Our Beliefs

There is only one God who eternally exists in three distinct equally divine persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; each person has a unique and harmonious role in creation, providence and redemption (every work of God is done by the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit). This one true and living God is a spirit who is infinite, unchangeable, omnipresent, all powerful, all knowing, holy, just, merciful, gracious and good. 

1 Corinthians 8:6, Matthew 28:19, John 4:24, Job 23:13, Psalm 99:9, Deuteronomy 32:4, Exodus 34:6, Psalm 73:1

God, the Father, is the author of every event that occurs in both time and eternity. He is in heaven and does whatever He pleases. No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are exposed to His eyes and we must give an account to Him. All things are from Him, and we exist for Him. His glory fills the whole earth and He is worthy of our praise.

Psalm 115:3, Hebrews 4:13, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Isaiah 6:3

God, the Son, is eternally begotten from the Father, the image of the invisible God, the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His nature. All things have been created by the Son, through Him, and for Him. The Father sent His eternal Son, Jesus, into the world as God incarnate, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin woman, tested in every way as we are, yet without sin perfectly fulfilling the requirements of the Law as the promised Messiah. Jesus became man, and so was and continues to be God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever. He was obedient to the point of death even death on a cross. He rose bodily from the dead after three days in the grave as the Savior of all those who believe. After making propitiation for sins, He ascended to heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father. Jesus is the one mediator between God and humanity so that through Him we have access by one Spirit to the Father. He has been appointed by the Father as Judge of the living and the dead. 

Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:16, John 3:17, Matthew 1:20, Luke 1:27, Hebrews 4:15, Romans 8:4, Philippians 2:8-11, Hebrews 1:3, 1 Timothy 2:5, Ephesians 2:18, Acts 10:42

God, the Holy Spirit, eternally proceeds from and was sent by the Father and the Son. He is the Spirit of truth who glorifies and testifies about Jesus Christ. He convicts the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment to regenerate, sanctify and empower all who trust in Jesus. All believers receive the gift of the Holy Spirit so that the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, intercedes for us, guides us into all the truth, gives us power to speak God's message with boldness, and provides us assurance that we are united with Jesus. 

John 15:26, John 14:17, John 16:14, John 15:26, John 16:8, Titus 3:5, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Corinthians 12:11, Acts 2:38, Romans 8:11, Romans 8:26, John 16:13, Acts 4:31

All Scripture, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, was breathed out by God and written down by men as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Every word of Scripture is pure, free from error in the original manuscripts, complete and sufficient in its revelation, and reveals to us the principles by which God will judge us. The Scriptures testify about how God has revealed Himself in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, and express the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory and man’s salvation. They will remain forever the supreme standard and final authority by which all matters of life and doctrine must be tested. 

2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21, Proverbs 30:5, John 5:39, Isaiah 40

God created us in His own image and gave us all an inherent value that we might glorify Him. God created us equally, male and female, and crowned us with glory and honor. From the one man, Adam, God made every nationality to live over the whole earth, but through Adam's one transgression there is condemnation of physical, spiritual and eternal death for all. As a result, when people are born they inherit Adam's guilt, are corrupted in every aspect of their being, are alienated from and hostile to God, and unable to submit to His righteous law. We are guilty before God by nature and choice, and apart from His gracious intervention to rescue and restore us, stand under His wrath and curse.  

Genesis 1:27, Genesis 1:27, Psalm 8:5, Acts 17:26, Romans 5:18, Colossians 1:21, Romans 8:7

We are saved from the wrath and curse of God as well as from the power, punishment, and (in the age to come) the presence of sin; we are saved for eternal blessedness in the presence of God in the eternal age, all through the grace of the Lord Jesus. When Christ died on the cross, He became our perfect sacrificial substitute and the propitiation for our sins. Salvation is only found in Christ, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. This salvation is a free gift and makes a clear distinction between the righteous and the wicked.  

Acts 16:11, 1 John 2:2, Acts 4:12, Romans 6:23

In God’s eternal purpose, He chose a people for His own possession before the foundation of the world. He predestined them not based on any good deeds they would do, rather He adopted them through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will. God’s electing grace does not diminish humanity’s volition, accountability before Him, or personal responsibility to believe in Christ. Instead, God's grace extinguishes boasting, grants assurance, cultivates humility, promotes love, encourages prayer, and fuels evangelism.  

Titus 2:14, Ephesians 1:4, Ephesians 1:5, Romans 3:27

In order to be saved, we must be regenerated. Regeneration is the new birth promised by the New Covenant where the Holy Spirit removes our rebellious heart of stone, gives us an obedient heart of flesh, and places Himself within us. Working in accordance with the voluntary obedience of our regenerated heart, God causes us to increasingly follow His commands and to carefully obey His ordinances. Regeneration happens not by the will of the flesh, or by the will of man, but by the will of God. 

Ezekiel 36:26-27, Ezekiel 36:27, John 1:13

In order to demonstrate His righteousness, God presented Jesus Christ as a propitiation for sins. We are declared righteous by Him not because of the works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration. We are justified freely by His grace because God made Jesus Christ, who did not know sin, to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

Romans 3:25, Titus 3:5, Romans 3:24, 2 Corinthians 5:21

God commands all people everywhere to repent of their sins. Repentance and faith are the inseparable acts of turning away from sin and turning to God through Christ alone for salvation. It is God's kindness that leads us to a deep conviction of our guilt, helplessness, and need for salvation. By faith we turn to God with sincere remorse, confession of our sins, and good works worthy of repentance. For we were created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand. 

Acts 17:30, Romans 2:4, Acts 26:20, Ephesians 2:10

God frees believers from slavery of sin and conforms them to the image of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is God’s will that we should be sanctified progressively and in the fear of God. We are sanctified by God's Word and the Sacraments because as we behold the glory of The Lord in the Word and Sacraments we will be transformed into Christ's image from one degree of glory to another. Sanctification begins in regeneration and continues by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit until we die or when Christ returns.

Romans 6:6, Romans 8:29, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 2 Corinthians 7:1, John 17:17, John 6:56, 2 Corinthians 3:1

All those who are truly born again will be kept by God and will inherit the promises of salvation through continued faith and perseverance. If we continue to obey Christ's words, we prove that we really are His disciples by our love and growth in the fruit of the Spirit. Some will leave our faith, but those who do leave never belonged to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. Therefore, only those who endure to the end will be saved. We trust in God because no one is able to snatch us out of the Father’s hand. 

Jude 1:1, Hebrews 6:12, John 8:31, 1 John 2:18, Matthew 24:13, John 10:29

The universal church is the communion of God’s people united by faith from every tribe, language, and nation throughout all the ages as the dwelling place of God’s spirit and continuing witness to God in the world. The local church is the assembly of God’s people who correctly preach God’s Word and faithfully administer the Sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Elders are men elected to oversee the church as pastors, deacons are given to serve the church, and all the members of the congregation must defend sound doctrine and execute discipline when needed. The members of the church are to glorify Christ by making disciples of all nations and living out their calling in the world. 

Revelation 5:9, Matthew 28:18-19

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordained by the Lord Jesus Himself. Baptism in water, by immersion is to be done into the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. It symbolizes and seals our death to sin and resurrection to a new life. It is performed once, upon one’s profession of faith, and is the foundation of church membership. The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration and an active gift of the grace of Christ’s love for us by His death through the sacred use of bread and the fruit of the vine. This practice of remembrance is for baptized believers who are members in good standing with their local church.  

Matthew 28:19, Romans 6:4, Matthew 26:26, 29, Luke 22:19

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. Marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman for a lifetime. This covenant begins when a man leaves his father and his mother, holds fast to his wife, and they become one flesh. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. Marriage must be respected by all and kept pure as the only context for sexual relations. Men and women are of equal worth and were made by God to complement each other and model the way God relates to His people. The husband is to gently lead and sacrificially love his wife as Christ loved the church and the wife is to graciously submit herself to her husband as the church willingly submits to Christ. Children, from the moment of conception, are human persons made in the image of God and are a blessing and inheritance from the Lord. Parents are to patiently lead their children in the ways of Christ through intentional instruction, gracious discipline, and a consistent example. Children are to honor and obey their parents in the Lord. 

Malachi 2:14, Genesis 2:24, Ephesians 5:32, Hebrews 13:4, Ephesians 5:22-25, Psalm 127:3, Ephesians 6:1

God divinely appoints civil governments for the interests and good order of society. Government officials are to be prayed for, rightfully honored and obeyed except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Ruler over the kings of the earth.

Romans 13:1, 4, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Romans 13:5-7, Acts 5:29, Revelation 1:5

Christ will personally and visibly return by descending from heaven and raising the bodies of the dead from the grave. At that time, there will be a final judgment during which the wicked will be declared guilty and sentenced to endless conscious punishment in hell, and the righteous in Christ rewarded with endless conscious joy in the new heavens and new earth. This judgment will fix forever the final state of people in heaven or hell based upon God’s perfect justice. Those belonging to Jesus will have eternal life and live sinlessly in everlasting joy to the glory of God. 

1 Thessalonians 4:16, Revelation 21:1