• What We Believe

    The sovereignty and majesty of God: The personal God of the Bible owns and controls all things according to His will. (Ephesians 1:11; 3:11; Acts 4:24-27)


    The inspiration and infallibility of scripture: The Bible is the written Word of God and has divinely inspired authority over all matter of our faith and practice in our church. (2 Timothy 3:16)


    The fallen state of humanity: The voluntary sin of Adam and Eve resulted in humanity's fellowship with God being broken. Thus, all have sinned and are unable to save themselves through their own goods works. (Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:8-9)


    God's plan of salvation: Jesus Christ came to earth as God in the flesh, born of a virgin, to take the punishment for our sins by dying on the cross. He offers salvation and forgiveness of sin to all who seek His forgiveness and believe in Him. (Romans 6:23; John 3:26; 1 Peter 2:24)


    The work of God's Holy Spirit: God's Holy Spirit can work in our daily lives, helping us to live out our Christian life, to live above sin, and to become a positive witness to others of the new and better way to live through knowing Christ as Savior and Lord. The Bible sometimes refers to this Spirit-filled life as "sanctification." (Acts 1:8; Hebrews 10:14)


    The Trinity: 1) God, the Father, 2) God, the Son, and 3) God, the Holy Spirit. All of these are full and equal expressions of the Almighty God.


    The Final Judgment of God: God will bring all things to completion at the Judgment, taking all believers to be with Him forever in Heaven and casting all others into Hell forever. (1 Corinthians 15:24-28; Revelation 20:11-15)


    The Second Coming of Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ will return to this earth a second time to usher in this the final Judgment and to give heavenly bodies to all believers who will live with Him forever in Heaven. (1 Thessalonians 4)


    The Unique Role of the Church: The church is a spiritual fellowship made up of all those who claim Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The Bible refers to the church as the "body of Christ" whose calling is to help spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to all peoples and to nurture to maturity Christian believers. (Ephesians 2:20-22; 5:23-33)


    Membership: We do not ask people to "join" our church in the usual pattern practiced by many churches. Instead our emphasis is to lead people to receive Christ as Savior. When this commitment is made, God adds that person to His church. (Acts 2:47). We are a church with an open fellowship to all who choose to identify with us.


    Christian Unity: We believe in the unity of all believers in Christ. There is one church, composed of all who claim Christ as Savior and Lord. We seek to unify, not divide, the church. Denominational walls should not keep those who know Christ apart. (John 17:20-21)


    Infilling of God's Holy Spirit: We believe that God, through Christ, not only saves us and forgives us of our sins, but through His Holy Spirit desires to fill our life with His presence and power. This infilling work of God's Spirit may come at our point of salvation or more probably subsequent to that. The evidence of God's Spirit in us is seen in the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. We believe in all the gifts of the Spirit and interpret the gift of tongues as the ability to speak in other known languages for the benefit of others. We do not interpret or practice the gift of tongues as speaking in an ecstatic, unknown language. (John 20:22; Acts 1:6; Galatians 5:22-23; Romans 12).


    Baptism: We practice Believer's Baptism as the biblical norm. This experience of water baptism is to follow one's profession of faith in Christ and is to be a public witness to what God has done in one's heart through His work of salvation. The method we use is that of immersion as an identification with Christ's death and resurrection, and as a biblical symbol of our death to our past sinful life and our resurrection to a new life in Christ. We dedicate rather than baptize infants. (Romans 6:3-4)


    Communion: We celebrate Communion, or the Lord's Supper, as an important ordinance of the church. The elements of Communion serve as a reminder to us of the broken body and shed blood of Christ when he died on the cross for our sins. We have an open approach to the Lord's Supper, and all believers are encouraged to partake in this experience. Non-alcoholic grape juice is used as our Communion juice. We normally serve Communion the first Sunday of every month. (Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29)


    Foot Washing: Once a year around Easter we practice the ordinance of Foot Washing that Jesus instituted during His Last Supper with His disciples. He instructed His disciples to continue this practice as reminder of their calling to a life of service to others. Each year Foot Washing is a part of our Maundy Thursday service (held the Thursday before Easter, which was the day of Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples). (John 13:1-20)


    Kingdom of God: We believe in the "Kingdom of God" as a spiritual kingdom within the hearts of people who love and serve Him. When Christ returns, He will come to take all believers to the final realization of His kingdom that He is now preparing in Heaven. (Luke 17:21; John 18:36; John 14:1-3)