Statement of Faith

SCRIPTURE - We believe the Scriptures to be the inspired and inerrant Word of God. They are revelation from God to man, the infallible rule of faith and conduct. [II Tim. 3:16; I Peter 2:2]

THE NATURE OF GOD - We believe in one God, eternal and self-existent, self-revealed and manifested to man as Father, Son and Holy Ghost. [Deut. 6:4; Mark 12:29; Isa. 43:10-11; Matt. 28:19] We believe that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, having been conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin, Mary. [John 1:1,14; Mat. 1:18; Luke 1:26-27; Luke 2:7; I Tim. 2:5] We believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and shed his blood as a sacrifice for our sins; He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High. [I Pet. 2:24; Heb. 9:11-14; I Cor. 15:3-8; Acts 2:32-36; Heb. 10:12] We believe in the personal, literal second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to judge both the quick and the dead. [I Thess. 4:16; Heb 9:27; I Cor. 15:51-52; Rev. 20:11-15; Acts 24:15] We believe in the ministry of the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ, to convict men of sin, righteousness and judgment and to empower the believer. [John 15:26; John 16:8, 14; Acts 1:8]

GOD'S RELATION TO MAN - We believe that man was created in the image of God, but fell into sin. [Gen. 1:26-31; Gen. 3:1-7; Rom. 5:12-21] We believe that man can be justified only by grace through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. [Eph. 4:11-12; Rom. 3:24-28] We believe that water baptism identifies us with the death and burial of Christ, and that we should arise to walk in newness of life. [Rom. 6:3-9; I Pet. 3:21] We believe in the bodily resurrection of all the dead. [Acts 24:15; I Cor. 15:35-44; Rev. 20:11-15] We believe in everlasting blessedness for the believer, with judgment and everlasting punishment for the unbeliever. [Mat. 7:21-23; Rev. 20:11-15; John 5:29]

THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT - We believe that the Holy Spirit is at work today in the earth through His gifts, fruits and anointed ministers. [Acts 2:39; Rom. 12:6-8; I Cor. 12:1-11; Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 4:11; I Cor. 12:28] We believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to every believer and need to be activated and exercised to fulfill their divine pur­pose of blessing the Body of Christ. [Acts 2:39; II Tim. 1:6] We believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit wherein the Spirit is sent to gift each believer with their own private prayer/praise language used to edify themselves, and that such a baptism empowers the believer to be effective for Christ. [Acts 1:8; Acts 2:39; I Cor. 14:2; Jude 20; I Cor. 14:18; Acts 19:1-6] We believe in divine healing of the body as part of the atoning work of Jesus Christ. This healing can be received and also ministered to others by various gifts. [I Cor. 12:8-10; Mat. 8:16-17; I Pet. 2:24]

HEARING THE VOICE OF GOD - We believe that God speaks today. We believe that hearing from God, both individually and corporately, is essential to individual and corporate success.

RELATIONS OF CHURCH AND STATE - God has entrusted the church and its members, the Saints, the solemn Biblical responsibility of being the conscience of society, culture and government. As such the Saints have a duty before God to speak to the issues that arise from and relate to society, culture and government. Specifically, the Saints are required to call government to account before God for the actions taken by the government with the view toward keeping the government in its proper role and relationship as a steward under God of the resources of the nation. [I Kings 18:18; II Chron. 15:1-4; Matt. 5:13-14; Acts 12:23; I Sam. 15:14-35] The church has a divine mandate to practice its religion as dictated by God. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The Saints are the blood-bought bride of Christ of whom Jesus is the head, the Lord and the only master. As such we categorically reject any and all claims by the state to headship or sovereignty over the Saints. When earthly governments leave their God-ordained sphere of responsibility and seek to restrain, hamper or limit the Saints' obedience to Christ in all areas of life, then the Saints must and will obey God rather than man and must also confront the government with its error and call it back to its proper place under God. [Exodus 8, 9, 10; Daniel 3, 6; Acts 4:19; 5:29].

MEDIATION - We believe as members of the same body of Christ, baptized by one spirit into one body that we must endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and as such that we should not bring a lawsuit against another Christian individual or ministry unless all scriptural principles have been complied with through efforts of mediation. We believe that all such disputes should be resolved within the Body of Christ without taking them before unbelievers for judgment. [I Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:3-6].

HUMAN SEXUALITY - We believe in the creation and God as the Creator. We believe that God created man and that He created them Male and Female. As such he created them different so as to complement and complete each other. God instituted monogamous marriage between male and female as the foundation of the family, the basic structure of human society.

BENEVOLENCE - We believe that the Scriptures are clear concerning helping those in need. We are commanded to do good to all people as we have opportunity, with a special emphasis upon caring for those who profess to be fellow Christians, especially those of our own fellowship of believers. We are commanded to be generous and willing to share, laying up treasure for ourselves in the coming age by our kindness and generosity in this life. This is true for the church as an organization as well as for the individual members of the church. Therefore, in accordance with the biblical commands, as a fundamental aspect of the practice of our faith, we will share of our material goods with those in need and will minister to them to the best of our abilities, whatever the need. [Prov. 25:21; Is. 58:10; Gal. 6:10; 1 Tim. 6:18-19; Heb. 13:16]