Core Beliefs
Key Christian Truths

God

There is one true God who is infinite and eternal and is revealed in three persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (the Trinity).

Jesus Christ

Jesus is eternal God as the second person of the Trinity. In the Incarnation, He took on a human nature, being born of a virgin. He died for humankind's sins and three days later was physically and bodily resurrected from the dead.

Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is eternal God as the third person of the Trinity. He is a gift from God sent by Jesus to empower Christians everywhere to live distinctive lives according to the scriptures. He is a Christian's source of life pointing us to Jesus and providing comfort and conviction reminding Christians of all that God has created us to be.

The Bible

The Bible alone is the inspired Word of God and is therefore infallible and authoritative. This is foundational to everything else.

Both the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, divinely inspired as God's full revelation for today. The New Testament is the primary authority for Christians today just as the Old Testament was authoritative for Jews in the Old Testament

Humanity

Human being are created in the image of God and as a result, every human is endwoed with priceless value regardless of status, color, or reputation. Bearing His image, humans are accountable to the Father.

Sin and Salvation

All humans are born into the world in a state of dire sin - meaning that we are predisposed to love creation more than the Creator. This makes us enemies of God as it serves to fracture relationships here on earth and empty life of its true meaning. Sin, at its root, is more about what a human longs for (as behavior follows longing).

God, in His justice, has condemned this way of life to death as it does not reflect His nature or the nature in which He created us.

Yet God, in His grace, has provided a way through death in the person and work of Jesus. He lived a perfect life with no sin of His own. Yet He bore our sin in His body as He was crucified on the cross. He paid the "death penalty" for us so that we might have life abundantly restoring the union between us and God the Father.

Salvation is by the grace of God alone through faith alone.

Salvation is not earned.

Convictions
Our positions on things that Christians can disagree about

The Church

We are convicted that the church is best understood as local Christians banded together with a unique identity. The church is best represented as autonomous, local entities that partner together for the Kingdom of God. Each church is free to choose their own leaders and ministers as each church has its own unique mission in their context as well as needs arising out of those individuals God sends to the church.

We are convicted that the church ought to gather together weekly, sacrificing time at the beginning of the week, to celebrate and worship God and to encourage one another.

Baptism

We are convicted that each believer ought to be baptized out of obedience to Christ and as a public confession of faith making known to the world that they are citizens of another Kingdom.

We do not hold that baptism is a means of or the point at which a person is "saved" (becomes a Christian). Yet part of baptism's purpose is for the Christian's benefit in order to look back on a date as the day in which they were recognized by the church as a Christian.

We are convicted that baptism is by immersion only. This is the normative pattern in the New Testament and it depicts an individual dying to themselves, being buried with Christ, and being raised to walk in the newness of life.

Furthermore, since we are convicted that baptism is an obedience and therefore, a choice and individual makes, we hold that baptism is for those who can make the decision for themselves and choose not to baptize infants.

The Lord's Supper (Communion)

We are convicted that we ought to observe the Lord's Supper weekly when we gather together for worship. It is a reminder of the gospel, an opportunity to confess and recommit ourselves to Jesus, and a hope we live in proclaiming the Lord's name until He returns.

Marriage

We are convicted that marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman in which God mysteriously joins two human beings together for companionship, procreation, and to model the relationship that exists between Christ and the church.

End Times

We are convicted that we as Christians ought to be aware of what the Bible says regarding end times but we, as a church body, do not take a stance on what specific end times events will look like or try to speculate on specifics. Each Christian is free to hold their own beliefs as the Lord leads them through the study of God's Word yet, at the same time, each Christian should live with the hope of the return of Jesus as well as a healthy reverence that He is returning soon.

Heaven & Hell

We are convicted that Heaven and Hell are real places and the only two destinations in eternal life.

Heaven will eventually join earth after a final judgement and the earth will be purified of all evil. God will be eternally present with Christians forever.

Hell is an eternal state of suffering. We choose not to take a stance on where it is or what it will look like as the Bible gives fewer details regarding these things.

Whether a human goes to heaven or hell is determined by whether or not they trusted Jesus with their lives and were at war with their natural propensity to sin.