12 Statements of Faith
(condensed)
1. We believe in one God, Creator of all things, Holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
2. We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one person in two natures. We confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God, Lord of the church and all of life.
3. We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs into the family of God.
4. We believe God has spoken in the Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings. It is the complete revelation of His will for salvation and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged.
5. We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.
6. We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith in Christ alone. We hold that the church is the body of Christ and is under the Lord’s mandate to be faithful in accepting and transmitting the gospel by word and deed.
7. We consider all members of the congregation as a priesthood of believers and responsible for the total ministry of the church. We seek to live a life of holiness, through continual true repentance.
8. We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Holy Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the Gospel in word and deed.
9. We believe in the personal, bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ at a time known only to God demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly, sacrificial service and energetic mission.
10. We believe that God commands everyone to trust in the Gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving Jesus Christ as Lord. We believe that God will physically raise the dead and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace.
11. We believe that God created humankind in His image, intentionally male and female, with each bringing unique qualities to sexuality and relationships. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. Rejection of one’s biological sex, determined at birth, is a rejection of the image of God within that person. We believe and teach that God's Holy Word declares marriage (Holy Christian matrimony) to be a lifelong commitment between one man and one woman, as per the Biblical definition of gender and marriage, and that sexual intimacy be confined exclusively within this covenant.
12. We believe God forms us in the womb. Life starts at conception and from that point forward should be treated no differently than life after.
