Core Beliefs
The following are our core beliefs based on the foundational truths taught in the Bible. All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.
Scripture
The scripture of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and are the only sufficient, certain and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and conscience.
God
There is one eternally existing God who has three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He is the creator of all that exists, both visible and invisible, and is therefore worthy of all glory and praise. God is perfect in love, power, holiness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom, justice, and mercy. He is unchangeable and therefore is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Revelation
God has revealed himself to us through his son, Jesus Christ, who is the visible image of the invisible God, the holy scriptures, and through all of creation itself.
Mankind
Humans, both male and female, were created in God's image for His glory. The first humans, Adam and Eve, were created without sin and appointed as caretakers of the rest of God's creations.
The Fall
When Adam and Eve chose not to obey God, they ceased to be what they were made to be and became distorted images of God. This caused them to fall out of fellowship with God, and fractured all of creation ever since that time.
Salvation
Jesus Christ came to reconcile us with God. He lived a life without sin and willingly died on the cross to pay the penalty for our transgressions. God raised him from the dead and now, by grace, offers as a free gift eternal life to all who follow Christ, by faith, as their Lord and Savior. That is why salvation can be found in Christ alone.
The Church
The Church is meant to be the visible body of Christ, sent into the world to glorify God and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Resurrection
Jesus Christ is returning one day to judge both the living and the dead and to usher in the fullness of God's kingdom on earth.
Articles of Faith
For a more detailed on what we believe check out our Articles of Faith written in 1837.
Scripture
The Scripture of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and are the only sufficient, certain and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith and conscience.
God
There is one God. the Creator, Preserver, and Ruler of the Universe, being in Himself all perfection and being infinite in all things. In whom all creatures have their being, and to whom all humanity owes love, reverence, and obedience.
Trinity
God revealed to us In the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each a distinct personality without division of nature, essence, or being.
Providence
God from eternity decrees or permits all things to come to pass and perpetually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures, things, and events with an overall plan and purpose in which all creatures have an individual place; yet He is not in any way the author or approver of sin, nor does He destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures.
Election
Election is God's Eternal choice of some persons unto everlasting life, not because of foreseen merit in them but by His mercy in Christ and in consequence of which choice they are called, justified, and glorified.
The Fall of Man
God created man in His own image and free from sin; but through temptation of Satan, he transgressed the command and rebelled against God and fell from his original state of holiness and became wholly and totally depraved, whereby his posterity inherited a corrupt nature wholly opposed to God and His Law and are under condemnation. As soon as they are capable of independent decision and moral action, they become transgressors.
Mediator
Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God, born of a virgin, is the divine appointed Mediator between man and God. Having taken upon Himself human nature, yet without sin, has completely fulfilled the law and atoned for all sin, past, present, and future. That He died on the cross, was buried, and rose again the third day and ascended to the Father, at whose right hand He forever lives and makes intercession for His people. He is the only Mediator, Prophet, King, and Sovereign of the universe.
Regeneration
Regeneration is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin and enlightening of mind and understanding in the life of the sinner, renewing his whole nature completely, changing him from a rebellious attitude toward God to the attitude of dependence upon God. It is the work of God's grace alone, through Jesus Christ.
Repentance and Faith
We believe that repentance and faith are sacred duties, and also inseparable graces wrought in the soul of the sinner by the regenerating Spirit of God; whereby being deeply convinced of our guilt and helplessness, and of the way of salvation by Christ Jesus, he turns to God with genuine sorrow for sin, confession, and supplication for mercy; and at the same time receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as his Prophet, Priest, and King, and relying on Him alone as the all-sufficient Savior.
Justification
We believe that justification is the great gospel blessing which Christ secures to those who believe in Him— that it includes the pardon of sin and the promise of eternal life on principles of righteousness; that it is bestowed not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s blood, by virtue of which His perfect righteousness is freely imputed to us by God; and that it brings us into a state of most blessed peace and favor with God and secures every other blessing needed for time and eternity.
Sanctification
We believe that sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, we are made partakers of His holiness; that it is a progressive work, begun in regeneration and carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the continual use of the appointed means— especially, the Word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer.
Perseverance of Saints
We believe that only those who endure to the end are real believers; that their persevering attachment to Christ is the grand mark which distinguishes them from superficial professors; that a special providence watches over their welfare, and that they are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
The Church
We believe that a visible church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, duties, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; and that its only scriptural officers are bishops (or pastors) and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are defined in the epistles to Timothy and Titus.
Baptism
We believe that Christian baptism is the outward act of immersing a believer in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— to show forth in a solemn and beautiful symbol, a visual testimony of our commitment to Christ, the believer’s faith in the burial and resurrection of the Savior, with its effect the burial of the sinful self and resurrection to a new life; and that it is a pre-requisite to church membership and the Lord’s Supper.
Lord's Supper
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the church, instituted by Christ and founded upon the Passover, in which the members of the church and followers of Christ, by the sacred use of bread and wine, commemorate Christ’s love through His broken body and shed blood—until He comes again—always preceded by solemn self-examination.
The Lord's Day
We believe that the Lord’s Day is the first day of the week; it is to be kept sacred to Christian purposes and services as a holy day set apart for both public and private worship.
Liberty of Conscience
God alone is the Lord of the soul, mind, and conscience of all humanity, and He has created mankind as free moral agents; therefore, humanity is free from all doctrines and commandments of men that are contrary to His Word or not contained therein.
Resurrection
The physical bodies of people return to dust after death, and their spirits return to God— the righteous to rest with Him, the wicked reserved for judgment. On the last day, the bodies of both the just and unjust will be raised.
Judgment
God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world by Jesus Christ, when everyone will receive, according to their deeds, their just reward: the wicked to everlasting punishment, the righteous to everlasting life.
The World to Come
We believe that the end of the present world is approaching; that on the last day Christ will descend from Heaven in all power and glory; that He will receive the saved into Heaven—an eternal abiding place prepared for Christian believers—and commit the unbelieving to Hell, the eternal abode of the wicked.