What We Believe

There is one eternally existing God who has three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He is the Creator of all that exists, both visible and invisible, and is worthy of all glory and praise.  God is perfect in love, power, holiness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom,  justice, and mercy. He is unchangeable and therefore is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

God has revealed himself to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the visible image of the invisible God. He has disclosed the knowledge of Himself and His Son through the Holy Scriptures, and through all of creation itself.

Humans, both male and female, were created in God's image for His glory. The first humans, Adam and Eve, were created without sin and appointed as caretakers of the rest of God's creations.

When Adam and Eve chose not to obey God, to sin, they ceased to be what they were made to be and became distorted images of God. This caused them to fall out of fellowship with God, and fractured all of creation ever since that time.

Jesus Christ came to reconcile us to God. He lived a life without sin and willingly died on the cross to pay the penalty for our transgressions. God raised Him from the dead and now, by grace, offers eternal life to all who believe Christ by faith as their Lord and Savior. That is why salvation can be found in Christ alone.

Every person who embraces Jesus as Lord is part of the universal church as a member of the body of believers and is encouraged by scripture to be planted in the local church. The Church is the representative of Jesus on earth and is to carry out the Great Commission.

Jesus Christ will return one day to judge both the living and the dead and to usher in the fullness of God's kingdom on Earth.

We believe in the biblical position that marriage involves the permanent union of one person born a man and one person born a woman in sacred fidelity. God revealed the union between Christ and His church to provide for the man and the woman in marriage a framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, protect, and lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. The woman has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image.

The phrase “sanctity of life” reflects the belief that people are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26) and that human life has an inherently sacred attribute that should be protected and respected at all times. While God gave humanity the authority to kill and eat other forms of life (Genesis 9:3), the murdering of other human beings is expressly forbidden, with the penalty being death (Genesis 9:6). In Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus says, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” In these commandments, we see that our actions are to be motivated by love for God and love for others. If we love God, we will value our own lives as part of God’s plan, to do His will until it comes about that His will is better served by our deaths. And we will love and care for His people (John 21:15-17). We will see to the needs of the elderly and sick. We will seek to protect others from harm—whether from abortion, euthanasia, suicide, human trafficking, or other abuses. While the sanctity of life can be the foundation, love must be the motivation.

We believe in two biblical offices: Pastors/Overseers/Elders and Deacons.  Our pastor is recognized as the undershepherd of Jesus in the local church.  He coordinates the Overseers and staff of the church, and is an ex-officio member of the deacons, all councils, committees, teams and organizations of the church. However, as leader of the Overseer Council he holds only one vote in all matters decided by that Council, which requires at least one more congregation member than staff.