STATEMENT OF FAITH
One True God
We believe there is only one true God that is eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is the Creator of heaven and earth. He has always existed without any outside cause or agent bringing Him into being “I AM.” He reveals Himself through embodying both relationship and association. He is a triune God. In the unity of the Godhead there are three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection, attribute, power and glory. (Deuteronomy 6:4, Mark 12:29, Isaiah 43:10, Isaiah 11, Matthew 28:19).
The Inspiration of Scriptures
We believe the scriptures to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God, in which the Holy Spirit inspired the human authors of the Holy Scripture so that the Bible is “God- breathed.” The scriptures are God revealing Himself to mankind and are never wrong when correctly interpreted, and are our guide for faith, belief, and the way we live our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ. The Bible is the inspired Word of God, a revelation from God to man, the infallible rule of faith and conduct, and is superior to conscience and reason, but not contrary to reason. (2 Timothy 3:15, 2 Timothy 3:16, 1 Peter 2:2)
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The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God who has always existed. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, as fully God and fully man in one person, He is humanity as God intended us to be. Jesus was anointed as God‘s Messiah and empowered by the Holy Spirit, inaugurating God‘s Kingdom reign on earth, overpowering the reign of Satan by resisting temptation, preaching the good news of salvation, healing the sick, casting out demons, and raising the dead. In order to restore fallen mankind, He died on the cross as a substitute, the Righteous Himself for the unrighteousness of mankind, and He is the atonement for the sins of every person. He was raised from the dead by the supernatural power of God and ascended to heaven, and is now seated at the right hand of God as our Advocate. His return to receive His bride (the Church) is imminent. (Isaiah 7:14, Luke 2:15-20, John 3:16, Romans 10:9-10, Romans 1:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, Corinthians 5:21, Acts 16:30-31)
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The Fall of Man
We believe mankind was created for relationship with God, to govern the earth, was good and upright - for God “created man in His own image", male and female. Under the temptation of Satan, the original parents Adam and Eve fell from grace, bringing sin, sickness, and God‘s judgment of death to the earth. As a result mankind fell from innocence and goodness because of his sin causing not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. Creation now experiences the consequences of original sin and human beings are born in sin, subject to God‘s judgment of death, and captive to Satan‘s kingdom of darkness. Mankind’s only hope of reconciliation and redemption is through the sacrifice of the life and blood of Jesus Christ on their behalf. (Genesis 2:17, Isaiah 53:6, Romans 5:18-21)​
The Salvation and Redemption of Man
We believe Salvation is deliverance from spiritual death and habits caused by sin. Man is incapable of saving himself; salvation is by God’s grace alone. Jesus Christ died for our sins as a representative and as a substitute sacrifice for all that repent of there sins, confess, believe, and live for Him are justified on the basis of His shed blood. All those who receive by faith that Jesus Christ is Lord are “born again” of the Holy Spirit and become the children of God. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ and that He is our abiding Helper, Teacher, and Guide. The Bible refers to this experience as becoming a new creature in Christ Jesus. “Old things have passed away, all things become new.” (Titus 2:11, Romans 10:13-15, Luke 24:47, Titus 3:5-7)
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Water Baptism
We believe that water baptism by immersion, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is commanded by scripture for all who have repented and put their faith in Christ as their Lord and Savior. In so doing we declare that we have died with Jesus and that we have also been raised with him to walk in newness of life. This is not a saving ordinance, but an outward sign of an inward work through Jesus Christ. (Matthew 28:19, Acts 10:47, Acts 48, Romans 6:4, Acts 20:21, Hebrews 10:22)
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Communion
We believe The Lord’s Supper, consisting of the elements, bread and the fruit of the vine, is the symbol expressing our sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a time for remembering all that Jesus has done for us in His death, burial, and resurrection as a type through His broken body and His shed blood. It is also a time to look forward to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We believe that all believers regardless of church affiliation, may partake in communion. (2 Peter 1:4, 1 Corinthians 11:26)
Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
All people who turn from their sins and put their faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ receive a new birth by which their life is regenerated by the power of God’s Holy Spirit (John 3:3-6, Titus 3:5). From that time forth the regenerated person has God’s Holy Spirit dwelling within them enabling them to live a holy life (1 Corinthians 3:16, 2 Peter 1:3-4) and also gives them power to be witnesses for Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8).
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​Baptism of the Holy Spirit
We believe that all believers are entitled to, and should earnestly seek and expect to receive the “Promise of the Father” or Baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is a definite experience(s), not identical with the new birth conversion by which allows for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in a believer, and almost always occurs subsequent to conversion, but on rare occasions comes at the time of conversion. Jesus is the one who baptizes us in the Holy Spirit, as a conscious experience, for ministry today. On the evening of His resurrection, His disciples received the Spirit when Jesus breathed upon them and said, “Receive the Spirit“. After His ascension to Heaven, His disciples and others would later receive the “Promise of the Father” on the Day of Pentecost: the mighty baptism with the Holy Spirit when He would come upon them. (Acts 10:44-46, Acts 11:14-16, Acts 15:7-9). With the baptism of the Spirit comes a deeper spiritual life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4, 1 Corinthians 12:1-31).
Sanctification
The scriptures teach a life of holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. By the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to obey the command, “Be holy, for I am holy.” Sanctification is the will of God for all believers, and should be pursued by walking in obedience to God’s Holy Spirit. Sanctification is experienced in basically three ways:
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Instant or positional sanctification: This is what happens to every person who puts their trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we are saved through faith in Jesus, we are sanctified in the eyes of God through the blood of the cross. As God the Father looks at us, He sees the holiness of Jesus, which is imputed to us, and does not see our sin (Hebrews 10:10, Hebrews 14).
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Progressive or practical sanctification: This is the process by which we strive to live on a day to day basis by considering ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in holy living through the power of God’s divine nature within our lives (Romans 6; Philippians 2:12, Philippians 2:13, 2 Peter 1:3, 2 Peter 1:4).
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Final sanctification: This is when we are totally set free from the presence of sin within our life after seeing Jesus our Lord and being made like Him because of seeing Him as He really is in all His glory (1 John 3:2).
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Church as the Body of Christ
We believe in the one, holy, universal Church made up of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. All who repent of their sins and trust Jesus as Lord and Savior are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and form the living Body of Christ, of which He is the head and we are members. The Church was established during the ministry of our Lord, received the Spirit with its regenerating life on the night of the Resurrection, and received the “Promise of the Father” the Baptism or Filling with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Each believer, born of the spirit, is an integral part of the church, which is written in heaven. (Ephesians 1:22, Ephesians 1:23, Ephesians 2:22, Hebrews 12:23).
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Ministry and Evangelism
A divinely called and scripturally ordained ministry has been provided by our Lord Jesus Christ for the evangelization of the world and the edifying of the body of Christ (Mark 16:15-20, Ephesians 4:11-13). We believe in the present ministry of the Spirit and in the exercise of all biblical gifts of the Spirit. We practice the laying on of hands for the empowering of the Spirit, for divine healing and for activations and impartations of gifts of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 53:4, Isaiah 53:5, Matthew 8:16, Matthew 8:17). We also recognize that another of the two ways recorded in the Bible that God empowers people is through individual or corporate prayer and waiting upon God, and in this latter scenario there is no laying on of hands. We value both of these ways of receiving impartations and empowering experiences from God.
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The Blessed Hope, Resurrection of Life and Final Judgment
We believe that God‘s kingdom has come in the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, that it continues to come in the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the Church, and that it will be consummated in the glorious, visible, and triumphant appearing of Christ: His return to the earth as King. The resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their translation, together with those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, is the imminent and blessed hope of the Church (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Titus 2:12, 1 Corinthians 15:51, Romans 8:23). The revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven, the salvation of national Israel, and the millennial reign of Christ on earth are the scriptural promises and the world’s hope (2 Thessalonians 1:17, Revelation 19:11-14, Romans 11:26, Romans 11:27, Revelation 20:1-7). After Christ returns to reign, He will bring about the final defeat of Satan and all of his minions and works, the bodily resurrection of the dead both saved and lost, the final judgment and eternal conscious punishment of the wicked and whoever is not found written in the Book of Life, and the eternal blessing of the righteous (Revelation 19:20, Revelation 20:10-15). Finally, God will be all in all in His new heavens and new earth, recreated by His mighty power, in which righteousness dwells and in which He will forever be worshiped (2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 21, Revelation 22).
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