FAQ

Q. what is your statement of faith?

This Church accepts the Bible as the revealed will of God, the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice, and for the purpose of maintaining general unity of statements of faith.

The Trinity. It is the testimony of both the Old and New Testaments and of the Christian Church that God is both One and Triune. The biblical revelation testifies that there is only one God and that He is eternally existent in three persons—Father, Word (Son), and Holy Spirit.

God the Father. God the Father is the creator and sustainer of all things, and He created the universe in love. He created man in His own image for fellowship and called man back to Himself through Christ after the rebellion and fall of man.

The Word (Son). The Word is eternally God. He was together with the Father and the Holy Spirit from the beginning, and through Him all things were made. For man’s redemption, He left heaven and became incarnate by the Holy Spirit through the virgin Mary in the person of Jesus Christ; henceforth, He is forever one Christ with two natures—God and man—in one person. (John 1:1)

The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God, the Lord and giver of life, who was active in the Old Testament and given to the Church in fullness at Pentecost. He empowers the saints for service and witness, cleanses man from the old nature and conforms us to the image of Christ. A person is filled with the Holy Spirit at the moment of conversion.

The Scripture. We affirm that the Bible is the Scripture, containing the Old and New Testaments, is alone the only infallible, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and that its authority is ultimate, final and eternal. It cannot be added to, subtracted from, or superseded in any regard. The Bible is the source of all doctrine, instruction, correction, and reproof. It contains all that is needed for guidance in godliness and practical Christian conduct.

The Atonement. Christ’s vicarious death on the cross paid the penalty for the sins of the whole world, but its benefits are only applicable to those who receive Jesus as personal Savior. His atoning sacrifice makes available healing of the body, soul, and spirit, when appropriated by His saints.

Salvation. Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.

B. Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God.

C. Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God's purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person's life.

D. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.

The Christian Life. We believe that the Scriptures portray the life of the saint in this world to be one of balance between what is imputed to us as Christians and what is imparted to us according to our faith and maturity. Therefore, God’s provision for His children is total, and His promises are final and forever. As new creations, we are born into the Kingdom of God as infants and we live our lives becoming progressively more mature in our faith as we yield to the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. This maturity is an experiential process of having our minds renewed by the truth that is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. As we become progressively more mature in Christ, our behavior will more and more reflect His life in us and His purposes for us. A vital part of this process is living life in the community of believers that make up the Church and allowing ourselves to be built up by our relationships with other believers.

The Christian life, while joyful and fulfilling, still includes trials, tests, and warfare against a spiritual enemy who takes advantage of our flesh to lure us into sinful behavior and independence from God. Victory over these trials, tests, and attacks is provided to us through our faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross that redeems us from the power of the enemy.

The Church. The goal of the church is to make disciples of all nations and to present the saints complete in Christ. The church is governed by the office of Elder as mentioned in scripture. It is essential to the life of the church that scriptural patterns of discipline are practiced and that oversight for church discipline, individual and corporate, is exercised by the leadership of the church.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The Scripture places on the church two perpetual ordinances of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first, baptism, is the outward sign of what God has already done in the individual’s life and is a testimony to all that the person now belongs to Jesus.

It is identification with Jesus and is affected in the name of the Father, the Word (Son), and the Holy Spirit. The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of the death of the Lord and is done in remembrance of Him until He comes again; it is a sign of our loving participation in Him. Both institutions are restricted to those who are believers.

Eschatology. We affirm the bodily, personal, second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the saints, the millennium, and the final judgment. The final judgment will determine the eternal status of both the saints and the unbelievers, determined by their relationship to Jesus Christ. We affirm with the Scripture the final state of the new heavens and the new earth.

Statement of Marriage. We believe that because God our Creator established marriage as a sacred institution between one man and one woman, the idea that marriage is a covenant only between one man and one woman has been the traditional definition of marriage for all of human history (“Traditional Definition of Marriage”). Because of the longstanding importance of the Traditional Definition of Marriage to humans and their relationships and communities, and, most importantly, the fact that God has ordained that marriage be between one man and one woman, as clearly conveyed in God’s inerrant Scriptures, including for example in Matthew 19:4-6 where in speaking about marriage Jesus referred to the fact that “he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,” the Church hereby creates this policy, which shall be known as the “Marriage Policy.”

Under this Church’s Marriage Policy, the Traditional Definition of Marriage is the only definition of marriage that will be recognized or accepted. No elder, officer, employee, servant, agent, or any person, corporation, organization, or entity under the direction or control of this Church shall commit any act or omission, or make any decision whatever, that would be inconsistent with, or that could be perceived by any person to be inconsistent with, full support of this Church’s Marriage Policy and strict adherence to the Traditional Definition of Marriage rather than any alternative to the Traditional Definition of Marriage.

This Church’s Marriage Policy specifically prohibits acts or omissions including but not limited to permitting any Church assets or property, whether real property, personal property, intangible property, or any property or asset of any kind that is subject to the direction or control of the Church, to be used in any manner that would be or could be perceived by any person to be inconsistent with this Church’s Marriage Policy or the Traditional Definition of Marriage, including but not limited to permitting any church facilities to be used by any person, organization, corporation, or group that would or might use such facilities to convey, intentionally or by implication, what might be perceived as a favorable impression about any definition of marriage other than the Traditional Definition of Marriage. We believe this Church’s Marriage Policy is based upon God’s will for human life as conveyed to us through the Holy Scriptures, upon which this Church has been founded and anchored, and this Marriage Policy shall not be subject to change through popular vote; referendum; prevailing opinion of members or the general public; influence of or interpretation by any government authority, agency, or official action; or legal developments on the local, state, or federal level.

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