Our Beliefs
With the saints of old we believe that we enter into a relationship with God by His initiative and by his grace and that eternal life comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that every Christian is to live in the community of the Church and that we are to share the good news of the Gospel in word and action. We believe that God's word, the Bible, remains the final authority for all issues of faith, doctrine and life. Our desire is to be clear on cardinal doctrines while allowing diversity of interpretation on secondary issues that have been debated for centuries.
For example, Christians since the first century have believed in Christ's promised return; yet many have disagreed on how his return is related to the events at the end of time. Thus, we confess and teach the personal return of Christ but do not dogmatize on the order of end time events.
We maintain our focus on the central issues of our faith - our relationship with the triune God through Jesus Christ, and desire to avoid being sidetracked by doctrinal debates over secondary issues. In humility we recognize that we "see through a glass darkly" and do not fully understand God and His sovereign ways.
One place where the central truths of the Christian faith are well expressed is the Nicene Creed. This is a creed from 381 A.D., also known as the Constantinopolitan Creed or The Creed of 150 Fathers.
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, the Father,
the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father,
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
In addition to the Nicene Creed, we recognize and adopt the Statement of Faith from the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) which represents the contemporary perspective from which our ministry is conducted; with a strong confidence in the inspired and infallible word of God, and a dependence upon the empowering work of the Spirit.
1. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
2. We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3. We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
4. We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
5. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
6. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
7. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.