Statement of Faith

Each board member affirms his comittment to this statement of faith annually.

The Bible
The Bible is inspired of God, inerrant in the original documents, and of final authority in all matters of faith and practice.

God
There is one God, eternally existent in three Persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God, born of a virgin, sinlessly perfect.  His sacrifice is substitutionary and representative.  He rose bodily from the dead and ascended to His Father’s right hand, where He now ministers as our Great High Priest.  He will come to rapture His Church and subsequently return to reign on the earth.

Humanity
Each member of the human race is fallen, sinful and lost, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential for the salvation of man.  Redemption is wholly by the blood of Christ, and salvation is by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit indwells the believer, who is sealed until the day of redemption and is empowered to live a godly life.

The Future
There will be a resurrection of the saved and of the lost; of the saved, unto eternal life, and of the lost, unto eternal and conscious judgment.

The Church
The Church began with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and is composed of all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.  These believers are united to Him and to one another by the indwelling Spirit.  This means that the Church, as a whole, is not an organization, but a living organism, known as the Body of Christ. The Church’s calling, hope and destiny are heavenly, and its chief functions are to glorify God and to witness for Christ until His return.  The local Church is composed of Believers in a locality who gather in Christ’s Name for worship, prayer, edification and testimony.  Government and discipline are divinely outlined in the Epistles as being the responsibility of the local Church.

Spiritual Gifts
Christ, our Risen Head, is the giver of spiritual gifts and each believer is responsible to Him for their development and use.  They are given “for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ.”

Ordinances
There are two Christian ordinances; baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  Baptism by immersion signifies that the believer, having died with Christ, is buried with Him in baptism and also is risen with Christ to walk in newness of life.   The Lord’s Supper is a memorial feast, instituted by the Lord Himself exclusively for His own.  In the observance of this supper, believers remember Him; they show His death until He comes, and they function as worshipping priests before God.

The Christian Life
Every true child of God possesses eternal life and, being justified, sanctified and sealed with the Holy Spirit, is safe and secure for all eternity.  However, a Christian can, through sin, lose his fellowship, joy, power, testimony, and reward, and incur the Father’s chastisement.   Relationship is eternal, being established by new birth; fellowship, however, is dependent upon obedience.

The Return of Christ
The personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ to translate His Church is imminent, an event which concludes the present age of grace.  This will be followed by the outpouring of God’s wrath on the earth, known as the Tribulation.  After this, Christ’s Millennial Kingdom will be established, and the “glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.”  At the conclusion of His Millennial Reign, Christ will deliver up the Kingdom of God, the Father, that the Triune God may be all in all.