What do we believe?

We embrace…

The Southern Baptist Convention Baptist Faith & Message 2000.

We believe…

The Scriptures: 

The Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, are the fully inspired, inerrant, and trustworthy Word of God.  They are the supreme and final authority for all matters of Christian life and belief.

The Trinity:

There is one true and living God, who eternally exists in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who are equal in every divine perfection and who execute distinct but harmonious offices in all the work of the Godhead.

Humanity:

Man was created by God in His own image from the dust of the ground and that God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and that man became a living being.  By his free choice, man sinned against God; the curse of physical and spiritual death was spread to the human race. As a result, all people are separated from God by their sin and are lost and without hope apart from salvation in Christ.

The Gospel: 

The Gospel is the good news of God’s saving actions towards sinners through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the eternal son of God, took on human nature, lived a sinless life, and died a substitutionary death for sinners.  His substitutionary death and resurrection provide the absolute and only bedrock for justification, forgiveness, and salvation for all who believe.

Salvation: 

Salvation is a free gift that comes only by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ alone, not by works, lest anyone should boast. Anyone who turns from their sin and trusts in Jesus Christ and His death on their behalf receives forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life.  They are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit and are, therefore, eternally secure in Christ Jesus.

The Work of the Spirit: 

The Holy Spirit works progressively to transform genuine believers more and more into the image of Christ. His work is carried on in our hearts through such appointed means as the study of Scripture, prayer, worship, and fellowship with other believers. The Holy Spirit also empowers believers for Christian witness and service and gives gifts for the building up of the body of Christ, the church.

The Church: 

The universal church, composed of genuine followers of Christ, exists to worship, serve, and glorify God.  All members of the universal church are to be vitally committed members of a local church, where they observe the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, receive pastoral care, and have the opportunity to employ their God-given gifts in His service.

The Ordinances: 

The two ordinances contain no Divine power in either the water or the elements.  Baptism is a public identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ through prior repentance and faith.  The Lord’s Supper both remembers and celebrates the death and victorious resurrection of Christ.

The Second Coming: 

Jesus Christ will return to the earth, personally and visibly, to establish His kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost—the saved to endless joy, living and reigning with Christ, and the lost to endless punishment under the wrath of God.