- We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
- We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
- We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
- We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration of the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
- We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling, the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
- We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
- We believe in the Biblical definition of marriage, being between one man and one woman.
- We believe in Satan as the enemy of God and the enemy of the soul of all men, whose purpose is to cause the fall of man and keep man from knowing God and becoming born again.
- The Family – We believe God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in a lifetime covenant commitment. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church; providing a man and woman, who are united in marriage, the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to Biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. A husband has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband, even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God, as is her husband, and, thus, equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on Biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.
- Lord’s Supper and Believer’s Baptism – We believe that the Lord’s Supper and Believer’s Baptism are ordinances to be observed by the church during the present age. They are, however, not to be regarded as a means of salvation.
Lord’s Supper: The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
Believer’s Baptism: We believe and teach “believer’s baptism.” We believe a person is commanded to be baptized (immersed in water) only upon placing their faith in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:38). Baptism is an act of obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a public declaration by which people profess faith in Jesus as the only satisfying ransom for the penalty of their hell-bound souls and then, as an act of obedience, join with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:1-11).
Infants cannot comprehend this; therefore, we practice and celebrate “believer’s baptism” and do not “baptize” infants. We strongly encourage parents to come forward during our worship service to participate in a child dedication. This means that, after the parents acknowledge their commitment to following Christ and to raising their children in the way of the Lord, they stand in front of the congregation to offer their precious loved ones up before the Lord. A prayer of blessing is spoken, and the congregation pledges its support to the parents and child.
- Spiritual Gifts – We teach that every follower of Jesus Christ receives at least one spiritual gift, sovereignly given by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11). When believers exercise their gifts, they contribute to the working and maturing of the Body of Christ (Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-31, Ephesians 4:1-16). We strongly encourage the discovery and exercise of each believer's gifts.
We recognize that some brothers and sisters in Christ desire to exercise what are commonly known as the revelatory gifts and sign gifts (speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, prophesying, apostleship, word of wisdom, word of knowledge, working miracles, gifts of healing).
We believe these gifts to have been foundational in their purpose (Ephesians 2:20), revelatory in their nature, and confirmatory in their function for the generation of apostolic witnesses (Hebrews 2:1-4).
Our church recognizes the interpretative ambiguity and thus we stop short of saying that these gifts have ceased but do require that if they are employed, it be done in private/quiet and not in any of the public gatherings of the Church. In addition, there are some brothers and sisters in Christ who teach that after a person comes to faith in Jesus, they are to then seek to be "baptized in the Spirit." This means that the initial evidence that a person is a true follower of Christ is the “speaking in tongues.” We believe this interpretation to exceed the boundaries of Scripture.