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Declaration of Faith
Article One

We affirm a core confession of convictions in common with the creeds of the early church, the
confessions of the Reformation, and the London Baptist confession. (see link below)

Section 1: Our Faith in God
(A) The Scriptures
    We believe the Bible, comprised of 66 books, was given to us through men who were verbally
and plenary inspired, as originally written, and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. We believe it
is truth, without a mixture of error, clear and powerful in its message, sufficient for all of our needs,
and the final authority for faith and life.

(B) God
    We believe in one and only one living and true triune God, eternally existent in the three
persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is an intelligent, spiritual, personal being, who is
loving, good, wise, holy, and perfect in all His characteristics. God is all powerful and all knowing,
and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future
decisions of His free creatures. He created all things by His word and is our sustainer and rules in
all things. He is our Redeemer through whom alone salvation can come.

The Father
    We believe in God as father who reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures
according to the purposes of His grace. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

The Son
    We believe in Jesus Christ, who is the one and only eternal Son of God, who added full
humanity to His perfect deity when he was born into this world through his virgin mother. We
believe He became the perfect substitute for mankind’s sins. He obeyed God perfectly, died on the
cross for our sins, and arose in bodily form from the grave – defeating Satan. He became the One
and only mediator between God and man and will return one day in power and glory, in a literal
body to judge the world. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.

The Holy Spirit
    We believe in the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired men of old to write the Scriptures.
Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He convicts men of sin, righteousness,
and a judgment to come. He indwells, at the moment of salvation, which is God’s guarantee to
every believer of final redemption and gives them everything they need to follow and live for Him.
We believe the Spirit gives gifts in each believer at conversion. We also believe that sign and
revelatory gifts were temporary and are no longer given by the Spirit today.

(C) Man
    We believe that man is God’s special creation, made in His own image. He created them as
male and female, with differences, yet both equally in the image of Himself. Although in the
beginning man was created innocent of sin, he soon, by his free choice, fell into sin. His
disobedience alienated all mankind from God, leaving man without hope in his own ability to be
accepted by God.

(D) Salvation
    We believe that saving grace comes not from any works, but through repentance and faith in
the person and work of Jesus Christ alone, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the
forgiveness of our sins. Salvation is wholly a work of God in the life of a sinner, who is kept by the
power of God forever in the family of God.

(E) Church
    We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all
born again individuals who are the members, from all ages who put their trust in Christ. It finds
itself expressed in local assemblies. We believe in the autonomy of the local congregation, which is
free from external authority or control, the priesthood of the believers, and that Jesus gave two
ordinances for the church to follow: The Lord’s Supper and baptism of believers by immersion. We
believe that the two main offices of the church are elders (pastor) and deacons and that God
ordained these offices to be filled with godly men.

(F) Spiritual Gifts
    We believe in the continued expression of the spiritual gifts. The more demonstrative or sign
gifts such as healing, raising the dead, and speaking in tongues were essentially given for the
authentication of the apostolic generation and are not normative for today.

(G) Satan and Fallen Angels
    We believe in the reality of Satan and his kingdom of darkness, and that our confrontation of
Satan demands belief and trust in God and the effective use of Scripture. We believe that Satan,
the originator of sin, and his fallen angels are destined for an eternal punishment in the lake of fire
on judgment day.

(H) Future Events
    We believe in the “Blessed Hope”, the personal, visible, and imminent return of Jesus Christ
who will rapture His church prior to the coming wrath, defeating the kingdom of the Antichrist and
establishing His glorious and literal kingdom over all nations. We believe in the bodily resurrection
of the just and the unjust, that Jesus Christ will be the final judge, and the everlasting blessedness
of the saved and the everlasting, conscious punishment of the lost. We believe in a literal heaven
and hell.

Section 2: Our Life in the World
(A) Civil Government
    We believe that God has created all authority consisting of three basic institutions – 1) the
home; 2) the church; and 3) civil government. Each person is subject to these authorities except
when they command us to violate God’s Word. We believe that God has given each specific
responsibility with the understanding that those institutions do not have the right to infringe upon
the other.

(B) Human Sexuality
    We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. We
believe that all other kinds of relationships outside of this is a perversion of God’s standard. We
believe God’s standard for sexuality is for only those who are married to each other. All other
sexual activity outside of marriage is wrong and outside of God’s will for mankind.

    We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God, but have distinct
and separate spiritual functions in the home and church. The husband is to be the leader of the
home and that men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the church. Accordingly, only
men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church.

(C) Divorce and Remarriage
    We believe that God intends for marriage to be a covenant relationship and is to last until one
of the spouses dies. Divorce and/or remarriage is regarded as adultery except for grounds of
extramarital sexual activity or the unsaved spouse wishes to leave because of the saved spouse’s
faith. Accordingly, divorced, or divorced and remarried people may serve in any position of
ministry in the church except as a pastor, deacon, or deaconess.

(D) Abortion
    We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human
being. Abortion is murder in the eyes of God and is not acceptable for any reason except the
threat of the life of the mother.

(E) Lawsuits
    We believe that the church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes
between believers.   Accordingly, we believe that Christians ought not to bring civil lawsuits against
other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes. We do believe, however, that a
Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian’s insurance company as long
as the claim is pursued without malice or slander.

(F) Giving
    We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to him, is
responsible to support his local church financially. We believe that every Christian should be
encouraged to give cheerfully and sacrificially for the relief of those in need, the support of the
local church, and the spread of the gospel to every people group. We give our gifts to the church
for these purposes. Gifts may also be given for specific purposes stated at the time the gift is
given. While the church should make an effort to honor such designated purposes, the right to
redirect the use of the gift rests with the church, not the giver(s).