Easter Sunday, March 31st , Brunch 10:00A, Worship service at 11:00A, No evening service 

What We Teach

ARTICLES OF FAITH

  1. The Scriptures

We teach the authority and sufficiency of the Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, as originally written: that it was verbally and plenarily inspired and is the product of Spirit-controlled men (1 Corinthians 2:7-14; 2 Peter 1:20-21),  and therefore is infallible and inerrant in all matters of which it speaks. We teach the Bible to be the true center of Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creed, and opinions shall be tried. 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:19-21

  • The Trinity
    • God the Father

We teach God, the Father, is a spirit infinite, eternal and unchangeable in all of His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. He is the Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of the universe. Giver of all life in sovereign authority over all His created beings, the Keeper over the nation of Israel and the Father and Disciplinarian of His chosen in Jesus Christ. Psalm 139:7-10, Isaiah 46:9, Romans 11:33, Malachi 3:6.

God the Son

We teach that Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, possesses all the divine excellencies, and in these He is coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father (John 10:3014:9).

We teach that God the Father created according to His own will, through His Son, Jesus Christ, by whom all things continue in existence and in operation (John 1:3Colossians 1:15-17Hebrews 1:2).

We teach that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary as no other man was ever, nor can be, born of a woman. He is “God manifest in the flesh.” He lived a life of absolute sinlessness and in His death made a full atonement for our sins, dying not as a martyr, but as a voluntary substitute in the sinner’s place. He rose bodily from the dead on the third day and ascended into heaven where He now sits at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest, interceding and preparing a place for us. He shall appear in the air to rapture His saints, and after seven years, shall come again with the saints to establish His millennial kingdom. Matthew 1:18-25;

God the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person possessing all the attributes of personality and of deity. He is equal with the Father and the Son and is of the same nature. His relation to the unbelieving world is that He convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment. He is the agent of the new birth, and his work among believers includes His sealing and indwelling, filling, guiding, and teaching them the ways of righteousness. We believe there is a distinction between the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and His ministry in the New Testament. There is a new and unique work of the Holy Spirit in relation to the Body of Christ beginning at Pentecost. We believe that the Holy Spirit gives and empowers believers with spiritual gifts. We believe the Bible disavows 1) the authenticity of the sign gifts such as prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles and healing for today, 2) the experience-oriented theology and the ecumenically-oriented practice of the charismatic movement. John 7:39, John 14:16, Acts 1:5; Romans 12:3-8.

We believe there is one, and only one, true and living God, that there is indivisible unity in the Godhead, yet existing in three separate persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – equal in every divine perfection, of the same essence but executing distinct, but harmonious, offices in the great work of both creation and redemption. Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19, John 6:27, 1 Corinthians 1:9-17,  Ephesians 4:6.

  • Salvation
    1. Faith and Salvation

We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition for salvation.

  1. The Atonement for Sin

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace, through the mediatorial work of the Son of God, Who by appointment of the Father, freely took upon Him a human nature, yet without sin (or even the possibility of sin). He alone honored the divine law by His personal obedience and by the shedding of His blood, made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins. Ephesians 2:8-9, John 3:16.

  1. Grace in the New Creation

We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous, and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift from God. The new creation is brought about in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the Gospel, that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruit of repentance and faith and the newness of life. John 3:3, Romans 6:23, 2 Corinthians 5:17.

  1. Justification

We believe that the great gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as believe in Him is justification, that justification includes the pardon of sin, and the gift of eternal life on principles of righteousness which we have not done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s blood. His righteousness is imputed to us. Acts 13:39, Romans 5:1, 9; 8:1, Titus 3:5

The Security of the Saints

We believe that all who are truly born again are kept by God the Father for Jesus Christ for all eternity. John 10:28-29, Romans 8:35-39, Philippians 1:6.

Creation

We believe the Biblical account of the creation of the physical universe, angels, and man; that this account is neither allegory nor myth, but a literal historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process; that man was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life, and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race. Genesis 1:1-2:25, John 1:3, Colossians 1:16-17.

The Fall of Man

We believe the Scriptures teach that man, by voluntary transgression, fell from his sinless state. All men are sinners by nature and by choice, utterly devoid of the holiness, required by God’s law, positively inclined to evil, and therefore under just condemnation to eternal judgment and everlasting existence separated from God without defense or excuse. Genesis 3:16, Romans 3:10-19; 5:12.

Sanctification

We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer unto God accomplished in a threefold manner; first, an eternal act of God, based upon redemption in Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts the Savior; second, a continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to the life; third, the final accomplishment of this process at the Lord’s return. John 17:17; 1 Corinthians 1:30, Ephesians 5:25-27.

  • The Local Church

We believe that a local church is an organized congregation of immersed believers, associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its officers are pastors and deacons whose qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in Scriptures. We believe the true mission of the church is faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self government free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only Superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is Scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the gospel; that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its operation; that on all matters of membership, of polity, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final. 1 Corinthians 11:2, 1 Timothy 1:1-13, Acts 2:41-41.

We believe in the unity of all believers in the Church which is the Body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Ephesians 1:22-23; 3:16

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

We believe that Christian baptism is the one time immersion of a believer in water to show forth in solemn and beautiful emblem of our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life, that baptism, is to be performed under the authority of the local church. That it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death until he comes, and should be preceded always by solemn self-examination. Acts 8:36-39, John 3:23, Romans 6:3-5, Matthew 3:16, Acts 2:41-42

The Righteous and the Wicked

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked, that such only as through faith are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and sanctified by the Spirit of our God are truly righteous in His esteem. While all such as continue in unrepentance and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse. This distinction holds among men both in and over death, in the everlasting happiness of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost. Genesis 18:23, Malachi 3:18, Romans 6:17-18, 1 John 5:19.

  1. Civil Government

We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interests of good order of human society. That civil officials are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored, obeyed, except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience, and the coming King of Kings. Romans 13:1-7, 2 Samuel 23:3, Matthew 22:21, Acts 5:29, Acts 4:19-20.

  • Resurrection and the Priesthood of Christ

We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ and in His ascension into Heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest interceding for us. Matthew 28:6-7, Luke 24:39, 1 Corinthians 15:4.

  • Rapture and Subsequent Events

We believe in the pretribulational, premillenial return of Christ, an event which can occur at any moment, and that at that moment the dead in Christ shall be given glorified bodies, and the living in Christ shall be given glorified bodies without tasting death, and shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air before the seven year tribulation. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 54-54, Philippians 3:20-21, Revelation 20:1-4, 6.

We believe that the tribulation, which follows the rapture of the Church, will be culminated by the Second Coming of Christ in power and great glory to sit upon the throne of David and to establish the millennial kingdom. Daniel 9:25-27, Matthew 24:29-31, Luke 1:30-33, Revelation 20:1-4, 6.

  • Israel

We believe in the sovereign selection of Israel as God’s eternal covenant people, that she is now dispersed because of her disobedience and rejection of Christ; and that she will be regathered in the Holy Land and, after the completion of the Church age, will be saved as a nation at the second advent of Christ. Genesis 13:14-17, Romans 11:1-32, Ezekiel 37:1-28.

  1. The Place of Men and Women Section 1. Marriage
    1. Marriage is established by God. Genesis 2:21-24, Matthew 19:5-6
    2. Marriage is a picture of Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:22-33, Revelation 19:7-9
    3. Marriage is a pure relationship. Hebrews 13:4, 1 Corinthians 7:2-3
    4. Marriage is permanent unto death. Mark 10:8-9
    5. Although examples of divorce are found in Scripture, it is not God’s purpose, but rather His provision of the hardness of man’s heart. Matthew 19:7-9, 1 Corinthians 7:10-15

Section 2. Family

  1. The family based upon God’s plan. Genesis 2:20-24, 1:27-28
  2. The structure of authority within the family is established. Ephesians 5:22-6:4, Colossians 3:18-21, 1 Corinthians 11:3, Exodus 20:12
  3. When God gives children to a family, they are a blessing from the Lord. Psalm 127:3-5

Section 3. Male/Female Relationships Contrary to God’s Word

  1. Homosexuality, lesbianism, and other contra-Biblical relationships cannot be accepted as alternative lifestyles. Romans 1:18-32, Leviticus 18:21-30, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
  2. Adultery, fornication, incest, pornography, and other sexual sins are detested and condemned by the Lord. Romans 1:24-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 15, 19-20, Matthew 5:27-28, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8