Statement of Faith

We believe that the Bible is God’s written revelation of Himself. These Holy Scriptures are perfect as originally given by and from God (“God-breathed”), and are the eternal, inspired, inerrant, infallible, verbal, and plenary very Word of God for man. They are the sole infallible authority and truth for all men for all times for all matters of faith and practice. Properly interpreted, they support or supersede all that follows

We believe there is but one living and true God, perfect in all His attributes and character, one in essence, eternally existing in three Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is the Creator, Sustainer, Controller, Judge, and Ruler of all things and beings. He rules and reigns in absolute sovereignty for His divine purposes and glory alone.

We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, who exists having two natures, fully human and fully divine. The natures of Jesus are without confusion, change, division, or separation. The eternal Son of God was conceived when the Holy Spirit miraculously overshadowed the virgin Mary. Jesus Christ was born of Mary, lived a sinless life, died as a substitutionary atoning sacrifice for our sins, and rose bodily from the dead on the third day. He ascended into heaven, where He intercedes for His people as an eternal high priest. One day, He will return bodily and visibly in all His glory to judge the earth and establish His eternal kingdom. He is the head of the church, having purchased it with His own shed blood. All who claim allegiance to Christ are to obey His commands, imitate His life, and promote His gospel.

We believe that man was directly and immediately created by God in His image and likeness. Man lost his original innocence and freedom in Adam’s sin of disobedience to the revealed will and Word of God, incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death, became subject to the wrath of God, and became inherently corrupt and utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace. Sinful in our natures, depraved and corrupt in all our parts as a result of the original sin and our natural beings, mankind is hopelessly lost apart from God’s divine grace. The purpose, happiness, and success of all men are ultimately found only in God’s plan and design, for His glory alone.

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. Men and women are equal in the sight of God, and they have clearly defined roles that complement each other and reflect the glory of the Triune God. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman exclusively in covenant commitment for a lifetime. The husband is to be the head of the wife, which entails loving nurture and spiritual leadership. The wife is to respect her husband and to submit to him willingly as unto the Lord. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing from the Lord. They are to obey their parents in the Lord. Parents are to raise their children in the nurture and instruction of the Lord.

We believe salvation is offered to all people and comes by grace alone through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It results in justification through the grace of election, calling, regeneration, and spiritual adoption. Salvation continues in sanctification and will culminate in the perseverance and glorification of all saints when Christ returns. There is no salvation apart from personal repentance of sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; salvation cannot be gained in any other way. Since humans are sinners both by nature and choice, they naturally face the condemnation of God apart from salvation. The Holy Spirit regenerates and draws sinners to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. In that moment, they become new creations in Christ, delivered from condemnation and gifted with eternal life.

In keeping with the Protestant tradition, we believe that salvation is by God's grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the Holy Scriptures alone, to the glory of God alone. There is no mixture of faith and works in regards to salvation. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and who have been sanctified by His Spirit shall persevere to the end.

We believe that Christians, regenerated by the Holy Spirit from every tribe, language, people, and nation, are to associate themselves into local churches. A visible church is a congregation of baptized believers, bound together by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel. It observes the ordinances of Christ, submits to his commands, and exercises the gifts given by the Holy Spirit for mutual edification. The local church is governed by the Word of God, which teaches that Jesus alone is her Hing and Head; that elders are qualified men given to shepherd the church as pastors; that deacons are to serve the church; and that the congregation, comprised of all members, has the responsibility to affirm members, defend doctrine, to support the church, hold its leaders accountable, and carry out discipline when Scripture requires. Church members are commanded to assemble regularly, love one another, promote gospel unity, give of their time, talents and treasures to support the church, seek the good of their neighbors, make disciples of the nations, and live for the glory of God.

There are two ordinances instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ for the local church to celebrate regularly—baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This event signifies a believer’s death to sin and resurrection to new life as a result of faith in and obedience toward the Lord Jesus Christ and acts as the normal covenant sign of initiation.
The Lord’s Supper is an event designed to remember the Lord’s sacrificial death for his people, to confess and cleanse sin from the local congregation, and to anticipate the Lord’s return. This ordinance serves as the ongoing sign of the covenant.

There are two scriptural offices in the local church: Elder and Deacon. The Elders are responsible for the spiritual development and oversight of the local church before God. Elders serve as pastors, or under-shepherds, of Christ. Deacons are chosen from the congregation and are to function as servants to the church, assisting the Elders in caring for church members and church ministries.

We joyfully stand alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the ages in affirming the Apostles’ Creed (2nd Century) and the Nicene Creed (325 and 381). We gladly stand in the reformed Baptist tradition and believe that the New Hampshire Confession (1853) provides a helpful exposition of God’s Word. These are neither inspired nor infallible, but they do embody in general the basic doctrines that we believe the Bible teaches. We also affirm the following three statements and believe they make clear what the Bible says about itself, gender, and sexuality: The Danvers Statement, The Nashville Statement, The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy.