We Believe and Teach
We accept fully the writings of the entire Old and New Testaments as the inspired, inerrant, and objective Word of God. We believe the Bible is the final authority in all matters of doctrine, duty, and decisions as individuals and as a New Testament Church. (Psalm 119:89; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13.
We believe in the one and only true God, the Creator. Who is eternal, loving, just, merciful, holy and unchanging. We believe that God exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in every divine attribute and executing distinct but complementary offices in the work of redemption. (Colossians 2:9; Matthew 28:19; Matthew 3:14-17).
That He pre-existed with God the Father before His birth in Bethlehem; that He was supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit in the body of the virgin Mary; that He lived a totally sinless and perfect life; that He died on the cross for the sins of the entire world; that He was buried and supernaturally raised out of the grave and declared the victorious Son of God over sin, death and hell; that he is presently seated at the right hand of God in the place of authority in heaven; that He is coming back to earth soon to bodily resurrect the dead in Christ and to rapture every living believer to be carried to heaven with Him. (John 3:16; Colossians 1:17; Isaiah 7:14; Luke 2:26-38; 1 Peter 2:22, 24; Romans 1:1-4; Hebrews 7:25; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
We believe that He is equal with God the Father and God the Son. We believe the Holy Spirit convicts the sinner, regenerates the sinner, indwells and seals the believer at the point of initial salvation and that He fills and empowers the believer in order that he or she may live a holy and fruitful life. We believe that every Christian should life his or her life under the control of the Holy Spirit of God. We believe that the evidence of the fullness of control of the Holy Spirit is in living a Godly holy fruitful and witnessing life. We do not accept the teaching that any of the signs gifts are to be sought as evidence of the Holy Spirit’s fullness. We believe that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is an experience that takes place at the time of salvation and is not separate from salvation. (John 14:16, 26; John 15:26-27; John 16:7-11; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 12:13).
We believe that Adam, the first man, was created in the image of God and in innocence. However, by his voluntary transgression against the will and law of God, he fell into sin and incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death which is eternal separation from God. Consequently, all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are in need of redemption. (Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:1-4).
We believe that salvation is by grace through faith, that is it is a free gift of God. We believe that man is saved by faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that a person must repent of their sin and by faith receive and trust the person and provision of Jesus Christ as Lord in order to be saved. We believe that salvation is a present reality, that one can be saved and know that he is saved and can enjoy his or her life of salvation. We believe that being saved is the most important experience in every individual’s life. We believe salvation is a “life changing” experience. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 10:9,10,13; Hebrews 9:22; Romans 5:1-19; Matthew 16:26).
We believe that heaven is a real place. A lovely place, perfect and a place which will be populated by the saints of God from all ages. We believe the most important thing about heaven is the presence of the Lord Himself. We believe that a person must make prior preparations to go to heaven, and that the preparation is to receive Jesus Christ as one’s own Lord and Savior. (John 14:1-6; Hebrews 12:22-24; Revelation 21:10-17; 22:1-2).
We believe that hell is a real place, that it was prepared for the devil and his angels and for all those who die outside of the Lord Jesus Christ and that they will spend eternity in hell. We believe that hell is literal place of physical, mental, spiritual and eternal suffering. We believe that every person will spend eternity either in heaven or in hell. (Luke 16:19-31; Revelation 20:11-15; Matthew 13:42; 25:41; Mark 9:43, 46).
We believe Satan is a real person, that he was created and that he originally lived in heaven but was cast out of heaven when he rebelled against God. He is totally sinful, deceptive, powerful and is the leader of a vast host of evil spirits who seek to keep unsaved people lost, who seek to divide and deceive the New Testament churches, and who seeks to devour individual Christians. We believe that Christ defeated the devil at the cross and that the Christian has authority and power over the devil now, through the Lord Jesus Christ. We also believe that Satan will ultimately be cast into the lake of fire at the end of the age. (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Ephesians 6:12; Genesis 3:1; 2 Corinthians 11:14; Revelation 12:11; 1 John 4:4).
We believe the greatest privilege of the Christian is to live for Jesus in this present age. We believe that the Christian life is a supernatural life. It is Christ living His life in us and through us, we believe it is a spiritual life. It is the Holy Spirit of God empowering and enabling us to be what God wants us to be. It is a warfare life; it is a life of separation. We believe the Christian life is one of separation from the ways of the world. It is a life of faith, which is totally committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is living by the promises of God and in obedience to the commands of God. It is a life of progress, spiritual growth, and maturity, where we become more and more like Jesus. It is a life of fruitfulness where the fruit of the spirit is exhibited in our lives in the way we live and in the witness of our lives as we lead others people to saving faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that witnessing is a necessary and normal part of the Christian life. (Galatian 2:20; 3:11; 3:23; 4:19; 5:17, 22,23; Ephesians 5:18; Acts 1:8; Titus 2:11-13).
We believe that the local church is God’s instrument in this present age and that all Christians should both belong to and be an active part of a local New Testament Church. We believe that the church is a body of baptized believers in whom Jesus Christ lives and over whom He lords, and is to live under the direction and discipline of the holy Word of God. They are united together in the Holy Spirit for the purpose of evangelizing the lost, building up the saved and glorifying the Lord. We believe the church belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, that He purchased it with His own blood, and we believe that the members of His church should love Christ and all the members of the body. And that they should be faithful to it’s purposes. We believe in the separation of church and state. We believe the church is a God-governed body with the pastor serving as the spiritual leader of the body. (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 3:21; Acts 2:41-47; Hebrews 13:7, 17).
We believe that baptism by immersion is the only Scriptural mode. We believe that baptism does not save but is an act of obedience to the command of Christ and a testimony to the world of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and with the people of God. Romans 6:1-5; Matthew 28:19-20. We further believe that the Lord’s supper is a symbolic ordinance which pictures Christ’s body broken for our sins and His blood shed for our redemption. We do not believe that it is a saving ordinance, but rather symbolic. We believe that every born again, baptized believer, should take the Lord’s supper as an act of worship, praise, remembrance and gratitude to Jesus Christ for what He has done for the sinner. (1 Corinthians 11:23-24).
We believe that every Christian should give the Lord His tithe. Tithe literally means tenth. We believe that every Christian should give at least 10% of his income to the Lord through his or her local church. We further believe that every Christian should go beyond the tithe in his giving to Spirit-directed giving. We believe that the Christian’s time, money and spiritual ability ought to be given bacvk to God as an act of dedication and love for Jesus Christ, and in order to fulfill the great commission. We believe that a Christian should give freely from their heart and the church should never require giving in order for salvation or membership. (Matthew 28:18-20; Leviticus 27:30; Malachi 3:10; Luke 6:38; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2).
We believe that it is the responsibility and privilege of every member of the local church to do everything he or she can do to make the gospel of Jesus Christ available to as many people as possible. Hence, we believe that evangelism begins at home as we lead people to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then evangelism spreads to the community, the city, the state, the nation and to the whole world. We believe that it is our solemn responsibility as a church to do everything we can to fulfill the great commission. (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:44-49; John 20:21-23; Acts 1:8).
We believe that Jesus Christ will come again, visibly and bodily, for those who have trusted Him as Savior and Lord. Those who have died as believers in the Lord Jesus will be raptured to meet the Lord in the air in glorified bodies. We will return with Christ to rule reign with Him for a thousand years, a period known as the Millennial reign of Christ, which afterwards we will spend eternity in heaven. (Acts 1:9-11; Romans 6:4, 8-9; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:13-14).