Statement of Faith & Vision Statement
Statement of Faith
I. THE BIBLE
We believe that the Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments,
(1) is the written revelation of God to mankind, (2) is verbally and fully inspired by Him, (3) is sufficient as the repository of knowledge of God and of His Will that is necessary for the eternal welfare of mankind,
(4) is infallible and inerrant in the original manuscripts, and (5) is the supreme and final authority for all Christian faith and conduct.
II. GOD
We believe that there is but one God, whose essential nature is that of a living, personal Spirit. He is infinitely perfect in all of His attributes, He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things and eternally existing in three persons… Father, Son and Holy Spirit… each equally deserving of worship and obedience. He is sovereign in creation, providence and redemption.
III. FATHER
We believe that God the Father, the first person of the Trinity, orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose and grace. He is the only absolute and omnipotent ruler in the universe. His fatherhood involves both His designation within the Trinity and His relationship with mankind. He is Father to all men because He is their Creator, but He is spiritual Father only to those born-again by his Spirit. He has decreed for His own glory all things that come to pass. He continually upholds, directs and governs all creatures and events. In His sovereignty, He is neither author nor approver of sin, nor does He abridge the accountability of moral, intelligent creatures. He has graciously chosen from eternity past those whom He would have as His own children spiritually. He saves from sin all who come to Him through Jesus Christ. He adopts as His own all those who come to Him and becomes Father to His own.
IV. JESUS CHRIST
We believe that Jesus Christ is true God, the second person of the Trinity and true man. He preexisted eternally with the Father, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a perfect life and died a substitutionary death for the sins of mankind. We believe that He arose bodily from the grave, that He ascended to heaven where He is presently High Priest and Advocate for His people. We believe that He will return personally and bodily to the earth at the close of this age. He is the world’s only Savior and is Lord of all.
V. THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, the third person of the Trinity. We believe that He was sent from the Father by the Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgement, to regenerate the unbeliever and indwell those who trust in Christ, to baptize them into the Body of Christ. He seals them for the final day of redemption, guides them into the truth, fills them for a life of holiness and victory and empowers them for witness and service. We believe that He gives spiritual gifts to believers for the proper functioning of the Body of Christ, which is the Church.
VI. MAN
We believe that all men are the descendants of Adam, the first man who was originally created by a definite act of God in His own image. Man is, therefore, dependent upon and accountable to his creator. Through disobedience, the first man sinned and fell from his original state of moral perfection. As a consequence, he brought upon himself and upon the whole human race the penalty for sin, which is spiritual and physical death. Since Adam, every person is born with an inherently sinful nature and becomes a sinner in thought, word, and deed. Every person, therefore, stands under the just damnation of God and is unable to save himself or to present deeds worthy of merit before God.
VII. SALVATION
We believe that a person is saved from eternal damnation as a free gift of God through God’s sovereign grace alone, apart from works. This salvation is made possible through the shed blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins, whereby He died a substitutionary death on the Cross for mankind, was buried and was resurrected the third day. Salvation becomes effective when a person, by God’s grace, through an act of faith, repents towards God of sin and receives Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. The benefits of this salvation include the forgiveness of sins, a righteous standing before God, the impartation of Christ’s life and all the privileges that accompany a new family relationship with God. The assurance of everlasting salvation as a present possession is the birthright of every believer in Christ.
VIII. SANCTIFICATION
We believe that it is God’s desire to manifest his life to the world through every believer. As a believer presents his entire being to God, he is conformed to the image of the Son and transformed by the renewing of his mind. As he abides in the Son and walks in the spirit, the fruit of the spirit is manifested in and through the believer. A believer who resists the working of the Holy Spirit will be disciplined in love by his heavenly father.
IX. THE CHURCH
We believe that the Church of Jesus Christ is the universal company of God’s redeemed people. It is His spiritual family with God as the Father. The Church is the Body of Christ, Christ being the Head of His Body. The Church is Christ’s Bride, whom he Loves infinitely, and it is His temple, in which He dwells through the Holy Spirit. The universal Body of Christ is visibly expressed in local assemblies whose focus is God. The local church assembly is to seek the glory of God through the practice of spiritual functions, which include instruction in God’s word, fellowship, observing the ordinances, and prayer, resulting in spiritual maturity in edification, evangelism, and exultation (worship).
X. THE FUTURE LIFE
We believe in the imminent, pre-millennial return of Christ to take His people to be with Him. We further believe that He will return with His Church to judge and rule the earth in righteousness. We believe in the resurrection of the body for both believers and unbelievers. We believe that the believer goes to be with Christ in conscious blessedness immediately after death, having escaped the condemnation for his sins through the death of Christ. All believers will, however, stand before God to receive rewards for good works (which were ordained by God beforehand) or to suffer loss for those works done independently from God. The believer will live eternally in the immediate presence of God. The unbeliever will face God as the eternal and holy Judge who will sentence him for his sin. The unbeliever will experience the conscious punishment of eternal separation in hell from the presence of God.
XI. SATAN
We believe in the personality and depraved character of Satan, who is the chief enemy of God and man. We believe that he, along with the company of demonic beings serving him, works out his evil plans through the ungodly world system though limited by the sovereign rule of God. We believe that his power was broken by Christ at the Cross. Satan will ultimately experience eternal punishment in the lake of fire.
Vision statement
We are a family of believers created for (unto):
The Glory of God
through
Knowing God the Father
Abiding in God the Son
Walking in God the Spirit
by means of
The Proclamation of His Word
The Partnership of the Brethren
The Partaking of His Life
The Prayers of His Children
unto
The Maturity of the Church
in
Exaltation
Edification
Evangelism
Matthew 28:16-20; John 17:20-23; Acts 1:8