STATEMENT AND AUTHORITY OF FAITH

The statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Word of God (in its original text) itself is the sole and final source (authority) of all that we believe. We do believe, however, that the statement of faith accurately represents the teaching of the Word of God, and therefore, is essential upon all members.
GOD: We believe in one God, Creator of all, holy, sovereign, eternal, existing in all three equal Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. (Romans 3:30; John 1:1-5; John 10:30; John 15:26; Acts 1:4; Matt 28:19; 1 John 5:6-8)

CHRIST: We believe in the absolute and essential deity of Jesus Christ, in His eternal existence with the Father in pre-incarnate glory, in His virgin birth, sinless life, and substitution for our eternal death, bodily resurrection, triumphant ascension, mediatory ministry and personal return. (John 1:1-5; Matt 1:23; 1:21; 26:28; Heb. 4:15; 9:15; 1 Tim 2:5; John 11:25; Luke 24:46, 51;Rev. 22:20)

THE HOLY SPIRIT: We believe in the absolute and essential deity and personality of the Holy Spirit Who convinces of sin, of righteousness and of judgment that regenerates, sanctifies, illuminates, teaches and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ. (Rom. 14:17; 15:16; John 14:26; 2 Cor. 3:17, 18)

HOLY BIBLE: We believe the Holy Bible to be the complete word of God verbally inspired by the Spirit of God and is entirely free from error in its original autograph. It is the final authority in all matters of faith, practice and the true basis of Christian union. (2 Tim 3:16-17)

CREATION: We believe that God created all that exists in six literal days. (Genesis 1-2; Ex. 20:11).

SATAN: We believe that Satan is a fallen angel, the first to sin and influenced the cause of the Fall of Man; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and, that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6-7; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25-41; Rev. 20:10).
MAN: We believe that man was divinely created in the (shadow) image of God, that one Adam sinned and all became guilty before God which resulted in total depravity therefore incurring physical and spiritual death. (Gen. 1:27; Rom. 5:13-17)
THE LOCAL CHURCH: We believe that a church is a company of immersed believers, called out from the world, separated unto Jesus, voluntarily associated for the ministry of the word, the mutual edification of its members and the increase of the faith and the observance of the ordinances. We believe it is a self-contained, independent body under the lordship of Christ, the Head of the Church. (1 Peter 2:9; Eph. 4:12; Luke 17:5; Acts2:41-42; 1 Cor. 10:1-4; Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:18)

SALVATION: We believe that salvation is a free gift allowable to all that accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. (Romans 10:9-10, 13; Acts 2:21)

ORDINANCES: We believe that there are only two ordinances for the church regularly observed in the New Testament:

  1. BAPTISM: This church shall receive for baptism any person who has received Jesus Christ as Savior by personal faith, who professes him publicly at any service, and who indicates a commitment to follow Christ as Lord.
    • Baptism is the full immersion of the believer in water. (Matt. 3:16)
    • The pastor, or whomever the church shall authorize, shall administer baptism.  The deacons and deaconesses shall assist in the preparation for, and the observance of baptism.
    • Baptism shall be administered as an act of worship during any worship service of the church.
    • A person who professes Christ and is not baptized after reasonable length of time shall be counseled by the pastor and/or deacons.

 

  1. COMMUNION: The church shall strive to observe the Lord’s Supper at least monthly.  The observance shall be during the first Sunday of the month unless otherwise scheduled.  The pastor and deacons shall administer the Lord’s Supper, the deacons being responsible for the physical preparations. (1 Cor. 11:23-34)

THE LORD’S DAY: We follow the New Testament precepts by setting the first day of the week aside for worship and spiritual exercise recognizing the resurrection of our Savior. (Matt. 28:1; Mk 16:2; Luke 24:1; Jn. 20:19; Acts 20:7)

PRAYER: We believe in the power and importance of prayer. (James 5:16-18; Eph.6:18; 1 Jn. 5:14-15)

GIVING: We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to him, is obligated to support his local church financially. We believe that God has established the tithe as a basis for giving, but that every Christian should also give other offerings sacrificially and cheerfully to the support of the church, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the Gospel. We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the tithe once it has been made (Gen. 14:20; Prov. 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; 1 Cor. 16:2; 2 Cor. 9:6-7; Gal. 6:6; Eph. 4:28; 1 Tim. 5:17-18; 1 John 3:17).

MISSIONS: We believe that God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ we must use all available means to go to the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us, first committing to our local missions (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:20).

HUMAN SEXUALITY: We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any and all forms of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex (Gen. 2:24; Gen 19:5, 13; Gen. 19:5, 13; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6-9; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4).

CIVIL GOVERNMENT: We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the home; 2) the church; and 3) the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God (Rom. 13; 1-7; Eph. 5:22-24; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 2:13-14).

ABORTION: We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the mental well-being of the mother are acceptable (Job 3:16; Psalms 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1, 5; Jer. 1:5; 2015-18; Luke 1:44).

LAWSUITS BETWEEN BELIEVERS: We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members. We believe that Christians should use scripture found in 1 Cor. as guidelines (1 Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:31-32).

FUTURE THINGS: We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the bodily resurrection of the just and unjust. Also we believe in the eternal blessedness of the redeemed as well as the judgment and eternal punishment of the wicked. (Matt. 24:36-44; Mk. 8:38; Acts 1:11; Colossians 3:4; 2 Timothy 4:8; Hebrews 9:28; Acts 24:15 Matt 19:29; John 3:16; Matt 25:46; Gal. 6:8)