Foundational Beliefs

We believe the Holy Scriptures, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, are the inspired and infallible Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21). As our ultimate and eternal authority, the Bible is complete and cannot be altered, added to, or superseded in any way (1 Peter 1:23-25). It serves as the living, sharp, and final source for all doctrine, instruction, and correction, providing everything necessary to guide us in godliness and practical Christian living (Hebrews 4:12).

We believe in the Trinity. Both the Old and New Testaments, along with the historic Christian Church, testify that God is uniquely one yet triune. Scripture reveals that there is only one true God, eternally co-existing in three distinct persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19; John 1:14; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

God the Father is the creator and sustainer of all things, having brought the universe into existence out of love. He created humanity in His own image for deep fellowship, and following the rebellion and fall of man, He graciously calls us back to Himself through Jesus Christ.  (2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2 Peter 1:19-21).

We believe Jesus Christ is eternally God, existing with the Father and Holy Spirit from the beginning as Creator of all things (John 1:1-14; John 10:22-39; John 14:5-14). For human redemption, He left heaven, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and was born of the virgin, Mary (Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:18-24; John 3:16; Galatians 4:1-7). He remains forever one Christ—fully God and fully man in one person, serving as our sole mediator and high priest with all authority in heaven and on earth (Romans 1:1-4; Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Matthew 28:18-20).

We believe in the person, gifts, and movement of the Holy Spirit. As God and the giver of life, the Holy Spirit was active throughout the Old Testament and poured out fully upon the Church at Pentecost (John 14:16-17, 16:7-14; Acts 2:1-18). He empowers believers for ministry and witness, cleanses us from our old nature, and conforms us to Christ's image (Luke 11:13; John 7:37-39). Subsequent to conversion, the baptism in the Holy Spirit releases His fullness, which is visibly evidenced by spiritual fruit and supernatural gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-11).

We believe in the Fall of Man. Human beings, in their natural state, are sinners—lost, undone, and completely without hope apart from God (Romans 3:19-23; Galatians 3:22; Ephesians 2:1,2,12). Although humanity remains God's most precious creation, and He gave His absolute best for every person ever born, each individual must personally choose to receive Him. This truth concerning our fallen state and God's redemption is firmly anchored in the enduring, inspired, and living testimony of the Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2 Peter 1:19-21).

We believe salvation is a free gift of God, based entirely on the merits of His Son’s death and appropriated through faith (Acts 4:12; Romans 5:1-11). This salvation is effected by personal repentance, belief in the Lord Jesus (justification), and receiving Him into one’s life as Lord and Savior (regeneration), granting believers the full privileges of adoption and inheritance in God's kingdom (Romans 4:1-9).  Salvation is an act of free will responding to God’s personal love; it is predestined in the sense that God, through His omniscience, foreknew those who would choose Him (Ephesians 1:3-14). Our salvation stands secure in the eternal, unchanging commitment of a God who cannot lie, and it should naturally produce a lifestyle of loving obedience and active service to Jesus Christ.

We believe Christ’s vicarious death on the cross fully paid the penalty for the sins of the entire world, yet its benefits apply only to those who receive Him as personal Savior through faith (Acts 4:12; Romans 5:1-11). Divine healing—encompassing spirit, soul, and body—along with every spiritual blessing and provision for His saints, are fully secured in the atonement, but these blessings must be personally appropriated (Romans 4:1-9; Ephesians 1:3-14). Furthermore, this true message of redemption remains anchored in the enduring, inspired, and living testimony of the Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12; 10:19-22; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2 Peter 1:19-21)

We believe the Word of God commands the Church to observe two perpetual ordinances established by the Lord Jesus Christ: Water Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Baptism is the outward sign of an inward work already accomplished in the believer's life, serving as a public testimony of their devotion to Jesus. It signifies our identification with Christ and is administered in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).

The Lord’s Supper is a holy commemoration of Christ's sacrificial death, observed in remembrance of Him until He returns, and serves as a sign of our ongoing participation in Him (1 Corinthians 11:24-26). Both ordinances are reserved exclusively for believers.

We believe the baptism in the Holy Spirit, with the primary evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance, is a divine promise for all believers (Acts 2:4, 10:44-47, 19:1-6). Prophesied by John the Baptist, Jesus, and Peter, this gift was actively received by the early disciples and remains operational in many present-day followers of Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:11; Acts 1:4-8; Acts 2:38-41). Furthermore, the proper exercise and order of spiritual gifts within the church body are governed by the clear instructions of Scripture (1 Corinthians 14).

We believe the Scriptures portray the Christian life as a balance between what is imputed to us by grace and what is imparted to us according to our faith and maturity. While God’s provision for His children is total and His promises are eternal, the current shortcomings of individuals and the Church are due to our ongoing sanctification.

The believer's life involves continuous trials, tests, and warfare against a spiritual enemy (2 Corinthians 6:17; Ephesians 5:11). For those who abide in Christ until death or His return, eternal blessing in the presence of God is fully assured based on His righteous judgment (Matthew 7:21, 16:27; Revelation 20:12). Remaining faithful through all circumstances requires absolute dependence upon the Holy Spirit, a commitment to honoring Him in everything, and a daily willingness to die to personal desires (Romans 12:1-3; Galatians 6:14; Colossians 3:17).

We believe the goal of the Church is to fulfill the Great Commission by making disciples of all nations and presenting the saints complete in Christ (Matthew 28:19-20; Colossians 1:28). The Church is governed by the fivefold ministry of Ephesians 4, alongside the biblical offices of elders, deacons, and other leadership roles established in Scripture (Ephesians 4:11-15; 1 Timothy 3:15).

Church government balances congregational input with elder authority, emphasizing the final authority of Church leadership within the unified body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-31; Ephesians 5:22-32). To maintain spiritual health and order, scriptural patterns of discipline are essential, with individual and corporate oversight exercised faithfully by Church leadership (Matthew 16:18; Acts 2:20-28; Acts 10:34-35).

We believe God uses doctors, medicines, and other natural means as channels of healing; however, we also affirm that divine healing is provided for believers through the atonement of Jesus’ blood shed on the cross (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). This divine healing may be received through the laying on of hands by the elders (James 5:14-16), the prayer of an anointed individual gifted by the Holy Spirit to heal the sick (1 Corinthians 12:9), or a direct act of personal faith (Mark 11:23-24).  Furthermore, we acknowledge that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34-35). As the unified body of Christ, the Church operates under His sovereign design, utilizing diverse spiritual gifts under the ultimate authority of Jesus, who is the head over all things (1 Corinthians 12:12-31; Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 4:15, 5:22-32; 1 Timothy 3:15).

We believe in the personal, visible, and bodily second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 1:10-11; Revelation 1:7). His return will bring about the bodily resurrection of the saints, the establishment of His millennial kingdom, and the execution of the final judgment (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:11-15).

This ultimate judgment will permanently determine the eternal destiny of all individuals—both believers and unbelievers—solely based on their personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ (John 5:24-30; Matthew 25:31-46). Following these events, we eagerly anticipate the final, eternal state of the new heavens and the new earth, where righteousness dwells forevermore (Matthew 23:39; Romans 11:15; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; James 5:8; John 14:2-3; Romans 8:34; Jude 5-7; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5).

We believe Scripture clearly details the reality of eternal destiny, affirming a literal Heaven for the saved and a literal hell for the unsaved (John 14:1-3; Luke 16:19-31). This final judgment will usher the righteous into eternal salvation and absolute joy in the presence of God, while the unrighteous will face everlasting punishment and separation from Him (Matthew 25:34, 41, 46; Revelation 20:11-15).

We believe that because God our Creator established marriage as a sacred institution between one man and one woman, the covenant strictly between one man and one woman has been the traditional definition of marriage throughout all of human history (“Traditional Definition of Marriage”) (Genesis 1:26-31; Genesis 2:18-25). Because of the longstanding importance of the Traditional Definition of Marriage to humanity, our relationships, and our communities, and, most importantly, the fact that God has ordained that marriage be exclusively 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.”

The Traditional Definition of Marriage is the only definition of marriage that will be recognized or accepted by this body (Romans 7:1-3; 1 Corinthians 7:39-40). No elder, employee, 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 (1 Corinthians 7:1-7).

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. This explicitly includes, but is 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.