What We Believe

We believe in one God who exists as three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (The Trinity). God is

creator and sustainer of all things. The nature of God’s character is expressed as holy and loving. God is

merciful, yet is just and without fault.

We believe that Jesus Christ is God’s incarnate Son, born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a fully human life

without sin. As our mediator and high priest, He took upon Himself the sins of humanity in His sacrificial

death upon the cross. His death provides atonement for sin. He rose bodily from the grave, triumphing

over death, and ascended to the Father, where He lives to intercede for us.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, who came at Pentecost and is present and active in the world. The Holy

Spirit is present and involved in the believer’s life, convicting them of sin, teaching and empowering

believers to be the hands and feet of Christ in the church and in the world. We believe the Holy Spirit

equips believers with spiritual gifts to glorify God by empowering the church to seek justice, love mercy,

and walk humbly with God.

We believe in the divine inspiration of Scripture, which is the written Word of God, without error in its

original language in all it affirms, and is the only infallible rule of faith and practice.

We believe that God calls all believers to grow in grace towards holiness (sanctification). This process

begins when people put their trust in Christ (justification) and continues as the believer surrenders more

and more fully to the will of God. The Holy Spirit, through the work of sanctifying grace, equips the

believer to obey the two great commandments: loving God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength,

and loving their neighbors as themselves. To live in obedience to these commandments is to be entirely

sanctified (perfection), possible for Christians to achieve in this life through grace.

We believe that all people are of sacred worth, made in the image of God (The Imago Dei). In Christ’s

family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew (race), slave and free (economic status), male and

female. We are all equal (Galatians 3:28). We are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ.

However, this masterpiece of God’s creation and image has been marred in us through the influence of

sin. Sin has touched every aspect of human existence, resulting in alienation from God and fellow

human beings. Through prevenient grace, God has established in people a moral conscience, and

enables all people to respond to His love and be justified through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ,

thereby restoring our relationship with God and others.

We believe the church is the body of Christ, composed of all who confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord

and live in obedience to His commands. We believe that Jesus will return bodily on the last day to judge

the living and the dead. At his return, all who have died shall be raised, and those who receive eternal

life will be separated from those who do not. The return of Jesus will be deliverance for those who

belong to him, the final triumph over sin and evil, and the establishment of God’s kingdom.