Congregational Statement of Faith

Agreement on the glorious doctrines of the Bible creates and sutains unity and harmony in the local church. The Congregational Statement of Faith, Core Values, and Marks of Providence summarize our beliefs on central doctrines.

• The Bible

We believe that the Bible is the complete written word of God, fully inspired by the Holy Spirit through human authors, and without error in the original manuscripts. We believe that the Bible is supremely authoritative and sufficient for all matters of faith and conduct.

(Psalm 19:7-11; 119:105; Proverbs 30:5; Mark 13:31; John 17:17; Acts 20:32; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:3-4, 19-21)

• God

We believe in one true and living God, the Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of all things, eternally existing in three Persons- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- each coequal in divine essence and every divine perfection and fully deserving of our worship, honor, and joyful obedience. We believe that the Persons of the Trinity execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence, and redemption.

(Genesis 1:1-31; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalms 90:2; 145:3; Isaiah 45:5-6; Jeremiah 10:10; Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19; John 1:1-3; Romans 1:19-20; 11:36; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; 10:31; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Colossians 1:16-17; 1 Timothy 1:17)

• Providence

We believe that God, from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and all events, yet so as not in any way to be the author or approver of sin nor to destroy the free choices and moral responsibility of human beings.

(Genesis 45:5-8; 50:20; Proverbs 16:33; Isaiah 46:9-11; Ezekiel 36:27; Romans 4:17; 9:6-11:36; Acts 17:24-26; Ephesians 1:4; Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3; James 1:13-15)

• God the Father

We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal Spirit, who concerns himself sovereignly and mercifully in the affairs of humanity, hears and answers prayer, and saves from sin and death all who come to him through faith in Jesus Christ.

(Exodus 32:11-14; Psalm 66:19; Psalm 115:3; Matthew 23:9; John 3:16; Philippians 4:6; 1 Peter 1:3-5)

• Jesus Christ

We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. We believe in his virgin birth; in his sinless life; in his miracles; in his teachings; in his substitutionary atoning death; in his bodily resurrection; in his ascension to the right hand of the Father in heaven; in his perpetual intercession for his people; and in his personal return to earth in power and glory. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church and the only Mediator between God and man. We believe that Jesus Christ truly and perfectly executes the offices of Prophet, revealing God to creation; Priest, reconciling creation to God; and King, reigning over all creation.

(Isaiah 9:6; 53:1-12; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1, 14; 8:42; Acts 1:9-11; Romans 5:6-8; 6:9, 10; 8:34; 9:5; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:3-14; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-16; 7:23-25; 9:28; 1 Timothy 2:5; 3:16; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 1 John 4:10)

• The Holy Spirit

We believe in the deity and present ministry of the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son to bring glory to the Father and the Son; to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment; to regenerate sinners; to sanctify believers; to give spiritual gifts to every believer for the building up of the body in love; and to adopt and seal believers as children of God for a glorious inheritance in Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer at conversion as an abiding Helper, Teacher, and Guide. We believe that all saved persons are to pursue being filled with the Holy Spirit, which constitutes submitting to the guidance and empowerment of the Spirit, primarily through Spirit-enabled obedience to the word of God.

(Genesis 1:2; 1 Samuel 16:13; Isaiah 61:1; Ezekiel 36:27; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 28:19; Luke 2:25-27; 4:1, 14; John 3:5-8; 14:16-17, 26; 14:16-17; 15:26; 16:7-15; Acts 1:5; 10:38; Romans 1:4; 8:9-17, 26-27; 9:15-18; 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, 10-16; 3:16; 6:19; 12:4-13; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; 3:6, 18; 5:5; 13:14; Galatians 5:16-18, 22-25; Ephesians 1:13-14; 5:17-18; 6:17-18; Titus 3:5-7; Hebrews 2:3-4; 9:14; 2 Peter 1:21)

• Mankind and Sin

We believe that man and woman were created by God in his own image and likeness, free from sin to glorify God and enjoy his fellowship. We believe that the first people, Adam and Eve, sinned by disobeying God's command and thereby incurred eternal death (separation from God), both spiritual and physical. We believe that, as a consequence of Adam's sin, all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are sinners by choice. We believe that no one seeks after God or gives him the worship, honor, and obedience that he alone deserves. We believe that all people, if left to themselves, are hopelessly doomed to an eternity of God's wrath against sin according to the righteous judgment of the holy and just God.

(Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7, 15-25; 3:1-24; Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 43:7; 64:6; Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 3:7; John 3:36; Romans 1:18; 2:5-8; 3:10-18, 23; 5:12-21; 8:5-8; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 15:21-22, 45-49; Ephesians 2:1-3; 5:3-6; James 1:14-15; 1 John 1:8, 10; Revelation 4:11; 6:17; 19:15)

• Regeneration

We believe that regeneration is a change of heart in which the Holy Spirit empowers the message of the gospel by giving spiritual life to people who are dead in trespasses and sins, enlightening their minds, enabling faith in Jesus Christ, and renewing their whole nature so that they love and pursue holiness according to the word of God.

(Ezekiel 36:25-27; John 1:12-13; 3:3-7; Romans 8:12-17; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 2 Corinthians 4:1-6; Ephesians 2:4-10; Galatians 5:16-24; Thessalonians 2:13-14; Titus 3:4-7; 1 Peter 1:3)

• Faith and Repentance

We believe that salvation from the penalty, power, and presence of sin is obtained by grace through faith as a gift of God upon hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ alone, apart from any trust in personal merit or good works, is delivered from sin and stands justified by God through Christ, who took the guilt of their sin upon himself and credits them with his own perfect righteousness. We believe that true saving faith is accompanied by repentance, acknowledges in word and deed that Christ is Lord, and results in the progressive sanctification of the believer into the likeness of Christ. We believe that all people who possess true saving faith will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but will ultimately persevere in faith until they appear in glorified form in the eternal presence of God.

(Isaiah 53:5-6; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Matthew 13:44; Luke 13:3; John 1:12-13; 5:24; 6:37-40; 8:31-32; 10:27-30; 15:11; 17:3, 13, 17-19; Acts 13:48; Romans 3:21-28; 4:2-8, 20-25; 5:1-21; 6:1-23; 8:30-39; 10:8-17; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8, 30; 12:3; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 5:17, 21; 7:10; Galatians 3:13; 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 1:6; Colossians 1:21-22; 2:14; Hebrews 12:5-11; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 2:3, 15-17; Jude 24)

• Christian Conduct

We believe that Christians should live for the glory of God and the well-being of others, that their conduct should be blameless before the world, that they should be faithful stewards of their possessions, and that they should seek, through the strength that God supplies, to realize for themselves and others the full stature of maturity in Christ, pursuing a holy life of joyful obedience to all of Christ’s commands and teaching others to do the same.

(Proverbs 11:1; 12:17; Matthew 5:14-16; 22:34-40; 28:18-20; Luke 16:1-13; Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; Galatians 5:13-26; Ephesians 2:20; 4:1-16; Philippians 1:27; Colossians 1:9-14; 3:1-17; Hebrews 10:24-25; James 1:27; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 2:11-12; 4:8-11)

• The Church

We believe in the universal church, a spiritual body of which Christ is Head and all regenerated persons are members. We believe in the local church, consisting of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized upon a credible profession of faith, and associated for worship, work, edification, and fellowship. We believe that God has laid upon the members of the local church the primary task of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world.

(Matthew 16:18; 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; 2:41-47; 12:5; Romans 10:14-15; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 16:1-2; 2 Corinthians 8:2-5; Ephesians 1:22-23; 3:21; 4:1-16; 5:18-21; Philippians 2:1-7; Colossians 1:18; 3:16; Titus 2:11-15; Hebrews 3:13; 1 Peter 2:9)

• The Ordinances

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church, baptism and the Lord's Supper, to be observed and administered by the church until the Lord Jesus Christ returns. We believe that baptism is the one-time immersion of new believers into water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit to publicly demonstrate the believer's union with Christ in his death to sin and resurrection to new life unto God. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the repeated sharing of bread and wine between believers as a regular observance of the Passover supper between Jesus and the disciples on the night before his crucifixion. We believe that the bread commemorates union with the body of Christ, broken for the sins of the church. We believe that the wine commemorates union with the shed blood of Christ as seal of the New Covenant. We believe that participation in the Lord's Supper must be conducted in an orderly way and preceded by self-examination and confession of sin so as not to eat or drink in an unworthy manner.

(Matthew 26:26-29; 28:19; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20; Acts 2:38-42; 8:36-38; Romans 6:1-11; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; 11:23-34)

• Future Things

We believe that upon death, the saved are immediately present with the Lord and the lost are immediately subject to conscious torment and separation from God in darkness. We believe Jesus Christ will personally and visibly return to earth at an hour known only to the Father.  We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead for both the saved and the lost in the last days when Jesus Christ will finally judge the living and the dead according to their works. The judgment of the saved will result in eternal life with God in glory and judgment of the lost will result in eternal suffering under God's wrath against sin in the lake of fire.

(Matthew 16:27; 24:3-51; 25:31-46; 26:64; Mark 13:3-37; 14:62; Luke 16:19-31; 23:43; John 3:36; 5:28-29; 6:39; 11:25-26; 14:1-3; 17:3, 24; Romans 2:6-11; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 15:12-58; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10; Philippians 1:23; 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 5:1-10; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10; 2:1-12; 2 Timothy 4:1, 8; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:27-28; 2 Peter 3:7-13; Revelation 19:11-22:5)