STATEMENT OF FAITH

THE BIBLE

We believe the Bible to be the complete word of God; that the sixty-six books, as originally written, comprising the Old and New Testament, were verbally inspired by God the Holy Spirit and were entirely free from error; that the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice and the true basis of Christian oneness and fellowship.

GOD

We believe in One God, Creator of all, holy, sovereign, eternal, existing in three equal persons: the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.

CHRIST

We believe in the 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.

HOLY SPIRIT

We believe in the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit who convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; who regenerates, sanctifies, illuminates and comforts the born again.

SATAN

We believe in a personal Devil who has sinned from the beginning. He is the enemy of God, of truth, and of man and will finally be cast into the “lake of fire.”

MAN

We believe God created man in His own image, and therefore sinless. In the transgression wherein man sinned and fell, he became guilty before God resulting in total depravity and thereby incurring physical and spiritual death.

SALVATION

We believe salvation is entirely of God’s mercy in that sinners are saved by grace through faith alone and that not of themselves it is the gift of God, not of works. We believe all those actually “born again” have the inward witness of God the Holy Spirit and are now and forever Christ’s and shall never perish; that God has particularly stressed this truth for the spiritual enjoyment of His saints. This assurance is not a license to sin.

THE NEW TESTAMENT LOCAL CHURCH

We believe the local church is a body of “born again” and scripturally baptized believers called “saints.” The scriptural offices of the local church are: pastor(s) (elder, bishop), and deacons. The local church is separated unto the Lord Jesus Christ for the ministry of the Word, the fulfilling of His command to preach the Gospel, baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching all things whatsoever He has commanded; the mutual edification of its members, the propagation of the faith and the observance of the ordinances. The local church is not subject to any authority external to itself, but is a sovereign, independent body exercising its own divinely awarded gifts and privileges under the Lordship of Christ, the Head of the Church.

FUTURE THINGS

We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ; in the resurrection of the just and unjust; in the eternal blessedness of the redeemed; and in the judgment and conscious eternal punishment of the wicked.

ORDINANCES

We believe there are only two ordinances for the church regularly observed in the New Testament order: Baptism - which is the immersion of the believer in water, whereby he obeys the command of Christ and sets forth his identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection; and the Lord’s Supper - which is the memorial wherein the believer partakes of the two elements, namely bread and the fruit of the vine, which symbolize the Lord’s body and shed blood, proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes.

THE CHURCH AND STATE

We believe in the entire separation of Church and State.

THE LORD’S DAY

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