What We Believe in Depth

God the Father

We believe God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. (Matthew 6:26Matthew 6:26Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?) 

• God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. (

God the Son

We believe Christ is the eternal Son of God. (1 John 4:151 John 4:15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God--God remains in him and he in God.)

• In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. (

God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. (1 Corinthians 1:101 Corinthians 1:10Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction.)

• He exalts Christ. (

Man

We believe man is the special creation of God, in His own image. (Genesis 1:26Genesis 1:26Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”) 

• God created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. (

Salvation

We believe 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. (Ephesians 2:8-9Ephesians 2:8-9For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift - not from works, so that no one can boast., Ephesians 1:7Ephesians 1:7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.)

• In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. (

God’s Purpose of Grace

We believe election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. (Ephesians 1:4, 7-8Ephesians 1:4, 7-8For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him… In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding., 1 Thessalonians 1:4–51 Thessalonians 1:4-5For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you.)

• All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. (

The Church

We believe a New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers.

• It is associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. 
• Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation, each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. 
• Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

We believe Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water. (Matthew 28:19-20Matthew 28:19-20Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.) 

• It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. (

We believe the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. (Luke 22:19-20Luke 22:19-22And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.)

Evangelism and Missions

We believe it is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. We are to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ. (Matthew 28:19-20Matthew 29:19-20Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.')

The Lord’s Day

We believe the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion. (Hebrews 10:24-25Hebrews 10:24-25And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.)

Last Things

We believe God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. (Matthew 24:36Matthew 24:36Now concerning that day and hour no one knows — neither the angels of heaven nor the Son — except the Father alone.)

• Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly, and the dead will be raised. (

Stewardship

We believe God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. (James 1:17James 1:17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows., Ephesians 1:3Ephesians 1:3Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.)

• Christians have a spiritual responsibility to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions.

Family

We believe God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society.

• It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood or adoption.
• Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime.
• The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image.
• A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to lead his family in seeking and following the Lord and to do his utmost toward providing for and protecting it.
• A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing and providing for the household and nurturing the next generation. 
• Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate God’s pattern for marriage to their children.

Scripture quotations have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.