Our Beliefs

The Holy Spirit is one with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Those who accept Christ as their Savior will receive the Holy Spirit to live inside them. The Holy Spirit serves as our comforter, guide and advocate. The Holy Spirit is given to Christians to guide us in living, help us understand the Bible and prayerfully intercede for us.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is one with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is our Savior. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on a cross for all sin, and rose from the grave after three days to demonstrate His defeat of sin and death. He ascended into heaven and will return again to earth to reign as our powerful King.

All people are made in the image of God and are created to live the adventure of following Jesus Christ. Although we have tremendous potential for good, we also have the freedom to do evil. Our disobedience toward God is called “sin” and separates all humanity from God.

We can never earn forgiveness for our sins, but we can receive forgiveness as a free gift from God provided by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. It is available by faith to everyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. We then express that faith by being baptized in water and repenting of sin.

We believe that heaven is God’s present dwelling place, along with the angels and deceased Christians. We reject the teaching of purgatory but rather profess that Scripture teaches that when a Christian passes, they are brought to heaven in the presence of God, a place where there is no more death, sorrow, crying or pain. The Bible teaches that when Jesus returns, heaven will come with Him to the earth, and believers will live with Christ and all the saints for eternity in the new heavens and new earth.

We believe scripture teaches hell to be a place of eternal conscious punishment for unbelievers. The Bible repeatedly presents final judgment as permanent and irreversible. The same Greek word aiōnios (“eternal”) is used for both punishment and life. Therefore, if life is unending, so is punishment. The message of hell produces gratefulness and warning (Matthew 10:28; 25:46; Revelation 14:11; 20:10, 15; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; John 3:16, 36; Hebrews 9:27; Malachi 4:1; Mark 9:47–48; Daniel 12:2; Luke 16:22–24).

The Bible is the word for word revelation of God and truth that the Holy Spirit led men to record. No other piece of literature in history has the power, wisdom or authority of the Bible. Jesus Himself treated every word as sacred truth. It is a trustworthy source for understanding and direction, and it is the expression of God’s will for our lives. The Bible’s authority has been confirmed by the historic fulfillment of its accurately predicted future events and by its continued influence and life-giving power. No other book has had such archaeological confirmation, human transformation or divine wisdom.

We believe God has not abandoned the nation of Israel nor the Jewish people. We firmly reject the notion that the Church has replaced Israel in God’s plan for them. We believe that God will ultimately fulfill His covenantal promise to the Jewish people as promised in the Old and New Testaments. We believe that through the grafting in of Gentile believers, God will bring about the salvation of Israel through their acceptance of Jesus as their Messiah.

We believe marriage is the life-long union of a man and a woman. This covenant is dear to God and should neither be entered nor ended lightly. Marriage should be a blessing, but as flawed people we can make it feel like a curse by sinning and hurting one another. Thankfully, God’s mercy teaches us that God favors reconciliation, so attempts to reconcile take precedence over divorce.

That does not mean divorce is never acceptable or appropriate. The Bible points out adultery and abandonment as some examples of behaviors that justify divorce. With that said, taking a broad view of the Scriptures leads us to extend compassion and grace to those considering divorce, living after divorce or considering remarriage following divorce.

God created humanity in His image as male and female. When humans are born, they fall into one of these two biological categories. This distinction between men and women is good and part of God’s glorious plan to bless creation. God designed marriage to be a monogamous, life-long, committed relationship between man and woman. Any type of sexual activity outside the God-ordained marriage is sinful.

We believe that men and women are created equally in the image of God and are both called to use their spiritual gifts for the building up of the church. Women are encouraged and empowered to serve, teach and lead in all areas of ministry. At the same time, we affirm the biblical teaching of male leadership in the home and the church, reserving the role of senior pastor as a responsibility entrusted primarily to qualified men. We seek to practice this conviction in a spirit of honor, partnership and mutual respect, reflecting the beauty of God’s design for His people.

We believe that sickness is the result of the fall; it is a work of Satan which came about as the result of man’s fall. We believe there is healing in the atoning work of Jesus (Isaiah 53:1–5), and it is God’s desire and nature to heal (Exodus 15:26). Divine healing is a gift of God, whether this be accomplished by His supernatural, miraculous intervention or via the gifts and insights He has provided to professionals in the medical industry. We are grateful for all options available to us today to receive healing and remain healthy. Yet we also understand that God is sovereign, and that healing is not a guarantee for all in this life; but even in this, there is hope for us who confess Christ, as we look to the day that all pain, suffering, and death will come to an end at Christ’s return.

We believe the gifts of the Spirit have not ceased but continue to be an important part of a Christian’s spiritual life and for the common good of the body of Christ. If we read the Bible on its own terms, it invites us to affirm the Spirit’s life, gifts, fruit and power. As listed in the New Testament, this includes but is not limited to the gifts of prophecy, tongues, healings, miracles, ministry, generosity, etc. We believe God has apportioned every Christian with different spiritual gifts so the whole body of Christ may be built up, encouraged and mature in faith, hope and love. Each gift should be cultivated with humility and prayerfulness and ministered in an orderly and respectful manner.

We believe all kinds of suffering is common to humanity. Our theology of suffering shapes how we endure hardship and how we respond to others in pain. Scripture makes clear that suffering is not a sign of spiritual failure, but a reality shared by God Himself as well as His faithful people throughout history. Jesus chose to enter the human experience and suffer, something into which His followers are also called, not as punishment, but as part of being His disciples, experiencing spiritual transformation and being witnesses to the gospel.