Our Beliefs

We believe in the triune God of the Bible, being one God who reveals Himself in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God has revealed Himself to humanity through the ages and has preserved this revelation of Himself infallibly through the Holy Scriptures, the Christian Bible, which is inspired by God’s Holy Spirit. These Scriptures give humanity wisdom that leads to faith in Christ Jesus.

We believe that this God is the eternal, all-powerful, and all-knowing Creator of the world. He created the world to be a kingdom full of light, peace, and abundant life, and He created humanity in His own image to partner faithfully with Him in cultivating His good creation. In this ideal creation, humanity would be at peace with each other and with God, receiving wisdom and life together in God’s presence (Genesis 1-2).

We believe in the reality of evil spiritual beings who are in rebellion to God, including the adversary and accuser of humanity, the devil. Humanity tragically and foolishly rebelled against God’s goodness and wisdom by listening to the voice of evil instead of the voice of God. This rebellion led to disaster: humanity was exiled away from God’s presence; and because of that, a kingdom of sin and death began to reign over humanity in God’s place.

Because of sin and death, humanity’s ability to partner faithfully with God has been all but destroyed. Sin and death cause God immense grief and anger, since they completely undermine His good purposes for creation. Nevertheless, His faithful love for lost, sin-stained humanity faithfully persists (Genesis 3-11).

We believe that the story of the Bible shows that humanity is completely unable to rescue itself from sin and death. However, God was unwilling to let humanity flounder and decay in this condition; instead, He loved mankind so profoundly, like a father, that He devised a plan to rescue them Himself. This rescue would cleanse mankind from the pollution of sin and death and restore them to His presence to receive wisdom and life once again. God has made His plan of rescue known to humanity in various ways and at various times, and this most fully in the person and work of the Son of God, Jesus the Messiah (Genesis 12-50, Exodus- Malachi).

We believe that Christ Jesus is the divine Son of God, born of a virgin, both fully God and fully human. Jesus was the first human to faithfully and completely obey the wisdom of God, and in doing so He completed God’s plan of rescue. This began to bring God’s kingdom of light and life back into the world. The teachings and life of Jesus show us a picture of what true humanity looks like, a humanity that partner’s faithfully with God to cultivate His good creation by faithfully and completely obeying the wisdom of God.

We believe Jesus’ message of good news, that because of His death, His resurrection, and His ascension, God’s plan of rescue is complete, and His kingdom has begun. Because of His faithful obedience to God the Father, Jesus’ death can cleanse away the pollution of sin from our hearts; His resurrection can take away the power of death over our lives; and at His ascension to God’s heavenly throne, He became king over God’s kingdom.

We believe that anyone and everyone who turns away from the works of sin and death and in faith turns to Jesus as their Rescuer and King are given new hearts and clean consciences that are actually able to faithfully obey the wisdom of God. The Bible calls this transformation “becoming a new creation.” As they follow the way of Jesus, the followers of Jesus become part of His kingdom and are restored to life in God’s presence. This faithfulness to the person and work of Jesus is the only way for humans to be restored to life-giving relationship with God (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John).

We believe that Jesus now empowers His followers to live faithfully like He did by filling them with the Holy Spirit of God. These followers of Jesus, collectively called the “Church,” are united together through the Holy Spirit, whom they share in common, to be Christ’s physical body on earth here and now.

We believe that the primary calling in the life of every follower of Jesus is to abide in personal, spiritual relationship with Him. Through this abiding relationship, the lives of His followers are transformed from the ways of sin and death to become like Jesus’ own way of faithful obedience to God the Father.

We believe that the Holy Spirit superintends this transformation, and fills and empowers these united, abiding, transformed followers of Jesus to continue Jesus’ mission of bringing God’s kingdom into the world. Indeed, this is the reason the Church exists: to share the good news of Jesus and His kingdom with the world, and to invite the world to be cleansed from the pollution of sin and death and to come to Jesus to find peace, wisdom and life in God’s presence (Acts-Jude).

We believe that someday Jesus will come again into this world, personally and visibly, to bring about the fullness and completion of His kingdom for all time. On that day, He will cleanse all creation from the pollution of sin and death by confronting evil in all its manifestations once and for all and removing it fully and completely from His good world.

After that King Jesus will usher in an endless age that we can scarcely imagine: everlasting life with no pain, no sadness, no fear, no sin, and no death, but rather a life filled with joy, peace, goodness, light, and above all things, abundant new creation life in God’s presence: life the way it was intended to be (Revelation).