scripture teaches. All members shall
refrain from advocating doctrines that are not included in the
Statement of Faith in such a way as to cause dissensions.
THE BIBLE
The Bible is God’s Word to us and is the
supreme source of truth for Christian faith and living; the
sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament were written by human
authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Scripture thus at one and the same time speaks with the authority of
God and reflects the backgrounds, styles and vocabularies of the
human authors. We hold that the Scriptures are infallible, inspired
and without any mixture of error in the original writings. They are
the unique, full and final authority on all matters of faith and
practice. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 2:1, 20, 21; 2 Timothy 1:13;
Psalm 119:105)
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