The Scriptures<\/p>\n
We believe the Bible to be the verbal, plenary, inspired Word of God. Every word was chosen by the Holy Spirit of God, and is the final authority for all faith and practice. We believe the King James Bible is the divinely preserved translation of the inspired Word of God for the English speaking people. For reasons of unity and textual reliability the Authorized Version (King James Bible) which came from the Textus Receptus manuscripts, shall be the only English version used and endorsed in our teaching and preaching (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21; Psalm 19:7-11; Psalm 119:160; Proverbs 30:5-6).<\/p>\n
The Godhead<\/p>\n
We believe in one eternally existing Triune God, existing in three persons \u2013 three Persons, one God. These three members of the Trinity are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit \u2014 each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 14:10, 26; I Timothy 1:17; James 1:17; I John 4:4; Isaiah 42:8).<\/p>\n
The Person of Christ<\/p>\n
We believe Jesus Christ to be the one and only Saviour of mankind. We believe Jesus Christ to be eternally God and to possess all the attributes of Deity. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was virgin born, that He was God incarnate, and that the purposes of the incarnation were to reveal God, to redeem man, and to rule over God\u2019s kingdom. We believe Jesus Christ never relinquished any attributes of His Deity, but merely veiled them. We believe He lived a perfect, sinless life, at the end of which He was offered for all mankind as a substitutionary sacrifice for man\u2019s sin. This sacrifice was a just payment to God for the forgiveness of sin. It was activated by His death through the shedding of His blood on the cross, and was accepted by God upon His resurrection. We believe He ascended into Heaven after His resurrection to be seated at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the time of receiving His church at the rapture, and returning later to earth to rule and reign as King for 1,000 years (Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:25; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1, 1:3, 14, 18, 29; Romans 3:19-25; Romans 5:6-15; Philippians 2:5-11; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Timothy 2:5; I Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:10-15; Hebrews 7:26; 9:24-28; I Peter 1:19, 2:2; I John 1:3; Revelation 20:1-6).<\/p>\n
The Person of the Holy Spirit<\/p>\n
We believe the Holy Spirit of God is a person who has personality and all the attributes of Deity. We believe the Holy Spirit has always been involved in the affairs of mankind; however, He has a special ministry which began at Pentecost, and will continue until the rapture. This ministry includes convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement. The Holy Spirit was also sent to regenerate, sanctify, seal, and fill all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:5-6; John 14:16; Acts 1:5; Acts 11:15; I Corinthians 3:16; I Corinthians 6:19-20; I Corinthians 12:13).<\/p>\n
The Atonement for Sin<\/p>\n
We believe all men were born with an inherited sin nature received from our common ancestor, Adam. We believe that because of his nature, man is a sinner by choice, and he is totally incapable of reforming himself or ceasing from his sin by his own power. We believe the only hope of deliverance for man is a total change of mind concerning his sinful condition and inability to change it, and a turning to Jesus Christ as the only Saviour. We believe that only through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ and His shed blood on the cross can a man be delivered from his sin. We believe that all those who reject Jesus Christ as their Saviour are already condemned to an eternity in the lake of fire (Genesis 5:1-5; Leviticus 17:11; Acts 4:19; Acts 16:31;Acts 20:28; Romans 3:10-23; Romans 5:6-12; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6; Revelation 20:11-14).<\/p>\n
The New Testament Church<\/p>\n
We believe the church began with the calling out of the twelve apostles by Jesus Christ, and was empowered on the day of Pentecost. We believe the local church is God\u2019s institution to carry out His work today. We believe the local church is composed of members who have been saved and baptized according to the command of Christ, and have voluntarily united together for the purpose of prayer, fellowship, service, and the partaking of the two ordinances. We believe all true believers will be taken up at the rapture, and will forever be with the Lord (Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 1:15; Acts 2:41-43; Acts 11:15; Acts 13:1-4; Acts 15:19-31; Acts 20:28; I Corinthians 15:51-58; Ephesians 1:12-14; Ephesians 5:25-30; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Timothy 3:4-15).<\/p>\n
Affiliation<\/p>\n
We are unashamedly Baptist by conviction, and not affiliated with a denomination. We believe in the succession and preservation of the early church. We believe that the early church although not termed Baptist, held to the scriptural principles and doctrines that we as Baptists adhere to today. We believe in the Baptist distinctives: The Bible is the sole authority for all faith and practice; the autonomy of the local church; the priesthood of the believer; two ordinances (baptism and the Lord\u2019s supper); Individual soul liberty; separation of church and state; two offices (Pastor and deacon); Salvation by grace through faith; and finally, soul-winning fervor. (Matthew 16:18; I Timothy 3:5, 14; Ephesians 5:26-27; Jude 3).<\/p>\n
The Eternal State<\/p>\n
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men – the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgement and everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28-29; John 11:25-26; Revelation 20:5-6; Revelation 20:12-13).<\/p>\n
We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord; furthermore, they will in conscious bliss await the first resurrection when the spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; Philippians 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 20:4-6).<\/p>\n
We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection when, with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgement, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire. They will not be annihilated, but will suffer everlasting conscious punishment and torment (Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Revelation 20:11-15).<\/p>\n
The Personality of Satan<\/p>\n
We believe that Satan is a being and manifests himself many different ways. He is the author of sin, and the cause of the fall of man. He is the open and declared enemy of God and man, and he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6-7, Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10).<\/p>\n
Creation<\/p>\n
We believe that God created the universe in six literal, twenty-four hour periods. We reject Evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and the Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin (Genesis 1-2; Exodus 20:11).<\/p>\n
Civil Government<\/p>\n
We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: the home, the church, and the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God, and are governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and has balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God (Romans 13:1-7; Ephesians 5:22-24; Hebrews 13:17; I Peter 2:13-14).<\/p>\n
Unchaste Conduct<\/p>\n
We believe that God has commanded that no intimate physical activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography is a sinful perversion of God\u2019s original intent for a physical relationship between a husband and a wife (Genesis 2:24; Genesis 19:5,13; Genesis 26:8-9; Levitius 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; I Corinthians 5:1; I Corinthians 6:9; I Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4).<\/p>\n
Divorce and Remarriage<\/p>\n
We believe that God hates divorce, and intends for marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. The marriage relationship was instituted by God Himself, and is a picture of Christ and the church, which is His espoused bride. (Eph.5:25-33; I Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9).<\/p>\n
Abortion<\/p>\n
We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, inexcusable taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the mental well-being of the mother are acceptable (Job 3:16; Psalm 51:5; Psalm 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24; Isaiah 49:1,5; Jeremiah 1:5; Jeremiah 20:15-18; Luke 1:44).<\/p>\n
Missions<\/p>\n
We believe that God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ, we must use all available means to go to the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark: 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8, II Corinthians 5:20).<\/p>\n
Lawsuits Between Believers<\/p>\n
We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members. We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian\u2019s insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander (I Corinthians 6:1-8; Ephesians 4:31-32)<\/p>\n
Giving<\/p>\n
We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God\u2019s wealth untrusted to him, is obligated to support his local church financially. We believe that God has established the tithe as a basis for giving; however, every Christian should also give other offerings sacrificially and cheerfully to the support of the church, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the Gospel.<\/p>\n
We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the tithe or offering once the gift has been made (Genesis 14:20; Proverbs 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; I Corinthians 16:2; II Corinthians 9:6-7; Galations 6:6; Ephesians 4:28;I Timothy 5:17-18; I John 3:17).<\/p>\n
This doctrinal statement does not exhaust the extent of our faith and doctrine. The Bible itself is the sole and final source of all that we believe; furthermore, we believe God\u2019s business is the greatest business in all the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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