Statement of Faith
what we believe
We believe in the Trinity and historic doctrines of the faith as expressed in the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed, that there is one God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
We believe that the Scriptures contained in the Old and New Testament are the inspired and inerrant word of God and are the only infallible guide to faith and practice. We believe that the ecumenical creeds reflect accurately the teaching of Scripture, and thus are the Rule of Faith that guides our interpretation of the Bible.
We believe that the self-existent, eternal, and transcendent God created all things, visible and invisible by His own volition, that He created humanity in His image to be his regents on earth, to steward and develop it to His glory.
We believe that our first parents rejected their proper submission to God, and that through their disobedience sin infected the entire human race and damaged Creation, subjecting it to futility.
We believe that God the Father, not content with leaving His creation in a state of sin and misery, sent His Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, to be conceived by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and become incarnate. We believe that Jesus is fully God and fully human, and that he gave His life as a substitutionary atoning sacrifice for our sins. He was resurrected bodily on the third day, ascended into heaven, and is enthroned on the right hand of the Father.
We believe that salvation comes to us entirely by grace through faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ as taught by the confessions of the magisterial reformers of the Protestant Reformation.
We believe that the Holy Spirit unites us to Christ and to each other, and thus that Jesus has only one Church expressed in varying denominations and traditions. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells and empowers us for ministry in Christ’s name.
We believe that our behavior is to be guided by the Great Commandments to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This love compels us to share the Good News of Christ to all and to bring His lordship to bear on every area of life in fulfillment of the Cultural Mandate and the Great Commission to disciple all nations.
We believe that Jesus will return in glory to bring in the fullness of His Kingdom. At that time there will be a bodily resurrection of those who have died, and Jesus will judge the living and the dead. Those who are united to Him by faith will live eternally in the new heavens and new earth. Those who rejected Him will spend eternity separated from God, the only source of life, light, peace, and joy.