What We Believe

There is only one true God. We believe in the doctrine of the Trinity, which basically means that God exists as Three Persons and, yet, at the same time is One. The three Persons of what is often called the "Godhead" are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. The attributes of God are far too numerous to list here, but He is Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent. He is also is loving, kind and holy. He is also the great Judge over everything and must, due to His perfect nature, punish sin.

Scriptures: Genesis 1:26-27, 3:22, 11:6-7; Deut. 6:4; Isaiah 6:8; Matthew 1:20-21, 22:42-43; 28:19; John 8:29, 10:30, 14, 17:5, 17:20-22; Acts 2:32-33; Romans 8:11; I Cor. 12:3; II Cor. 13:14; Col. 1:6-8; I Thes. 5:18-19; II Thes. 2:13-14; I Peter 1:2; I John 5:7; Rev. 14:12-13

After creating the heavens and the earth, God created men and women in His image. He designed us to have fellowship with Him and to enjoy His presence. As a result of the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, sin entered into the world and they died spiritually (and later physically). Due to the entrance of sin, the entire world was corrupted. Sin destroyed their relationship with God and mankind was unable to fellowship with Him as He intended.

Scriptures: Genesis 1:26-27, 3; I Cor. 11:7-12, 15:21-22, 15:47-49; James 3:9; Romans 5:12-14, 5:6

Although several covenants were initiated by God in the Old Testament, the over-arching Covenant between God and the people of Israel is commonly known as the "Old Covenant". In order to show mankind their sinful hearts, God gave the Israelites His Law (including the Ten Commandments) through Moses. He also established an intricate system of sacrifices and feasts to foreshadow the coming of His Annointed Son Jesus Christ. This old covenant made with Israel was to demonstrate to the people of God the benefits of obedience, the inability of human flesh to please God perfectly and humanity's desperate need for a Savior.

God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ to the earth to save mankind from their sins and to begin the establishment of His kingdom on Earth. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. As the Son of God, Jesus is equal with God and enjoys the same authority, honor and praise due the Most High. Jesus Christ is God; when He came to Earth, He took on a human nature, which made Him fully God and fully human. He made numerous claims to this and proved it by His incredible life here. He fulfilled every messianic prophecy (regarding His first coming) with 100% accuracy and will return again to complete the rest. Although He was tempted in every manner just as we are, He never sinned. He lived a perfectly righteous life, which qualified Him to be the ultimate sacrifice to completely appease the wrath of God towards sin. He was brutally tortured and died a horrible death on a cross as punishment for our sins. On the third day, He rose again and appeared to over 500 witnesses and spent time encouraging His disciples. He rose up to Heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father (which clearly shows the finality of His work).

Scriptures: Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1, 4:16-21, 43; Luke 7:8; John 1:1-37, 3:34-36, 10:30, 14:7, 15, 17:5, 17:21-26, 19:30; Hebrews 4:14-16; I John 1

Since the Law was unable to reconcile God and man, a New Covenant had to be established. Like all true covenants, this could not take place apart from the shedding of blood. By shedding His own blood, Jesus Christ once-and-for-all sealed this covenant between God and man. As with any covenant, both parties bring something to "the table" for an exchange. We give our sinful, dirty hearts and lives to Him and He gives us His new nature. Salvation takes place when men repent of their sins and come to the Father through His Jesus Christ. By turning over all that they are, sinners are made into new creations. Their old nature has passed away and they are given a born-again spirit which is able to fellowship with, enjoy and serve God fully. This born-again spirit is infused with eternal life, which is abundant with the blessings and power of God. Basically, sinners, dead in their sins, are made alive by the power of God, through no works of their own, but completely by the grace of God which is appropriated by faith.

Scriptures: Lamentations 1:20; Jeremiah 32:39-41; Ezekiel 3:59-60; Hosea 14:1-2; Joel 2:12-14; Micah 7:18-19; Luke 15:7-10, 22:17-23; John 1:12-13, 3:1-21, 3:34-36, 6:35-53, 8:30-32; Acts 3:19-20, 3:26, 4:8-12, 4:33-35, 16:31; Romans 1:16, 3:21, 6, 7:18, 8:1-2, 8:9-17; I Cor. 11:23-26; II Cor. 5:17; Hebrews 6; I Peter 1:22-23; Rev. 2:16, 3:2-3, 3:19-20

Just before Jesus left the earth, He comforted His disciples by promising the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came with power on the day of Pentecost and filled Jesus' disciples with incredible power. As a result, they went forth with great power preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ everywhere. When someone becomes a believer of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells them for the purpose of forming Christ's image in them. An often misunderstood event, usually called the "baptism of the Holy Spirit", is when Jesus baptizes a believer with the Holy Spirit; it is the first of many subsequent fillings . The purpose of this baptism is for the sake of empowering the believer for the works of ministry and for spreading the gospel. The primary purposes of the Holy Spirit are to glorify Jesus Christ, convict people of sin, righteousness and judgment and to help believers grow in their relationship with God. There are also gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are given for the express purposes of edifying the church, bringing sinners to Christ and demonstrating the power of God to bring Him glory. All of these gifts are very much valid and needed in today's church; they are to be pursued and used with the love of Christ.

Scriptures: Isaiah 44:3; Ezekiel 36:26-27, 39:29; Joel 2:28-29; Micah 3:8; John 1:33, 7:38-40, 14:16-18, 14:26, 16:5-15, 21:22-23; Acts 1:8, 2, 8:14-17, 9:31, 19:4-6; Romans 1:11; I Cor. 13-14; Eph. 5:18

The Bible is the written Word of God. In the original languages it was written in (such as Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek), it is inerrant and infallible. Most translations have been faithful to the original languages, whether in word-by-word or thought-by-thought style. Study of the Scriptures in the original languages is essential to understanding, yet anyone can comprehend the clear messages in it by the illumination of the Holy Spirit. No additions or subtractions are to be made to it in any way. It is to be read, studied, meditated on and memorized with a prayerful and open heart. We must keep in mind that the Bible is not God, but rather the Word of God, which always glorify Jesus Christ. We should seek to not only amass Biblical knowledge, but also to truly understand and fellowship with our Father through His precious Word.

Jesus established His church on earth as part of His kingdom. The church is not a building, a place or an organization, but rather the body of Christ worldwide; there really is only one church. Pictured as the body of Christ by the Apostle Paul, Scripture makes it very clear that each member is vitally important and greatly needed for the body to function and fulfill God's Will on earth. Jesus Christ is the only head of the church; no one else is. The kingdom of God is both here already and is yet to come-- it is here in the hearts and lives of His followers, but will ultimately come when Jesus returns to fully establish it. This kingdom is pictured as a great stone not cut with human hands in the prophecy of Daniel, which destroys all other kingdoms and fills the whole earth.

Scriptures: Luke 10:9, 16:16; Acts 14:21-23, 28:31; I Cor. 4:20, 12; Hebrews 10:23-25; Rev. 11:15

The purpose of our lives as believers is to glorify the Lord in all that we do and to spread the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ to the entire world. However, we cannot effectively spread the gospel apart from the power and leading of the Holy Spirit. He alone can give us the proper words to say to others, soften our hearts to love them and cause our message to pierce peoples' hearts with His incredible power.

Scriptures: Ezekiel 3:8-21, 34; Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-20; John 15:16, 20:21; Acts 4:14, 20:17-21, 20:28; Romans 10:14-17; I Cor. 2:1-5, 9:23; II Cor. 4:7-12, 5:20

As believers in Christ, we are no longer under the Law, but rather under God's grace. This does not give us the right to live however we want, but rather empowers us to live holy lives just as God is holy. Grace is the favor of God which enables us to fellowship with Him and obey him; it is essentially God giving us what we do not deserve. Mercy, on the other hand, is God not giving us what we deserve. When we come before His throne in prayer, He gives us this grace and mercy to help us in our time of need (see Hebrews 4:16). Righteousness is most easily understood as being right with God; it is not something that can be earned, but rather "worn". Scripture teaches us that we are clothed with Christ's righteousness (see Galatians 3:27). Learning to count on Jesus as our Savior involves relying whole-heartedly upon His righteousness, rather than our own, to please God. Understanding God's grace, mercy and righteousness is vital to a believer; learning to live by the power of the Holy Spirit always involves walking in His grace, experiencing His mercy when we fail and daily relying on His righteousness.

Scriptures: Hosea 10:12; Habakkuk 2:4; Zechariah 3:3-5; Mark 2:5; Luke 14:13-14; Romans 3:21-24, 3:28, 4:16; 5:1-2, 5:17-20, 11:6; Galatians 3 & 4; Hebrews 11; James 1; I John 3:7-10

The Bible teaches that there is a literal heaven where God dwells. All true believers in Jesus Christ are taken there immediately after death to enjoy eternal life in His presence forever. In heaven, there is abounding joy, incredible peace and no sorrows, disease, troubles or any other negative thing. We will see the Lord face to face and know Him even as we are known. Scripture also teaches that there is a literal hell, a place of judgment reserved for the devil, demons and people who have refused to believe in Jesus Christ. Hell is an awful place of intense, eternal torture and misery, from which there is no escape.

God

Mankind

The Old Covenant

Jesus Christ

The New Covenant and Salvation

The Holy Spirit

The Bible

The Church and the Kingdom of God

The Great Commission

Grace, Mercy and Righteousness

Heaven and Hell