We utilize two documents to explain what we believe. The first is our Statement of Faith, which outlines the primary Biblical doctrines that we affirm and positions we teach from. The second is our Church Covenant, which explains what each member commits to when becoming a member.
Statement of Faith
We affirm one God who exists in His threefold nature as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
We affirm the Father Almighty, the Maker, Preserver and Ruler of all things, having in and of Himself all perfections, and being infinite in them all.
We affirm our Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, Who is one in substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; Who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin; Who lived a perfect life; Who was crucified, died for our sins, and was buried; Who was raised bodily on the third day according to the Scriptures; Who ascended into heaven; Who sits at the Father's right hand making intercession for us, having received all authority and is Lord of all; Who will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; and Whose kingdom will never end.
We affirm God the Holy Spirit, Who is equal with the Father and the Son; Who imparts new life and new nature to every true believer; Who is the teacher and comforter, indweller and uniter of God's people, author and interpreter of the Holy Scriptures, revealer of our Lord, and giver of all the things of God. He bestows spiritual gifts upon believers for ministry and service with the purpose of building up the Church under Christ as head.
We affirm that man was originally created in God's image, and free from sin, but disobeyed God and fell from his original state of righteousness and was separated from God. Consequently, all persons sin and come short of God's glory. The only way to a restored personal relationship with God is through the Lord Jesus Christ.
We affirm that we are saved by grace through faith and this not from ourselves, it is the gift of God. Those whom God has accepted in Jesus Christ, and sealed by His Holy Spirit, are kept by the power of God to everlasting life and shall never perish. The quality of this new life is evident and observable in the true believer.
We affirm one universal church, which is the Body of Christ, and the uniting of all people who have been chosen, called, and justified by God.
We affirm the Bible to be the fully inspired and totally reliable Word of God.
We affirm that the will of God is included in these two commandments: “The foremost is, 'And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31
Church Covenant
The Bible is our book of the covenant. These covenant statements are chiefly valuable as giving clarity and cohesion to those of us who already believe what the covenant seeks to state, because we have first accepted the Scriptures upon which the covenant is based.
Having been led by the Spirit of God to receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and on the profession of our faith having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now before God most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as a part of the Body of Christ.
We commit ourselves to seek to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to forsake sin, to regularly and cheerfully give of ourselves and God's spiritual and material gifts to us for the building up of the Body.
We acknowledge the scriptural admonition to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We seek to give Christ his rightful place as Sovereign Lord of our lives and to be Christ-like in all of our relationships; to be just, truthful and honest in all our dealings, faithful in our responsibilities, and exemplary in our conduct; to consider our bodies to be residences of the Holy Spirit and to care for them accordingly.
We agree to watch over one another in brotherly love, to pray for each other, to aid each other in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; to avoid all speech that does not build up and minister grace to the hearer and to avoid anger, to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the instructions of our Lord to secure it without delay; to lovingly lead all those committed to our care and to lovingly submit to all God appoints over us.
We recognize that personal involvement requires personal presence and we further recognize that systematic Bible study, small group fellowship and worship are vital to Christian growth. We therefore pledge to conscientiously and regularly participate in these expressions of our life together.
We know that faithfulness to the covenant cannot be achieved apart from the power of the Holy Spirit in His ministry of establishing Jesus Christ as Sovereign Lord in our lives and in the life of the Body.
We commit ourselves to the doctrinal statement of the church, relying in the Word of God as the final authority for faith and practice.
We pledge that when we move from this place, we will as soon as possible unite with some other fellowship of believers where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God's Word.
We affirm that there exists the possibility of faithfulness or unfaithfulness to covenant provisions. This applies in relationship to God and to others. Thus, we agree that it may be necessary on occasion to review this covenant with the pastoral leadership, with the view toward renewal of the covenant.