One of the foundational truths from this church’s past (and all Restoration Movement churches) that we believe is very relevant in today’s religiously-broad world is this: “We are not the only Christians; we are Christians only.” This means that we must approach the different faith backgrounds of other believers with humility; recognizing that we have had different influences that have shaped our beliefs. The people who worship here come from all walks of life and religious backgrounds. Although our beliefs may be different, they SHOULD NOT make us divisive. We value the faith experiences of each person here and we are committed to the unity of all believers. Regardless of our faith background, we share one name: Christian! And that is something we believe should be celebrated! We all can unite under the same banner, the same umbrella, which is Jesus. “We are not the only Christians; we are Christians only.”
Also, we should never think we have all the answers… nobody does! What we must use as our only guide is Scripture. That’s why we preach Jesus and Jesus only. All of our teachings and beliefs can be backed with Scripture. It is the job of every believer to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:14-15). This is something we do passionately and unashamedly.
The Bible
The Bible is the inspired Word of God, the written record of His supernatural revelation of Himself to man, absolute in its authority, complete in its revelation, final in its content and without any error in its teaching and is “living and active” ever speaking to our present circumstances.
Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Psalm 119:105; Psalm 119:160
GOD
God is the creator and ruler of the universe. He eternally exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and therefore, are one God.
Genesis 1:1, Genesis 1:26-27; Psalm 90:2; John 1:1-3; John 1:14; Acts 5:3-4
Jesus
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, yet He is co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus lived a sinless life and offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on the cross. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to heaven’s glory and one day will return to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
John 1:1-5; Matthew 16:16-17; John 3:16; Acts 1:10-11; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and Jesus as God. He is present in the world to make us aware of our need for Jesus Christ. He lives in every believer from the moment of salvation. He provides Christians with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, guidance to do what is right, and gifts to use in ministry. We seek to live under His direction daily.
John 14:26; John 16:7-14; Ephesians 1:13-14; Acts 1:8; Galatians 5:22-25
Humanity
People are the supreme object of God’s creation, created in His image to have a loving relationship with Him. However, we have all chosen to disobey God, rebel against Him and go our own way. The Bible calls this sin. The result of this sin is that we are alienated from God. The effects of this fall from our intended relationship with God can be reversed through faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.
Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; John 3:16
Salvation
The Bible tells us the wages of our sin is death. We believe that because Jesus was God and never sinned, that His death paid the death penalty we owed. We can never pay for our own sin through self-improvement or good works. Salvation is a free gift given to us by the grace of God. We receive this gift of salvation when we trust Jesus’ death on the cross as the payment for our sins. This trust in Christ entails an acknowledgement to Him as Creator (belief), an acknowledgement that we are sinners (repentance), an acknowledgement that He is Lord (confession), followed by the act of baptism. We believe salvation results in loving God, loving others, and serving Him and them daily.
Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 10:9-10; Titus 3:5-7; Galatians 3:26-27
Baptism
We believe that baptism is by immersion into Jesus Christ. It is our response of faith and obedience when we choose to surrender to Jesus. In the New Testament Church, those who believed were baptized (fully immersed under water) into the name of Jesus.
Acts 2:38-41; Romans 6:3-7; Colossians 2:12; Galatians 3:26-27