1. We believe in the plenary, verbal, inerrant inspiration of
the Scriptures, including both Old and New Testament, by which we
understand that the
Holy Spirit not only inspired the thoughts of the writers, but also
formulated the very words into which the thoughts were cast in the
original
documents. Consequently, the Bible is the only authority in faith and
practice. (Psalm 119; Exodus 24:4; Matthew 5:18; John 17:17; 1
Corinthians
2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Peter 5:16)
2. We believe in one God eternally existent in three persons: Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit having precisely the same nature, attributes,
perfections,
and worthy of precisely the same worship and obedience. (Genesis
1:26-27; Matthew 28:18-19; John 1:1-14; Acts 5:3-4; Hebrews 1:1-8;
Colossians 2:9; John 15:26)
3. We believe in the Deity, pre-existence, incarnation, virgin birth,
sinless life, miracles, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection,
ascension to
heaven, present position as our advocate and High Priest, and second
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 2:5-6; Luke 2:40; John
1:1-14;
Colossians 1:15-20; Colossians 2:9; Romans 3:25-26; Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews
4:15 Hebrews 7:25; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 2:1-3)
4. We believe the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is truly
personal and fully God and that He indwells, seals unto the day of
redemption,
and baptizes into the body of Christ every true believer at the moment
of salvation; that He is the provider of all Godly power, acceptable
worship
and service from the moment of salvation and will always glorify and
uplift the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; that it is the will of God
that each
believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit and thus be sanctified
wholly (this is a positional truth, but practically is a continuous
process of
growth) being separated from sin and the world and fully consecrated to
the will of God, thereby receiving power for holy living and effective
service. (Romans 6:8; 1 Corinthians 2:9-12; Acts 5:3-4; Ephesians 4:30;
Ephesians 5:18-20; Romans 12:1-2; 1 John 2:15-17; John 4:24; John
14:16-17; John 15:26-27; John 16:5-15)
5. We believe man was originally created in the likeness and image of
God, but that he fell through disobedience, incurring thereby both
physical
and spiritual death; that all men are born with a sinful nature, are
separated from the life of God, and can be saved only through the
atoning work of
the Lord Jesus Christ; that the portion of the impenitent and
unbelieving is existence forever in conscious torment and that of the
believing in
everlasting joy and bliss. (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7; 2:15-25; 3:1-24;
Romans 1:3;Luke 16:19-31; Matthew 10:28; 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians
1:5-12;
Revelation 20:11-15)
6. We believe Satan is a personal and real being, the adversary to the
holy will of God, and the salvation of men; that he is called in the
Scriptures
the "god of this world" who transforms himself into an "angel of light"
and has taken captive at his will the unbelieving and disobedient
(Genesis 7;
Isaiah 14:14; John 3:44; 2 Corinthians 2:11; 4:3-6; 11:3, 14-15; 1 Peter
5:8; Ephesians 6:11; Revelations 20:10)
7. We believe salvation has, by the love and grace of God, been provided
through Jesus Chris for all men and those who receive Him as their
personal Savior, by an act of simple faith apart from works of any kind.
They are born again of the Holy Spirit, receive divine forgiveness of
sins,
obtain the gift of eternal life and become the children of God created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, having been translated out of the
kingdom of
darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son; that each person must truly
repent of his sins and receive Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and
Savior; that the inward evidence of salvation is the witness of the
Spirit; that the out ward evidence is a life of righteousness and true
holiness
maintained by confession of sins, prayer, study of the Bible, and
regular fellowship with the saints. (John 1:12; 3:3-21; 6:44-51; 12:32;
Acts 2:38;
3:19; 4:10, 12; 16:31; Romans 2:3-5, 29; 3:21-30; 5:11-15)
8. We believe there will be a bodily resurrection of the just and the
unjust, the former a resurrection unto life, the latter a resurrection
unto
judgment; that the saved shall appear in Heaven at the judgment seat of
Christ to receive rewards and to dwell with Him for all eternity; that
the lost
shall be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment and shall be cast
into the lake of fire to suffer eternal conscious punishment. (1
Corinthians
3:9-15; 15; Romans 14:9-12; 2 Corinthian 5:10; Revelation 20:11-15; 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18)
9. We believe the Church consists of all those who have believed on the
Lord Jesus Christ, are purged from their sins by His blood, and have
been
born again of the Holy Spirit; that it has been commissioned of the Lord
to witness in His name, make disciples, comfort and build up it's
members in
the holy faith, especially to fulfill the terms of the Great Commission
to go forth into all the world as a witness, preaching the Gospel to all
nations.
(Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 4: 11-16; Colossians
1:24-29; 1 Peter 1:3-5,22-23)
10. We believe in the premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is a
practical truth which should be preached, showing it's relation to the
personal
life and the service of the believer. (Acts 1:9-11; Psalm 96:13;
Revelation 19:11-21; 20:1-6; Hebrews 10:25; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10;
2:19;
3:11-13)
Government- Church business is under the government of the
plurality of Elders which are a representative of the members, with open
monthly
meetings and an annual congregational meeting. (Acts 11:30; Acts 14:23;
Acts 15:2,4,6,22-23; Acts 16:4; Acts 20:17,28; 1 Timothy 5:17; 1 Timothy
3:1-2; Titus 1:5,7; Philippians 1:1; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1)
Services- According to the direction of God's Word, utmost simplicity
pervades all our services, and the freedom and freshness of the Holy
Spirit's
direction are ever sought. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty". (2 Corinthians 3:6-18; 1 Corinthians 2:9-13; John 4:23-24:
John 17:17)
Communion- In obedience to Christ's command: "This do in remembrance of
Me...", the Lord's Supper is administered to all who know Him as Savior.
(1 Corinthians 11:23-32)
Baptism- We recognize and administer immersion as the Scriptural mode of
water baptism to be received by the believer subsequent to the
intelligent profession of faith; however, baptism is not a prerequisite
for salvation. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 8:38; Acts 10:47-48)
Family Dedication- In the spirit of Ephesians 5:22 - 6:4, we encourage
families by providing an opportunity to publicly dedicate themselves one
to
another, especially recognizing that children are a gift from God. We
encourage the whole body to participate in prayer and a dedication
service
and recognize our corporate responsibility to the care and protection of
the entire family. (Hebrews 10:24-25; Deuteronomy 6:4-7)
Divine Healing- We subscribe to the fact that God heals physically
according to His sovereign will, to intercessory prayer for brothers,
and to the
anointing and laying on of hands as outlined in James 5. Moreover, we
believe that the greatest miracle of healing is the cleansing of sin and
subsequent fellowship with God in an intimate way through the shed blood
of Jesus Christ. Since this is God's priority for every person He may,
according to His sovereign will, sacrifice a person's physical
well-being in order to develop his spiritual walk with Him. (Hebrews
12:6-8;
Corinthians 12:7-10; Matthew 4:24; Luke 8:36)
Marriage- We consider marriage to be sacred and inviolate, a picture of
the union of the Lord Jesus Christ and His bride the Church. We believe
men and women are joined in marriage to serve God, one another, their
families, the local body, and in an expanded sense, the world. While
being
convinced of the sanctity of marriage, the church also realizes the
rebuilding power, mercy, and grace of God. Thus as Christ, the church
accepts, forgives and loves partners from broken marriages, realizing
the great potential in becoming re-builders of God's foundations.