Statement of Faith

In our commitment to upholding sound doctrine and fostering unity among the churches we serve, we categorize our beliefs into three distinct tiers. By distinguishing our beliefs in this manner, we aim to maintain unity in essential doctrines, allow freedom in non-essential matters, and approach all our beliefs with love and grace.
(We understand that the following list is not exhaustive nor intended to be. Rather, its purpose is to establish a pattern of doctrines by which the reader can logically determine the appropriate tier for a particular conviction.)

Tier One

Primary Doctrines — Core Beliefs We Firmly Uphold

GOD
We believe there is one and only one living and true God—the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. He is all-powerful and all-knowing, and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes but without division of nature, essence, or being. Therefore, we believe, as the Church has for millennia, the Nicene Creed’s statement on Father, Son, and Spirit.

 “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.”

SALVATION

We profess that salvation involves the redemption of the whole person and is offered freely to all who surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense, salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart faith in the person, work and grace of Jesus Christ.

THE CHURCH

The New Testament speaks of the Church as the body of Christ, which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation. We believe the Church is the hope of the world and the primary means by which word of Christ’s saving grace will reach the unreached.

THE SCRIPTURES

We affirm that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to humanity. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction, with God as its author, salvation as its end, and truth without any mixture of error as its content. Therefore, all Scripture is true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us and is the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be evaluated. All Scripture testifies to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

HUMANITY

We acknowledge that humans are the special creation of God, made in His own image, intentionally and immutably male and female as the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning, humans were innocent of sin and were endowed by their Creator with freedom of choice. By their free choice, humans sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan, humans transgressed the command of God and fell from their original innocence, whereby their posterity inherits a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Only the grace of God can bring humans into His holy fellowship and enable them to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created humanity in His own image, and in that Christ died for humanity; therefore, every person possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love. We believe that 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.
And it is in light of such convictions, we believe marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in a lifelong covenant commitment. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His Church and to provide for the man and the woman the framework for intimate companionship, the channel for sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. As followers of Christ, we are called to live holy and righteous lives, standing for biblical truth in a culture that often rejects God’s design for marriage, family, and morality.

Tier Two

Secondary Doctrines — Important Beliefs We Discuss Respectfully

CHURCH GOVERNANCE

We affirm that a New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation, each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord.

GOD’S PURPOSE OF GRACE

We believe that election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of humans and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is a glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility. All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the cause of Christ, and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

BAPTISM & THE LORD’S SUPPER

We observe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to the believer’s faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the 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.

THE LORD’S DAY

We honor the first day of the week as the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord’s Day should be commensurate with the Christian’s conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

 Tier Three

Tertiary Doctrines — Personal Preferences We Embrace Diversity In

STYLES OF WORSHIP MUSIC

Whether your church belts out the oldest hymns in the book or jams along to the most contemporary of ballads, we’re glad you’re singing about Jesus!

CHURCH ATTIRE

Suits, shorts, ties or tees, we’re in the same Family.

TYPE OF COFFEE IN THE LOBBY

Perhaps only those who serve dark roast coffee from the local roasters have it right after all…