I'm New

The Holy Scriptures consisting of 66 books are the inspired Word of God, authoritative, and without error in the original manuscripts. We believe that these writings have been accurately preserved throughout the centuries (Matthew 5:18). The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments were produced under the control of the Holy Spirit and are designed for our practical instruction in faith and conduct and is the final authority in matters of doctrine and practice (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:21).

There is only one living and true God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; 1 Corinthians 8:4), an infinite, all-knowing Spirit (John 4:24), perfect in all His attributes, one in essence, eternally existing in three persons Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14) and is absolutely sovereign in all things (Psalm 103:19; Romans 11:36).

• The Lord Jesus Christ is absolute Deity, the eternal Son of God who came into the world that He might manifest God to men, fulfill prophecy, and become the Redeemer of a lost world. To this end, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, received a human body and a sinless human nature without ceasing to be God (Luke 1:30-35; John 1:1, 14, 18; Hebrews 4:15; Philippians 2:5-11, Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18 -25).
• In infinite love for the lost, He voluntarily accepted His Father’s will and became the divinely provided sacrificial Lamb and took away the sins of the world, the just dying for the unjust making it possible for man to be saved (Isaiah 53:1-12;Romans 3:25-31; II Corinthians 5:14; Hebrews 10:5-14; 1 Peter 3:18).
• He arose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He had lived and died and that His resurrected body is the pattern of that body which ultimately will be given to all believers (John 20:20; Philippians 3:20-21).
• On departing from the earth, He was accepted by His Father and that His acceptance is a final assurance to us that His redeeming work was perfectly accomplished (Hebrews 1:3).
• He became Head over all things to the church, which is His body, and in this ministry He does not cease to intercede and to be an advocate for the saved (Ephesians 1:22-23; I Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25; I John 2:1-2).

• The Holy Spirit is Deity, the third person of the Godhead. He is coequal and coexistent with the Father and the Son. He is come into the world to convict and convince the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement, and show them their need for salvation. Upon faith in the finished work of Christ he gives Eternal Life to the unsaved. He indwells, teaches, comforts, convicts, guides and empowers believers so that Jesus Christ will be praised, honored and glorified (Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3-4 I John 5:7; John 14:26, 16:8; Titus 3:5; Romans 8:11; I Corinthians 2:13; Galatians 5:16-25).
• The Holy Spirit  dwells in every believer immediately at the time he/she places his/her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and God provides, through the Holy Spirit, power to live the Christian life (Romans 5:5; 8:9-11; Galatians 5:16-25).
• Every believer receives one or more spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit the moment he/she is regenerated, which enables him/her to function as a member of the body of Christ. These spiritual gifts are for the purpose of edifying and perfecting the believers in the church (Romans 12:3-8; I Corinthians 12:7-11; Ephesians 4:7-16).
• The miraculous and sign spiritual gifts were given for the unique purpose of authenticating new revelation to the first-century Church and have since ceased with the completion of Scripture (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:11, 13:8-10, 14:22; Hebrews 2:3-4).

Satan, the devil, the prince of demons and the ruler-god of this age, does exist and has the attribute of personality. He seeks to overthrow the one true and living God. He is the great deceiver of nations and men, saved and unsaved alike. He was created by God as the greatest of heavenly beings, but later rebelled against God. After he fell, he organized his own kingdom which consists of both evil angels (demons) and unregenerate men.  However, when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, He limited the power of the devil and guaranteed the ultimate triumph of God. Both Satan and his evil angels will be consigned to the eternal lake of fire after the Millennium (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:1-19; Matthew 25:41; John 8:44; Revelation 20:7-10; Ephesians 2:2; I Peter 5:8).

We believe that there is an innumerable host of angels who remained faithful and true to God. They are ministering spirits to those who are heirs of salvation and servants to the Most High God (Psalm 91:11-12; Hebrews 1:14; Revelation 7:11).

God created man directly and instantaneously from the dust of the ground in accord with the literal Genesis account. He created man in His own image and likeness in a state of innocence but through temptation man willfully transgressed. Therefore, the image and likeness of God, in which man was initially created, was marred. The fall resulted in separation from God and both physical and spiritual death for man.

All mankind is born dead in trespasses and sins under condemnation having inherited a corrupt nature. In this fallen condition, man was left totally depraved and unable to remedy his own situation (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:16-17, 3:6-13; Psalm 53:3; Romans 3:10-12, 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22; Ephesians 2:1).

Sin is anything that does not conform to the character or command of God (1 John 3:4).

We believe that all of mankind sinned in Adam, the head of the human race, and that every human being has a sin nature. As a result of this sin nature, men commit personal sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 5: 12; 1 John 1:8-10).

• No one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again spiritually, and the new birth of the believer comes only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Our redemption has been accomplished by the death (shed blood), burial, and bodily resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and this redemption is by the grace of God, an unmerited gift, given in love by God and not the result of any human works (John 3:7-18; Romans 4:4-5; I Corinthians 15:1-4; Ephesians 2:8-9II Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13).
• Salvation involves three aspects for the believer: deliverance from the penalty of sin (justification) at the moment of regeneration; victory over the power of sin (sanctification) during the Christian life, as he yields to the indwelling Holy Spirit; and deliverance from the presence of sin (glorification) at Christ’s second coming (John 17:17; Romans 3:24; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2).
• Upon receiving the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, the believer passes immediately out of spiritual death into spiritual life and into fellowship with God. (John 1:12, 5:24)
• Once this salvation is accomplished, we and all true believers everywhere shall be kept saved forever. (John 10:28-29; Romans 3:24, 8:35-39; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:5, 8-9; II Timothy 2:11-13)
• Repentance – True repentance is turning from any confidence in the works of the flesh and recognizing man’s total depravity and inability to do anything about his condition other than to turn from his own dead works to faith in the finished living work of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21; Hebrews 6:1; Philippians 3:7-9).

We believe that the true Church is a universal, invisible, living organism and that it is the “Body of Christ”; that Jesus is the Head of this Body. The universal Church is made up of those who have been saved through faith in Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:23).

We believe that the Church began on the day of Pentecost; that every believer is indwelt/baptized by the Holy Spirit into the one Body of Christ and that the Body of Christ is the universal Church (Acts 1:4-5; 2:1-4; 1 Corinthians 12:13).

We believe that the Scriptures teach that there are to be local churches. These churches are to be the visible representation of the Body of Christ in the local community, observing the ordinances of Christ and teaching the Word of God (Matthew 28: 19-20; Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 11 :23-28).

We believe that the local church should be totally committed to the edifying (developing to maturity) of the believers and also should have an active outreach in local evangelism and world missions (2 Corinthians 14; Ephesians 4:11-16).

We believe in the blessed hope, the personal, imminent return of Christ who will rapture His church prior to the seventieth week of Daniel also known as the seven year tribulation period. We also believe in the literal, bodily, pre-millennial return of Christ at the end of this worst time in all of history referred to as the great tribulation. Christ will personally and visibly return with His saints, to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom which was promised to the nation of Israel (I Thessalonians 1:10, 4:13-18; Zechariah 14:4-11; Revelation 3:10, 19:11-16, 20:1-6).

At death, the spirits and souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation pass immediately into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the glorified body when Christ comes for his own, whereupon soul and body reunited shall be associated with Him forever in glory. All those who rejected Jesus Christ will eternally be separated from God to endure His eternal wrath forever (II Corinthians 5:8; Revelation 20:11-15, 21:1-27; Matthew 25:31-46).

God appoints leaders (Elders and Deacons) to guide His church in the understanding and application of Holy Scripture. It is their responsibility to be examples of godliness as they see to the spiritual well-being and protection of the flock over which God has given them charge. They are also to have oversight  in all matters pertaining to the church (Acts 6:1-8, 20:28; Hebrews 13:17; I Peter 5:1-3; I Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9).

The Lord Jesus Christ instituted the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper to be observed by all believers until His return (Matthew 28:19; Luke 22:19-20; Acts 10:47-48).

• Baptism – The ordinance of baptism, which is total immersion of the believer in water, is not essential to salvation, does not wash away sin, and does not impart the Holy Spirit to the believer. It is however, an act of willful obedience, which declares publicly that the believer has been baptized spiritually into Christ by the Holy Spirit and is totally identified in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. An outward picture of an inward change, it states that the believer now walks in newness of life (Acts 8:35-35-38; I Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27; Romans 6:4).
• Lord’s Supper – The Lord’s Supper is a privilege afforded to all believers in commemoration of our Lord’s death until He comes. It depicts physically that the believer has spiritually partaken of the Lord’s body and blood for the forgiveness of sin and renewal of life. Done in remembrance of His death, it reminds the believer of his/her total dependence upon the Savior’s sacrificial death for the atonement of sin and His eternal life for their own (I Corinthians 11:23-28; John 6:53-57; Hebrews 10:5-18).

We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance; therefore, we do not condone any expression of identity that is contrary to one’s birth gender (Genesis 2:24, 19:5, 13, 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; I Corinthians 5:1, 6:9; I Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4).

We believe that the only legitimate marriage before God is the joining of one man and one woman; therefore, we will not participate in, sanction, or allow in our facilities any marital ceremony or function that does not align with this Biblical definition. We also believe that God commands that believers not marry unbelievers (Genesis 2:24; Romans 7:2; I Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 5:22-23; II Corinthians 6:14).

We believe that the Genesis account of creation is to be accepted literally and not allegorically or figuratively (Genesis 1); that the creation was accomplished in six (6), twenty-four (24) hour days (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31; 2:2; Exodus 20:11); that man was created directly in God’s own image and after His own likeness (Genesis 1:26, 27); that man’s creation was not a matter of evolution or evolutionary change of species or development through interminable periods of time from lower to higher forms; that all animal and vegetable life were made directly by God, and God’s established law was that they should bring forth only “after their kind.” We deny any form of atheistic or theistic evolution (Romans 1:19, 20).