What We Believe

We believe that there is only one living and true God, Creator of all things, who exists as three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. To the triune God we owe the highest love, reverence and obedience.

 

We believe that God the Son became flesh in Jesus Christ, who was born of the virgin Mary, and He is both God and man in one person. He lived a sinless life, He died for our sins, He physically rose from the dead, He ascended to the right hand of the Father, and He will physically return.

We believe that human beings are the special creation of God, made in His own image. But when Adam and Eve first sinned, they brought both physical and spiritual death to the human race. We believe that all human beings are sinners by nature and practice and are separated from God apart from the gift of salvation offered through Jesus Christ.

We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, physically rose from the dead, and that He alone brings salvation and forgiveness to all who truly believe in Him. We believe that salvation is the gift of God that we receive through faith. It cannot be earned or purchased by human effort. We believe that God’s election does not contradict nor negate the responsibility of sinful mankind to repent and trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We believe that all true believers, once saved, are kept secure in Christ forever.

We believe that water baptism, immersion, is not required for salvation, but that it is an act of obedience following salvation.  Therefore, we encourage all Christians to follow our Lord in Believer’s Baptism.

We believe that the Bible is God’s Word, divinely inspired and without error, totally true and trustworthy. We believe that the Bible is the only infallible rule of faith and practice. We believe that God still speaks to believers today through His Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit. We believe that while there may be several applications for any given passage of Scripture, there is but one true interpretation. It is our responsibility to ascertain the true intent and meaning of Scripture.

We believe that Scripture is fully sufficient to bring us to salvation and to equip us spiritually for all that God demands of us. Nothing is to be added to God’s glorious revelation.  Christians should seek to carefully study and obey God’s Holy Word. We believe that claims such as having a “word of knowledge” or a “word of prophecy” are false claims that undermine the sufficiency of Scripture.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the chief convictor of sin, the chief agent of regeneration and sanctification. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer and empowers every believer to live a godly life. Believers receive the Holy Spirit as their permanent seal and spiritual guide/helper at the moment of salvation.

We believe that the Holy Spirit imparts spiritual gifts to each member of the Body of Christ as He wills upon salvation for the work of the ministry. We believe that there is no biblical support for second blessings, additional baptisms in the Spirit, slaying in the spirit, and healing in the atonement.

We believe that God can and does still heal today, but it is done through the prayers of His people and in accordance with His own perfect will for the sick, suffering, and afflicted.

We believe that God can impart the gift of tongues as the Holy Spirit wills, but only as a known language that can be interpreted.  We do not teach the practices of ecstatic utterances and prayer languages that are not known languages. We believe that prayer is personal communication with God and it is a privilege offered to all believers. We believe that the Holy Spirit initiates and empowers our prayers.  The leadership of the Holy Spirit in prayer is essential.

We believe that the Bible, the leading of the Holy Spirit, and the accountability and advice of other believers are all essential to living the Christian life. We believe that sinless perfection is impossible in this life, and that Christians still experience sin and suffering in this world. We believe that God has made provision for us to live an effective spiritual life through the Holy Spirit, who lives in our hearts and empowers us.

We believe that each believer is called to glorify God in every aspect of their lives. We believe that the family is the foundational institution of human life, and marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in a covenant commitment for a lifetime.

We believe that all believers, after salvation, are called to participate in the Body of Christ in the local church of their choosing. We believe that the Body of Christ is a universal body including all those saved and it is expressed in local form by the church.

We believe that Christ is the one supreme authority for the church and that pastors and ministerial staff lead as servants of and under-shepherds of Christ and have His designated authority in directing the church. We believe that the local church is an autonomous body and we call our own pastor and ministerial staff without any obligation to national bodies or organizations. We believe that the biblically designated leadership for the local church is filled by the senior pastor and ministerial staff. We believe that God no longer calls men or women as Apostles or Prophets. We believe that the ministerial staff are called by God into the ministry and ordained by the local church for service.

We believe that the biblical role of a deacon is that of a servant leader within the local church rather than a designated office.  Deacons are not to function as an authoritative, administrative, or policy making group in the church. We believe that deacons are set aside by the members of the church of which they are members. Deacons are to serve under the leadership of the pastor and ministerial staff.

We believe that we should voluntarily participate as a church in the Cooperative Program, an extremely effective ministry effort coordinating the missions, service, and giving of Southern Baptist Churches.