What We Believe

God

There is only one God! God is eternal and relational in His being which helps explain why He created people and desires a relationship with us. God has revealed Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (three), but yet He only claims to be One God. This is called the Trinity (Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19, John 10:30). God is all-powerful, all-knowing and present everywhere at all times. 

 

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah (John 1:36-42) and Son of God born of a virgin through supernatural conception by the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:34-35). Jesus is God in human flesh (John 1:1, 1:14, John 20:28). Jesus has been present with God for eternity, before the creation of the universe (John 1:1-3, John 1:14). On earth, Jesus lived a perfect life without sin (Hebrews 4:15, Hebrews 7:26). He died on the cross, was buried (John 19:40-42), rose from the dead on the 3rd day (John 2:19), ascended to the right hand of the Father in Heaven where He is now seated (Mark 16:19, Acts 7:56, 1 Timothy 2:5). Jesus died in our place, taking the punishment for our wrongdoing and rebellion. His work on the cross has defeated death and has restored us to commune with the Father (Hebrews 2:14, 1 Peter 3:18, Revelation 5:9).

 

Holy Spirit

When Jesus ascended into Heaven, He said He would send someone to be with us (John 15:26-27, John 16:7). The Holy Spirit has been sent to give new life to us, transform us, and to empower us to do God’s work on earth. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthian 6:19, 2 Timothy 1:14). He is our counselor, comforter and teacher (John 14:26). He convicts us of sin, righteousness and judgment and guides us into all truth (John 16:8-13). He secures us for eternal salvation through belief upon Jesus Christ (John 7:39, Ephesians 1:13-14, Ephesian 4:30). The Holy Spirit transforms us so that we reflect the character of Jesus through empowering us with gifts to serve the church and the world (1 Corinthians 12:1-11). 
 

The Bible/Holy Scriptures

The Bible is God’s Word. It is inspired by God and is absolute truth. The Bible is made up of the books of the Old Testament and New Testament. It is our instruction manual for life and is without error. The Bible is timeless and applies to all people at all times. We strive to follow the Holy Scriptures, so we can be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:15-17, 2 Peter 1:21). 

 

Creation

God created the world out of nothing, and every part of this world and universe bears evidence of His design. He created the heavens, earth and all the host of them in 6 days. He rested on the 7th day. All things were created through Him and for Him (Genesis 1:1-31, Genesis 2:1-2, Jeremiah 32:17, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 11:3, Revelation 4:11). God was present before the creation of the world and is present everywhere. Jesus was the agent of creation through whom God made heaven and earth (John 1:1-3).

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Sin

God created man in His own image (Genesis 1:27). The first humans rebelled against God allowing sin to enter the world (Genesis 3, Romans 5:12). The consequences of sin are evil and death, causing all people to be disconnected from God. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8, Romans 6:23). Through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the sins of the world have been paid for allowing those who repent to reconcile with God (1 John 2:1-2). 

 

Salvation

We can only be saved by a personal faith in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and not by any human works (John 3:16-19, John 5:24, Romans 3:10, Romans 3:22-26, Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:5). Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the cross that we might live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). Because of what Jesus did, we can be restored to a relationship with God and live with Him for eternity. This is a gift from God called Grace. No one deserves it and no one can earn it! But we do need to repent - turn away from evil, ask God’s forgiveness for the wrong that we have done, and place our trust in what He has done through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Peter 8-9, Ephesians 1:13, John 3:16, John 14:6, Romans 1:16, Romans 10:13, Acts 16:31). 
 

Baptism

After a person repents (turns away from evil and turns toward God) and places their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as a believer they should be baptized with water as an act of obedience (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16). Water baptism is a public profession of a believer’s faith in Jesus Christ. It serves as a symbol of putting to death the old self and rising to new life through faith in Jesus (Romans 6:3-5, Colossians 2:11-12).

 

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

The Lord Jesus Christ baptizes those who follow Him with the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit empowers the believer to serve the Lord, fills the believer’s mind with God’s truth, and provides the believer with gifts to serve the Body of Christ. Genuine believers are sealed by the Holy Spirit and are therefore unable to be separated from the love of Jesus Christ (John 1:33, John 3:5, John 14:15-17, Luke 3:16, Acts 1:4-5, Titus 3:5). The baptism of the Holy Spirit is an absolute necessity in every Christian’s life to complete the calling God has placed on their lives. 

 

Communion

We celebrate the Lord’s Supper (communion, Eucharist) regularly in remembrance of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. It is an observance in which believers identify with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The elements of communion are the bread and the wine/juice. The bread symbolizes Christ’s body broken for us and the wine/juice symbolizes Christ’s blood shed for all. Communion should be treated with reverence. Before we eat and drink, we should examine ourselves and ask for forgiveness for anything that offends the Lord (Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-25, John 6:53-58, 1 Corinthians 10:16, 1 Corinthians 11:23-27).

 

Death

When those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ die, their spirits/souls immediately enter into the presence of God (Luke 23:43, Phillipians 1:23). All believers will receive their resurrected, glorified and incorruptible bodies after Christ’s return to spend eternity in the presence of God (Daniel 12:13, John 6:40, John 11:24, 1 Corinthians 15:50-54). 

 

Rapture of the Church

Jesus Christ will return in the clouds for His church in an event known as the Rapture. This is specific to the Church as believers in Jesus Christ, and no one but the Father knows the day or the hour of the rapture (Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:32, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). 

 

Christ’s Return

In His second coming, Jesus will return with His church and holy angels at the end of the seven year tribulation. The whole world will witness this event. He will return to set up His kingdom on earth where He will rule and reign for 1,000 years (Matthew 24:30, Revelation 19:11-16, Revelation 20:2-6). After the Millennial Reign, Satan will be defeated and Jesus will judge both the living and the dead, separating the redeemed and the lost, assigning those who rejected Him to eternal punishment and those who follow Him to eternal life (Revelation 20:11-15). This will usher in the new heaven and new earth transforming all creation into what it was meant to be, and God will dwell with men for eternity (Revelation 21:1-4). 

 

Spiritual Unity

There should be spiritual unity of all genuine believers in the Lord Jesus Christ which is manifested by the spiritual gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit in the believers’ lives (1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Galatians 5:22-23, Ephesians 4:1-6, Philippians 1:27). 

 

“In this unity, we walk beside one another on our journey to know the heart of God.  We recognize that everyone is at a different place on their own personal journey, and it is our mission to use our gifts to support everyone right where they are.” 

 

“We seek to help each other weather the storms in their life, and praise God for the blessings we receive from him, while taking care to be true to God’s truths in the Bible, and not letting anything or anyone detract from it.”

 

Marriage

The Holy Scriptures teach that marriage is a sacred covenantal union between a man and a woman that limits sexual relations to a monogamous, heterosexual marriage (Genesis 2:24). Wives are instructed to submit to their husbands as the Church submits to Christ, and husbands are instructed to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her (Ephesians 5:22-30). 

As followers of Jesus Christ, we must welcome and treat with compassion, respect and sensitivity any who confess same-sex attractions or sexually immoral acts but are committed to resisting sexual temptation and refraining from sexual immorality. As a congregation, we are to lead and encourage them in truth through the Holy Scriptures. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Yet He saved us, not because of the righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy (Romans 2:23, Titus 3:5, 1 Corinthians 10:13).