What We Believe 

The Bible

God uniquely inspired the authors of Scripture by His Spirit to speak to all generations, including us today. The Scriptures were written by human authors but under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Scriptures speak with the authority of God while reflecting the backgrounds, styles, and vocabularies of the human authors. The Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments, is alone the only infallible, inspired Word of God, and its authority is ultimate, final and eternal. It cannot be added to, subtracted from or superseded in any regard.  It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living.  

God

We believe in one true and living God who is: creator of all things; infinitely perfect, loving, and just; worthy of all possible trust, love, obedience, and service; and eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

Humanity

In the beginning God created people in His image and to have a loving relationship Him. However, through voluntary disobedience, called sin, mankind fell from innocence and purity and became alienated from God.  Furthermore, sin propagated death, disease, darkness, and evil in the world and in our lives. Mankind remains separated from God by this same attitude of disobedience toward God and by our choosing (whether actively or passively) to go our own independent way. As a result, we need God's saving grace to restore our relationship with God and to rescue us from the effects of our separation from God and from our sin. 

Jesus Christ

We believe that (according to the Scriptures) Jesus, as God's Son, was sent by the Father to reveal God’s love for all mankind. Having been conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, He is true God and true man. He lived a sinless life and voluntarily carried all of our sins (past, present, and future) upon Him to the cross where He died and and where our sins died with Him. Then after conquering sin, He arose from the grave conquering death (the consequence of sin) as well. Then ascended into heaven where He intercedes on our behalf as our mediator before God. Finally, He will return again to earth to consummate history, and His return is imminent. 

Salvation

While we believe that Jesus Christ already conquered sin and death, we as individuals are not saved from sin and death until we, as individuals, put our trust in Jesus, what He's done for us, and enter into relationship by believing in Him and confessing that we do. No amount of good works or self-improvement could ever restore us from our state of eternal alienation from God. It is only by God's free grace that we are saved and made holy (separated unto God)...and this grace is appropriated to us when we change our thinking (which is called "repentance") about God, and when we put our faith in Jesus as the only who can save us.

The Holy Spirit

According to the Scriptures, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to lovingly draw people towards God. He brings conviction of a person's need for the forgiveness of sin through Christ. To all those who entrust their lives to Jesus, the Holy Spirit indwells, regenerates their hearts, and affirms them as children of God. He also guides, comforts, counsels, convicts, and leads us into truth. He empowers us with gifts to help one another and to be bold witnesses for Christ through the Baptism in the Holy Spirit which we believe is for every Christ-follower who wants to receive. We believe that the Holy Spirit is very active in the life of the church, that all spiritual gifts spoken of in the New Testament are for Christ-followers today, and that the Holy Spirit's presence and ministry are evidenced in a variety of ways. 

Transformation

We believe that the change which takes place in the heart and life at conversion is a very real one. Therefore, the truly converted will desire what God desires for them: to become more like Jesus on a daily basis growing constantly in faith, love, obedience, and service; living a life or moderation and avoiding extremes of fanaticism; and being a good and godly citizen upholding civil rulers and government except in areas opposed to the will of God.

The Church

We believe that there is only one true Church universal composed of all people who have asked Jesus Christ for forgiveness and made Him leader of their lives. The diversity of all believers working together globally and locally (e.g., Ecclesia is one of many local expressions of the universal Church) form the parts of the body of Christ, the Church. According to the Scriptures, the church is to meet together, to worship and glorify God, and to help and encourage one another toward love and good works. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Head of the Church, and that as His body, we are to be His loving and serving hands extended to a broken and hurting world communicating the Good News of Christ through both word and deed. 

Eternity

People were created to exist forever. We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin in hell, or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. Death seals the eternal destiny of each person. All humanity will experience a bodily resurrection and a judgment that will determine the fate of each individual. Having rejected God, unbelievers will suffer eternal condemnation apart from Him. Believers will be received into eternal communion with God and will be rewarded for works done in this life. Heaven and hell are real places of eternal existence. God does not wish that anyone should perish in hell and that is why Jesus came to die for our sins. 

Baptism and Communion

We believe that baptism by immersion is an outward expression of an inward commitment to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. During Jesus' last days, He gathered the disciples in a room and asked them to consume bread and wine "in remembrance" of Him. Two thousand years later, we regularly observe the act of consuming bread and grape juice as a community for the exact same reason – to remember our Savior, who sacrificed Himself for our sins.