What We Believe

We believe in one true and living God; that He is the Creator of all; that He is infinitely holy, loving, compassionate, just, sovereign, eternal and perfect in all His attributes. He possesses Omniscience (all knowledge), Omnipotence (all power) and Omnipresence (everywhere present); and exists in three equal Persons - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

God the Father:

We believe in the absolute and essential deity of God the Father; that He is a personal Spirit being, eternal and perfect in all of His attributes; that He orders all things according to His sovereign will; that He is the Creator and sustainer of the universe; and that only regenerate persons can truly call Him their Father. (Genesis 1:1-31; Romans 8:14-17; 1 Corinthians 8:5-6; 1 John 3:1-2)

God the Son:

We believe in the absolute and essential deity of the Lord Jesus Christ; that He is the Co-creator and the Co-sustainer of the universe with the Father. We believe in His eternal existence with the Father in pre-incarnate glory; in His virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, triumphant ascension, present intercession and His personal and bodily return. (John 1:1-5; 1 Corinthians 15:3-5)

God the Holy Spirit:

We believe in the absolute and essential deity and personality of the Holy Spirit; that He is the divine agent in a sinner's regeneration and a believer's sanctification; that it is He who convinces of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; that it is He who illuminates and comforts the believers, and

that He is the giver of spiritual gifts to believers, for the edification of the church. (John 14:16-17; John 16:7-8; Acts 5:3-4)

We believe the Bible to be the complete Word and final revelation of God; that the

sixty-six (66) books, as originally written and comprising the Old and New Testaments

were verbally inspired by the Spirit of God and therefore entirely free from error; that

the Bible is the final authority for all matters of faith and practice. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3-4)

We believe that God created Adam and Eve perfect in His image but that through their

voluntary act of disobedience to God in succumbing to Satan’s temptation, they

became sinners, the image of God in them was marred, and they incurred physical

death and spiritual separation from God. Since Adam was the representative head of

the human race, all subsequent human beings have been rendered sinful by nature

and by practice in the totality of their being. We believe, therefore, that sin is the

universal problem of the human race.

Adam and Eve chose not to obey God, in turn they ceased to be what they were made to be and became distorted images of God. This caused them to fall out of fellowship with God, and fractured all of creation ever since that time.

We believe that sin is the transgression of God’s law and that, in addition to being

born in sin, all human beings have deliberately rebelled against God in thought, word,

and deed and are subject to eternal punishment unless redeemed by Christ. (Isaiah 53:6; 59:2; Romans 3:10-18; 1 John 3:4)

We believe that, since God’s punishment for sin is death, human beings can only be

reconciled to God through the death of a perfect substitute. The only perfect

substitute was God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who voluntarily died on the cross, taking the

place of sinners, and, by His shed blood, cleansing from their sins all who believe. By

His death, Jesus Christ fully satisfied the holy demands of God for sin, and God

accepted His sacrifice by raising Him from the dead and glorifying Him in heaven.

We believe that salvation involves repentance for sin and turning to God by faith alone

in that all-sufficient sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, that those who so trust Christ are

sovereignly chosen and effectually called by God for salvation and shall be divinely

preserved and finally perfected in the image of the Lord.

(John 3:1-21; Romans 6:23; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 2:8-9)

We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ, at a time known only to God, and in the bodily resurrection of the saved and the unsaved; the saved to eternal blessedness in heaven, and the unsaved to judgment, and eternal conscious punishment in hell.

God has revealed himself to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the visible image of the invisible God, the holy scriptures, and through all of creation itself.

We believe a New Testament local church to be a company of baptized believers,

called out from the world; separated unto the Lord Jesus Christ, voluntarily associated

for worship, the ministry of the Word, mutual edification of believers, the propagation

of the faith, and observance of the ordinances. We believe that the church has two

offices – that of elders (also referred to as pastors and overseers) and deacons.

We believe the local church to be autonomous under the Lordship of Christ, the great

Head of the Church. The Church is meant to be the visible body of Christ, sent into the world to glorify God and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We believe there are only two (2) church ordinances - baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Baptism:

We believe baptism to be the immersion in water of a believer, whereby he is

baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as he obeys

Christ’s command and sets forth his testimony of union by faith with Christ in

His death, burial and resurrection. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 8:36-38)

The Lord’s Supper:

We believe the Lord’s Supper to be a memorial wherein the believer

symbolically partakes of the bread and wine giving testimony of his faith in the

efficacy of the death of Christ and His shed blood, purchasing the believer’s

salvation. This ordinance is to be observed from time to time “till He come”. (1 Corinthians 11:23-32)

The practices that the Bible condemns as sinful must not be practiced by Christians,

such as lying or deceit of any kind (Exodus 20:16; Matthew 5:37; Ephesians 4:25), coarse language (Exodus 20:7; Ephesians 5:4), pornography (Philippians 4:8; Ephesians 5:3-4; 1 John 3:3), theft or fraud (Exodus 20:15; Ephesians 4:28), physical and verbal aggression or sexual harassment (Exodus 20:13; Galatians 5:24; 1 Timothy 3:3; 2 Timothy 2:24), substance abuse including the abuse of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), criminal activities (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-15), covetousness (Exodus 20:17; Hebrews 13:5), divisiveness among God’s people (1 Corinthians 1:10-13; Ephesians 4:3; Philippians 2:3-4; 1 Timothy 5:19; Titus 1:6; 3:10), and the like.

Rather, the Bible affirms that Christians must demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit in their attitudes and actions (Galatians 5:22-23), walk worthy of their calling (Ephesians 4:1-2), dwell together in a loving, respectful unity (Philippians 3:2-4), maintain a vibrant and effective testimony for God in the world (Matthew 5:13-16), pursue holiness in all aspects of their lives (2 Corinthians 6:14, 17; 1 Peter 1:16), and generally, to walk as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6).

We believe that the Bible clearly teaches that sexual intercourse was created by God to

be practiced only within the confines of marriage (which is a monogamous, lifetime

union of one woman and one man) for the enjoyment of the partners and the

procreation of children (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:18-25; Matthew 19:3-9; Romans 7:2-3; 1 Corinthians 7; Hebrews 13:4).

Any other sexual union either (1) between an unmarried man and woman (fornication), or

(2) between a married man and woman who are not married to each other (adultery),

or (3) between two men or two women (homosexuality or lesbianism), or (4) between

a human being and an animal (beastiality), or (5) between family members (incest), is

sin (cf. Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 18; Matthew 5:27-32; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 5:1-2, 9-13; 6:9-20, 10:8; Ephesians 5:3-5; Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4).

Because human beings are created by God in His image, life itself is sacred and has intrinsic value from conception to natural death. Therefore, we are committed to the sanctity of the life of the unborn, the nurture of victims of abortion, the protection of children from abuse and exploitation, the provision for the homeless and hungry, the care of the mentally and physically ill and disabled, the protection of the elderly from neglect and abuse, the dignity of the dying, the rehabilitation of addicts and criminals, and, in general, the care of “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40).

In sum, all people are to be treated with respect and shown the love of Christ in practical and spiritual ways (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7, 21-24; Exodus 4:11; 20:13; Job 1:21; Psalm 22:9-10; 71:6; 127:3; 139:13-16; Isaiah 45:9-11; Jeremiah 7:6; 22:3; Mark 12:31; Romans 9:20-21)

We believe that a vast host of personal spiritual beings exists, created in perfection by God for His own purposes, seldom perceived by humanity, these creatures do exert some influence on the affairs of earth.

Angels:

We believe that angels are personal spiritual beings created in perfection by God and have not fallen from their perfect estate; they exist to serve God and His interests among His people; while angels worship God, they are not to be worshipped by humans. (Hebrews 1:13,14)

Demons:

We believe that some of the angels who were created in perfection by God fell from that state into disobedience and now are reserved in their ungodly state, awaiting the final judgment. Now called demons, these evil angels serve the wishes of their master, Satan, and work to oppose God and His interests among His people. While demons are powerful, they were defeated by Christ at Calvary and are subject to His sovereignty. (Mark 5:1-20; Jude 6)

Satan:

We believe Satan is a personal spiritual being who, through pride, fell from his original position as one of the mightiest of the created order, was cast out of heaven and now devotes his energies to opposing God and His work. Satan is the father of lies, a deceiving tempter who blinds the minds of human people to God’s truth. Satan is not to be honoured by God’s children in any way, but is to be resisted through the defenses provided the believer in Christ. Satan is not divine, he opposes God but is under God’s sovereign control. Satan’s ultimate eternal ruin will be in the Lake of Fire accompanied by all of his demonic underlings. (Job 1 & 2; Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:11-15)

We believe that civil government is of Divine appointment for the interest and good order of society and that officials of the government are to be prayed for, conscientiously honoured and obeyed, except only in those instances when they may be in conflict with the conscience of believers and their wish to be obedient to the Word of God, the Scriptures. We believe in religious liberty for everyone, the right to believe according to the dictates of conscience, without coercion or molestation, and the right to propagate that faith. (Acts 5:29; Romans 13:1-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-2)