Beliefs

Our Beliefs

• The Bible. We believe the Bible is God’s Word to all people, written by man under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit.
• The Trinity. We believe there is one God eternally existent in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• God the Father. God the Father is all powerful, all knowing, unchanging, and holy. We believe he is loving, compassionate, and faithful to His people.
• The Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is completely human, but at the same time completely God. He is the fulfillment of the plan for bringing people who are enemies of God back into a right relationship with God. He defeated death in His resurrection so we could have life. Jesus will return again.
• The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the seal of our relationship with Christ. The Spirit guides all believers into truth and serves as our guide and counselor.
• Mankind. Humans are the supreme object of God’s creation, created in His image (both masculine and feminine). Because they are His creation, they have intrinsic value. We were created to have fellowship with God, but became separated in that relationship through sin.
• Sin. Sin is the rejection of God, His plans, or purposes. The payment of sin is death.
• Salvation. Salvation is a gift from God to man where, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we are brought back into right relationship with God.
• The Church. The church is the community of believers unified by faith in Christ. The church is built by Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and directed by the Father.
• The Kingdom of God. Jesus Christ came to announce the presence of the Kingdom of God, which is the realm in which God’s will and reign breaks forth.
• Human Destiny. Man was created to exist forever. He will either exist in union with God through forgiveness and salvation or eternally separated from God by sin.

The Nicene Creed

When Jesus prayed for believers in John 17, he prayed that we would be unified. Creeds, if rooted and centered in Scripture, serve to unify the Church. We see ourselves as part of a long line of believers bound together by the truths of Jesus Christ. The Nicene Creed is the most widely accepted and used statement of the Christian Faith. For 2,000 years it has served as a succinct statement of the irreducible minimum of the Christian faith.

• We believe in one God,
  • the Father almighty,
  • maker of heaven and earth,
  • of all things visible and invisible.

• And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
  • the only Son of God,
  • begotten from the Father before all ages,
    • God from God,
    • Light from Light,
    • true God from true God,
  • begotten, not made;
  • of the same essence as the Father.
  • Through him all things were made.
  • For us and for our salvation
    • he came down from heaven;
    • he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
    • and was made human.
    • He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
    • he suffered and was buried.
    • The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
    • He ascended to heaven
    • and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
    • He will come again with glory
    • to judge the living and the dead.
    • His kingdom will never end.

• And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
  • the Lord, the giver of life.
  • He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
  • and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
  • He spoke through the prophets.
  • We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
  • We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
  • We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
  • and to life in the world to come. Amen.