Statement of Faith

Scripture The Bible is the inspired, infallible, and authoritative written Word of God

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…

The Trinity The Trinity There is one true God, eternally existent in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…

• -God the Father is God: Genesis 1:1
• -God the Son is God: John 1:1-4, 14, John 20:25-31
• -God the Holy Spirit is God: Acts 5:3-4

God We believe that God the Father orders and directs all things according to His own purpose. He created the universe apart from any preexisting materials. He sent Christ into the world to save sinners by His own sovereign choice and out of His love for mankind.

Isaiah 40:28

• Do you not know?
• Have you not heard?
• The LORD is the everlasting God,
• the Creator of the ends of the earth.
• He will not grow tired or weary,
• and his understanding no one can fathom.

Colossians 1:10-23 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Jesus Christ We believe that Jesus was a real person, fully God and fully human. He lived a sinless life, then died on a cross, paying the penalty for our sins. On the third day Jesus rose bodily from the grave, conquering death.

Jesus, experienced the full extent of humanity while He was on earth: Born as all babies are born (Luke 2:7). He grew into adulthood (Luke 2:40). He experienced fatigue, (John 4:6), hunger, (Matt 4:2), thirst, (John 19:28) a full range of emotions, (John 12:27, Matt 8:10, John 11:35) and temptation, (Hebrews 4:15), as all humans do. The word “God” (theos) used of Christ. Although theos is usually reserved for God the Father, there are several passages where it is also used to refer to Jesus Christ: John 1:1, 1:18; 20:28; Rom 9:5; Titus 2:13; Heb 1:8; 2 Pet 1:1

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Christ became sin on the cross: The pain of becoming sin: Isaiah 53:6, 12; 2 Cor 5:21; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 2:24 Resurrection of Jesus Christ: Matt 28:1-20; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-53; John 20:1-21:25

Holy Spirit We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity and that He possesses all the divine attributes. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He indwells, baptizes, and seals all believers at the moment of their salvation, equipping them with spiritual gifts and empowering them for service.

-God the Holy Spirit is God: Acts 5:3-4 Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." -Receiving the Holy Spirit: Acts 8:14-17 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

SinWe believe that man was created in the image of God, but because of Adam's sin, that image was damaged and that all human beings are now born with a sinful nature, are unable to function in moral responsibility before God, and need a spiritual regeneration before they can become what they were meant to be. The only means of being cleansed from sin is through repentance and faith in the blood of Christ

Romans 3:21-26 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Salvation We believe that repentance from sin and belief in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is the only way to salvation.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Acts 4:11-13 He [Jesus] is " 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

Spiritual Gifts We believe God has supernaturally endowed every believer with spiritual gifts and a unique purpose, and that the Holy Spirit empowers us to live out that purpose through the church. We believe that the Holy Spirit may dispense any spiritual gift with all authority and is not limited to any time or place.

Romans 8:6-8 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. I Corinthians 12:4-11 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.