What We Believe
We believe in one God who transcends all things and yet is personal, who is all powerful yet gentle to those who trust Him, who is revealed in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and yet is entirely unified.
We believe in the inspiration of the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments and its inerrancy in its original writings. The Bible is a closed canon, a completed revelation, containing all that may be taught as doctrine within the church. All experience and teaching are to be measured by the Scriptures, but the Bible can be refuted by no man.
We believe in God the Father, as revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures and His handiwork in creation. As Father He sends forth His Son and the Holy Spirit, to perform His will perfectly in creation, redemption and judgment. His paternal nature is revealed in His care for His people shown primarily by His love for mankind. God is a spirit and is therefore approached by prayer and pleased by spiritual life and service.
We believe in God the Son, co-equal with the Father yet submitted to the Father's will, eternally generated by the Father without beginning or end provided with human flesh by the work of the Holy Spirit through the virgin Mary. Jesus lived a sinless life and was crucified as the redemption price for the sins of the entire world, and rose from the dead on the third day to demonstrate His complete mastery of death. His name, Jesus Christ, speaks of His ability to save every man from death who comes to Him by faith, and of His soon return to claim the earth and its people as His rightful kingdom.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, co-equal with the Father yet submitted to the Father's will, eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son, presently indwelling the Church and providing gifts, teaching, conviction of sin, and comfort to those in grief. The Holy Spirit is the member of the Trinity who personally enters the believer at the moment of faith. This entry is referred to the as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and brings with it divine empowerment for service according to the will of God and the needs of the church. The nature of this empowerment or gift is not under the control of men, but is solely the province of God's will.
We believe that Man was created in the image of God. This likeness is primarily found in man's spiritual nature and not in his flesh. The image of God in Man was marred by sin in the Garden of Eden, and this distorted relationship to God's nature has passed down to all of Adam's descendants, with the result that man is now unable to do any unmixed good without the aid of God. This fall of Man has detracted from God's primary purpose to glorify Himself by Man's enjoyment of fellowship with God Almighty. Restoration of this broken image of Man cannot be made by any human work or self effort, but only by divine intervention.