OUR BELIEFS

We believe in the Holy Bible (consisting of the 39 canonical books of the Old Testament and the 27 of the New Testament) as the only God-breathed book and as the only source and the only rule of faith and practice. We believe that the Holy Bible is a complete, sufficient, safe and inerrant guide for our lives. We believe that the various books of the Holy Bible all have the same authority, recognizing that in the Old Testament certain truths are introduced while in the New Testament these same truths are more fully revealed.

We believe in the one and only living and true God who is Spirit, self-existent, self-governed, eternal, infinite, and perfect in His holiness. We believe in and worship God in unity and in the mystery of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) — triune, consubstantial, and equal in glory. We give to God the honor and praise that is uniquely due His holy Name.  -

We believe that man was created innocent but when tested by God, he chose evil; because of this fall his relationship with God was broken. For this reason and because of the fall, all people are born with a sin nature, and being transgressors, they cannot be saved without the grace of God.

We believe that God, because of His infinite love for the world, gave His only begotten Son as the Savior of sinners and through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross offers His salvation to all people. God, wanting all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, sent His Son into the world to preach the Gospel of Grace (that is, that through Him the remission of sins and eternal life is freely granted to all who believe, calling them at the same time to then abandon sin and follow His teaching).

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We believe that in the life and teachings of Jesus, Himself, the “mysteries” of the sacred, corporate Christian observences (practices) of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are clearly explained. Moreover, we believe that participation in these two most vital Christian practices are each matters of obedience, not means of grace. This is why we choose to use the word “ordinance” rather than the use of a word like “sacrament” in setting forth our understanding of these two important corporate practices (ordinances) of the Church. It’s important to recognize, however, how critically strategic are both Christian Baptism and the Lord’s Supper — each being clearly instituted by Christ as a sign of the New Covenant sanctioned by His precious blood. Baptism, which is done with water in the name of the Father, and in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit, is a confession of faith in Christ in which the baptized person declares that he has repented for the past and has embraced the forgiveness of his sins made possible by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Such baptism does not actually constitute that grace of God by which believers are initially brought into relationship with Christ, but rather is an obedient public confession of the baptized believer having already received the grace of God that led them to repentance, faith, and regeneration. The Lord’s Supper, or Eucharist, is the ceremony of communion with Christ and His people in which the elements of bread and wine are given and received in grateful remembrance of Him and His sacrifice on the cross. Moreover, all who receive these elements in faith participate spiritually in the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ for their comfort and spiritual nourishment. All those who have made a public and sincere confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and who are genuinely seeking to live in submission to His law are entitled, after self-examination, to participate in the Lord’s Supper.

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