Beliefs & Governing Policies

ESSENTIAL CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES

We believe that essential Christian doctrines are more than a set of propositions to which we give mental assent. Paul instructed Timothy to "Watch your life and doctrine closely." Essential Christian doctrines are truths from Scripture that are meant to create the life of Jesus Christ inside each person in the way we think, believe and live. These essential Christian doctrines are rooted in the EFCA (Evangelical Free Church of America) statement of faith.

| GOD

We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.

| THE BIBLE

We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally and plenary inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.

| THE HUMAN CONDITION

We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed. We believe that all men are sinners by nature and by choice and are, therefore, under condemnation. We believe that through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, men repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior.

| JESUS CHRIST

We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus -- the promised Messiah -- was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

| THE WORK OF CHRIST

We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins, giving us complete assurance of salvation from sin and death. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only grounds for salvation.

| THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs into the family of God. He also illuminates, indwells, guides, equips, encourages and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service. As God's children sealed by the Holy Spirit of God each believer is eternally secure in Jesus Christ.

| THE CHURCH

We believe that the true Church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true Church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed of believers only. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the Church in genuine faith, these ordinances strengthen the believers as we cherish and celebrate the sacrifice and salvation offered through Jesus Christ.

| CHRISTIAN LIVING

We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to resist the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.

| CHRIST’S RETURN

We believe in the personal and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.

| RESPONSE & ETERNAL DESTINY

We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving by faith the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in "the new heaven and the new earth" (Rev.20:1) to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.