SCRIPTURE
We believe that the Holy Bible as originally written was divinely and verbally inspired and the product of Spirit-controlled men, and, therefore, has truth without admixture of error for its matter. We believe the Bible to be the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried. (II Timothy 3:16-27; II Peter 1:19-21)
GOD
We believe that there is one and only one living and true God, an infinite and intelligent Spirit, the Maker and supreme Ruler of heaven and earth, inexpressively glorious in Holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the work of redemption. (Exodus 20:2-3; I Corinthians 8:6; Revelation 4:11)
JESUS CHRIST
We believe in the essential, absolute, and eternal deity of God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ: that Hewas and is divine as no other man can be, being very God, and existing from all eternity coequal with the Father and the Holy Spirit; that in His incarnation He never ceased to be God for one instant and that His humiliation did not consist in laying aside His deity. (Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:26-38; I John 5:20)
MARY
We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous manner, born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born of a woman, and that He is both the Son of Man and God the Son. (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; John 1:14)
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, equal with God the Father and God the Son, and of the same substance and nature; that He was active in creation; that in His relation to an unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; that He bears witness to the truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the Agent in the New Birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses to, sanctifies and helps the believer, and indwells every true child of God. We believe that the sign/revelatory gifts of the Holy Spirit (such as tongues, healing, and apostles) have fulfilled their purpose and are not applicable to the work of the Holy Spirit today. (John 14:16-17; 16:7-11; Romans 8:9,11,14-17,26,27; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 28-30; I Corinthians 13-14); Matthew 28:19; Hebrews 9:14; John 14:26; Luke 1:35; Genesis 1:1-3; John 16:8-11; Acts 5:30-32; John 3:5, 6; Ephesians 1:13, 14; Mark 1:8; John 1:33; Acts 11:16; Luke 24:49; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Hebrews 2:2-4.
SATAN
We believe in the personality of Satan, the Devil; that he was created by God as an angel but through pride and rebellion became the enemy of his Creator; that he is the unholy god of this age and the author of all the powers of darkness and sin; and that he is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the Lake of Fire. (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Matthew 4:1-3; II Corinthians 4:3-4; Revelation 20:10)
CREATION
We believe the Biblical account of the creation of the physical universe, angels, and man; that this account is neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process; that man was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race. (Genesis, chapters 1 and 2; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-17)
MAN
We believe that man was created in innocence in the image and likeness of God under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression fell from his sinless and happy state, in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not only by constraint but by choice, being by nature utterly devoid of the holiness required by the law of God, positively inclined to evil, and therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse. (Genesis, chapter 3; Romans 1:18,32;5:10-19)
SALVATION
We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace, through the mediatorial offices of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who by appointment of the Father freely took upon Himself our nature yet without sin, honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; and that having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in Heaven, and uniting in His wonderful Person the tenderest of sympathies with divine perfection, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and all-sufficient Savior. (Isaiah 53:4-7; Matthew 18:11; John 3:16; I John 4:10; Acts 15; I Corinthians 15:3; II Corinthians 5:21)
SECURITY
We believe that all those who are truly born again are eternally secure in their salvation, being “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time”. (John 6:37-40;10:28-29; Romans 8:28-39; Philippians 1:6; I Peter 1:2-5; I John 5:4-13; Jude 1)
THE CHURCH
We believe that “the Church which is His body” is composed of all born-again believers of this age, and that it shall be caught up together with Christ in the resurrection-rapture experience at His coming in the clouds. We further believe that a local church is a company of immersed believers in Christ, associated together by covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His work; that its officers are pastors and deacons, whose qualifications and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures; that the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing for Christ to all men as we have opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations and that the only Superintendent thereof is Christ through the Person of the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for local churches to cooperate with one another in contending for the faith, for the furtherance of the Gospel, and for Christian fellowship; that each church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation, as well as on all matters of membership, policy, government, discipline, and benevolences, and that the will of the local church is final in all matters that affect its life and outreach. (Acts 2:41-47,1:8,2:1-13,15:13-18; Matthew 16:18; I Corinthians 11:2;12:12-28; Ephesians 1:22-23,3:21,4:11,5:23-24; Colossians 1:18; I Timothy 3:1-15)
ORDINANCES
We believe that there are two and only two Church Ordinances: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper:
a. That Baptism is the single immersion in water of a professed believer in Christ in the Name of the Triune God, and is properly referred to as “believer’s baptism”, and that it sets forth in appropriate and solemn symbol the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and affirms one’s faith in the crucified and risen Savior, a faith which should produce in our lives the fact of our death to sin and resurrection to newness of life. Baptism shall be prerequisite to the privileges of membership in this church.
b. That the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of our Lord’s death for our sins, and affirms our continuing fellowship with Him, in the emblems of unleavened bread and “the fruit of the vine” until He comes. We believe that the biblical order of the ordinances is baptism first and then the Lord’s Supper, and that participants in the Lord’s Supper should be immersed believers. (Matthew 3:16; Acts 8:26-39; John 3:23; I Corinthians 11:23-28; Colossians 2:12)
THE FAMILY
We believe that the marriage of a man to a woman is the plan of God and sacred in His sight. We believe that from the beginning God intended for man and wife to be united in marriage until death. The Lord, speaking through Paul, instructed the wife not to leave her husband and the husband not to put away his wife (Genesis 2:18-25; Mark 10:6-9; Ephesians 5:18-32;I Timothy 3:4,5,12; Malachi 2:13,14; I Corinthians 7:10,11).
We believe it is totally against the command and teaching of the Word of God to in any way change or pervert this order;, that homosexuality, lesbianism, or any other sexual relationship outside of marriage is contrary to the Word of God. We do not accept these as an alternate life style. We believe that the sexual relationship is sacred and fulfilling only within the bonds of marriage, and is condemned outside the marriage relationship (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:18-32; I Corinthians 6:10; 7:3,4; Hebrews 13:4; Jude 7).
We believe that children are a blessing of God and the responsibility for them rests solely upon the parent and they are to be brought up in loving structured control and conscientious instruction in the truths of God and His principles for life (Psalms 127:3; Ephesians 6:4; Deuteronomy 6:6,7; Psalms 78:4-7; Proverbs 22:6;17:6