Statement of Faith
What we believe …
This serves as a summary of the doctrinal beliefs held by our congregation concerning God, His Word, and His purposes for His creation. These statements of religious convictions are drawn from the Scriptures, and taken largely from The Baptist Faith and Message (2000) (hyperlink this please), which we endorse and uphold as a church body. We do not regard these statements as the complete statements of our faith, having any quality of finality or infallibility, rather they are meant to provide a basis for further study, personal reflection, and possible revisions as needed.
The Bible: The Bible is God’s Word. It was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without error for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy, and is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation. 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; Psalm 19:7-13; Psalm 119; Matthew 24:35; Matthew 5:18; John 17:17
God: There is only one true God. He is the Creator, Redeemer, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. He reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. Genesis 1:1; Matthew 28:19; Psalm 139:1-12; Isaiah 6:1-7; Psalm 136; I John 4:8, 16; Romans 8:14-16
God the Father: God the Father reigns with providential care over all of His creation. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Exodus 3:14, 1 Chronicles 29:10; Matthew 6:9-34; Mark 1:9-14; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; Galatians 4:6
God the Son: Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and carried out the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, effecting the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord. Hebrews 1:1-3; Hebrews 4:14-15; 2 Corinthians 5:20; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 1:9-14; Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:11-16; Colossians 1:15-20; Colossians 2:9; Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 9:6
God The Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired the writing of the Scriptures. He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin. He calls men to the Savior. He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ and dwells within them from the moment of salvation. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service. John 1:1-5; John 14:16 -17; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 2:12; John 16:7-13; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 1:13, 14; Galatians 5:22-25
Man: Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation. It is not something we choose, rather it is infallibly gifted to us by our Creator. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Only the grace of God through Jesus Christ can bring man back into His holy fellowship that is broken by our sin. Genesis1:27; Psalm 8:3-6; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23
Salvation: Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. Salvation is given by the grace of God and accepted by faith alone. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Once given, salvation is secure forever and cannot be taken away. Ephesians 2:8, 9; Romans 6:23; John 14:6; Romans 5:1, 8:1, 38, 39; Titus 3:5; John 3:16; Ephsians 1:13
Baptism: Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is not a completion of Salvation but is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, Jesus Christ. Baptism symbolizes the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life. It is a testimony to his/her faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Matthews 28:20, Colossians 2:12, Romans 6:4
The Lord’s Supper: The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:16; I Corinthians 10:16; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29
Sanctification: Christian maturity comes as we grow more like Christ in character and behavior. This process takes time, prayer, the Bible, relationships to others, a variety of life experiences and an attitude of submission to God’s perfect plan. We do not grow to stay saved. We grow because we are saved. 2 Peter 3:18; Romans 8:28, 29; 1 Peter 2:2-3; Hebrews 10:24, 25; Romans 12:1-2
Eternity: God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord. John 3:16; John 5:24; Romans 6:23; Romans 8:1; Acts 1:9-11; Revelation 20-22
The Family: God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. Marriage is the uniting of one biological man and one biological woman in covenant commitment for a life-time. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards and the means of procreation of the human race. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them through consistent lifestyle examples and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents. Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1-8; 127; 128; 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15,17; 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthews 5:31-32; 18:2-5; 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:8,14; 2 Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7.