GOD
God is the loving Creator of all that exists, both seen and unseen. God is eternal and completely good, knowing all things, having all power and majesty. God exists as the Trinity, in three persons, yet one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God passionately desires a relationship with us and towards this end continually invites us into a relationship of faith, friendship, learning, and service.
Genesis 1:1; John 14:6-9, 15-17 & John 16:7-15; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 John 4:9-10
JESUS CHRIST
God expressed himself in human form through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified for the sins of us all, was buried, rose again from the dead, and ascended to heaven.
Colossians 1:13-23 and Colossians 2:8-14; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Matthew 22:36-40 ; John 14:1-3; Hebrews 1:1-3; Acts 10:42-43; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit, sent from God to live inside all who believe in Jesus Christ, teaches, comforts, and empowers us, giving each follower diverse gifts, fostering unity, interdependence, productivity, Christ-like character, and love among Christians. The leading and empowering of the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father, is available for every Christian.
Acts 1:8; 2:4; Romans 5:5 and Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 12-14; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 3:16, Ephesians 4:3-4, and Ephesians 5:18; John 14:26 and John 16:7-14
THE BIBLE
We believe that God speaks to us in the Bible, and that it is our privilege to seek to understand God's message and apply it responsibly to our lives. The Bible is our standard in all we say and do. We believe that God's unchangeable Biblical message ought to be presented in relevant and contemporary ways, free of religious jargon and understandable to the people of our community.
Matthew 5:17-19; 2 Timothy 2:15 and 2 Timothy 3:14-17; Hebrew 4:12; 2 Peter 1:16-21 and 2 Peter 3:14-18; Psalm 19:7-11 and Psalm 119:9-16; Joshua 1:7-8; Acts 17:11
RESTORED RELATIONSHIP
(SALVATION)
All people are created with dignity and value in the image of God, to live in a vital relationship with God. However, through our sin (failing to live by God's moral standards), we break our intended relationship with God and we experience the destructive consequences of that broken relationship, spiritually and socially, in this life and beyond. However, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to rescue us from those consequences and to restore our broken relationships with God and others, through Christ's death on the cross, a perfect act of redemption for each of us. Restored relationship comes to people on the basis of God's grace through their faith in Jesus alone. They receive the free gift of forgiveness and are spiritually reborn through repenting of their sin and believing in Jesus Christ. Good works and a holy life, although totally unable to save anyone, are the natural product of repentant, believing people.
I Peter 2:24, 3:18; Romans 3:9-28, Romans 6:23, and Romans 10:9-10; John 3:16 and John 5:24; Ephesians 2:1-10; Titus 3:3-8; James 2:14-26
WATER BAPTISM
Baptism follows a change of heart and it's reserved for those who have committed their lives by faith to follow Christ and believe in the power of his burial, death, and resurrection. Therefore, the key is that it's a decision someone makes for themselves, which is why we do not baptize babies or infants. However, we do give parents the opportunity to participate in Baby Dedications once a year around Mother's Day which is a special ceremony during which the parent(s) can make a promise and declaration to raise their child(ren) to know and follow God.
Mark 16:16; John 14:15; Mark 1:4-15; Ephesians 2:8-9