What we believe
The Gospel
Christ’s mysterious entry into this world, His gruesome crucifixion, and His surprising resurrection leave us all in a position of response to Him. Either we deny that He came or we believe. Either we look away from his death or we look on it in repentance. Either we reject the belief that Christ rose from the dead or we subscribe to it. These events are not value-neutral. Neither is our response to them.
To aid you in your consideration of the gospel, we offer a link to a multimedia presentation of this message from Matthias Media entitled Two Ways to Live. It is our hope that this presentation answers your questions about God and His claim on your life. Are you a repentant believer in Jesus? Or are you a dispassionate witness to a crime your own sin helped commit? Remember, your soul will live forever. Are you ready for eternity?
A Snap Shot of Our Doctrine
God
We believe that there is but one living and true God, who exists, in three distinct personalities: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.We believe that each person of the Godhead possesses the same nature and equally deserving of worship and obedience; nevertheless they have various functions when connecting with humanity.
Scriptures: Deuteronomy 6:4
The Father
We believe that God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, orders and controls all things according to His purpose and grace. He is the creator of all things. He is the only absolute and omnipotent Ruler in the universe. He is sovereign in creation, providence, and redemption.In His dealings with humanity, He continually orders, upholds, directs, disposes and governs all creatures and events.
Scriptures: Matthew 6:9, Ephesians 1:3-6, Philippians 2:8-11
The Son
We believe that Jesus Christ possesses all the divine excellencies, and in these He is coequal, consubtantial and coeternal with the Father. Jesus Christ is both the Son of God and the virgin-born Son of Mary.He co-exists as fully God and fully man.While on earth he led a sinless life and was therefore able to provide a perfect sacrifice for the sinful human race.We believe in both the bodily resurrection and the physical ascension of Christ.We eagerly await His imminent return to earth.He will then establish His earthly kingdom.
Scriptures:I Corinthians 15, Hebrews 2:17-18, Revelations 20:11-15
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit represents the third person of the Godhead and actively works through the lives of His disciples to bring about the will of the Father.He convicts the world of sin while working through the universal church to demonstrate the nature of the Father.The Holy Spirit also empowers each disciple with specific gifts to accomplish special ministries, which were ordained before all eternity.
Scriptures:John 14:15-21, I Corinthians 12, Ephesians 1:13-14, Galatians 5:16-25
The Bible
We believe that the Bible is God’s written revelation to man and that it is an objective, propositional revelation, verbally inspired in every word, absolutely inerrant in the original documents, infallible , and God-breathed.The Scriptures serve as the supreme authority in faith and practice for the disciple of Jesus Christ.We believe that the Bible transcends time and the revelation is essential for properly understanding God.
Scriptures: II Timothy 3:16-17, II Peter 1:20-21, Hebrews 4:12
Man
Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image.He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Only by the grace of God through salvation can man enter into His fellowship and fulfill his creative purposes.
Scriptures:John 3:3, II Corinthians 5:17-21, Romans 5:21,
Salvation
We believe that salvation is wholly of God by grace on the basis of the redemption of Jesus Christ, the merit of his shed blood, and not on the basis of human merit or works. It is through Jesus Christ alone that one can obtain the position of salvation.We believe that salvation represents the loving and graceful heart of the Father.It is through repentance and belief of heart that all who place their faith in the redemptive act of Christ, that the Father in Heaven provides forgiveness of sin.Therefore these disciples represent the living body of Christ, and are called to engage culture with the eternal truths found in scripture.
Scriptures:John 1:12-14, John 3:16-21, I Corinthians 15:1, Ephesians 2:19-24, Galatians 3:26
The Church
God by His Word and Spirit creates the Church, calling sinful men out of the whole human race into the fellowship of Christ’s Body. By the same Word and Spirit, He guides and preserves that new redeemed humanity. The Church is not a religious institution or denomination. Rather, the Church universal is made up of those who have become genuine followers of Jesus Christ and have personally appropriated the gospel. The Church exists to worship and glorify God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It also exists to serve Him by faithfully doing His will in the earth. This involves a commitment to see the gospel preached and churches planted in all the world. The ultimate mission of the Church is the making of disciples through the preaching of the gospel.
Scriptures:Matthew 28:18-20, John 14:1-3, Acts 2:9-11, Acts 2:41-47, I Thessalonians 4:15-17
