What We Believe
What We Believe:
John 4:23 "God is a spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."
CREATION: We believe that God created the earth and everything in it in six days. He did this by speaking everything into existence and His power holds everything together. Day 1 – light; Day 2 - firmament and water; Day 3 – vegetation and land; Day 4 – the sun, moon, and stars; Day 5 – fish and fowl; Day 6 – animals and man (man was not spoken into existence but made in the likeness and image of God by His own hands).
SCRIPTURES: The Bible is the inspired Word of God. The Holy Spirit gave individual men the exact words to write down. The Bible is without error as written in the original languages. Scripture is a believer's sole authority for faith and practice.
MAN: Man was created in the image of God. Because of Adam's sin, man is born with a sin nature in need of a Savior. Man will not only die physically but will also die spiritually (being separated from God for all eternity) if he hasn't accepted Christ as his personal savior.
TRINITY: The Trinity is three persons (God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and Holy Spirit) in one. The three persons are equal in person yet each having different functions.
GOD THE FATHER: God has always existed. He is the only true God. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, holy, righteous, a spirit, omnipresent, sovereign, merciful, gracious, and immutable. Although God is compassionate, His holy nature demands a perfect sacrifice for sin.
JESUS CHRIST: Christ is God in the flesh and is equal with God the Father. Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary, a virgin. Because of His sinless nature, Christ was able to meet God's demand of a perfect sacrifice and willingly became man's substitutionary sacrifice. Christ is all-powerful, all-knowing, holy, righteous, compassionate, omnipresent, sovereign, merciful, and immutable. Christ is man's High Priest, advocate, mediator, and intercessor. After dying, Christ was buried and arose on the third day by His own power. He is now seated on the right hand of God in heaven.
HOLY SPIRIT: The Holy Spirit is equal with God the Father and Jesus Christ and therefore possesses all of the attributes of God. The Holy Spirit draws men to Christ and convicts individuals of their sin. After a person accepts Christ as his/her personal Savior, the Holy Spirit indwells the new believer. The Holy Spirit guides and teaches believers in the way of truth. The Holy Spirit also comforts and seals the eternal salvation of the new believer.
SALVATION: The Gospel is so simple that even a child can understand it. Salvation is a free gift offered by God. Simply stated, the Gospel is that Christ came, died for man's sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day. An individual first needs to realize that he/she is a sinner destined to be separated from God for all eternity in Hell. After admitting and repenting of his/her sin, he/she needs to realize that Christ died for his/her sins, that Christ is the only person who can meet God's demand of a perfect sacrifice, and the individual cannot work his/her way to God. An individual then needs to put his/her faith and trust in Christ and Him alone and ask Christ to be his/her personal Savior. Once a person accepts Christ as his/her personal Savior that person is secure in Christ and assured eternal salvation.
HEAVEN: Heaven is a literal place where God, Christ, Holy Spirit, and angels dwell. Any person who has accepted Christ as his/her personal Savior, will go immediately to heaven upon their death.
HELL: Hell is a literal place, originally created for Satan and his demons. It is a place of eternal fire, misery, pain, thirst, remorse, and memory. It is also a place of eternal separation from God. Upon death, any person who has not accepted Christ as Savior will go immediately to this place.
SIN: Sin originated with Satan when he tried to usurp the authority of God. When Adam disobeyed God, sin was passed down to all individuals who are born into this world. The consequence of sin was both physical and spiritual death, fellowship with God was broken, physical labor was introduced, and living organisms began to deteriorate.
LOCAL CHURCH: The local church consists of an organized group of born again baptized believers who have come together to worship God, to edify each other, and to carry out the Great Commission. The local church is autonomous with Christ as the head, the pastor as the shepherd, and deacons to help the pastor. Within the church are two ordinances, the Lord's Supper and Baptism.
ORDINANCES: Baptism, by immersion, is the outward testimony that a person has accepted Christ as their personal Savior. By being baptized, they are saying that they are dying to self and desiring to live a life for Christ. Baptism is only for a born-again believer. The Lord's Supper should only be partaken by born-again believers. Reflecting His finished work on the cross and looking forward to the day He returns.