our beliefs
GOD
We believe what the Bible teaches about God. In essence, God is One—that is, only one God—but He exists in three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is the Creator of everything. The Son is the almighty Word of the Father; He became human to redeem the disobedient human race through the sacrifice of His own blood; the Holy Spirit creates and sustains faith in people’s hearts and souls through the Word of God as it has been revealed in the Bible and through two gifts we refer to as sacraments—baptism and holy communion.
MAN
We believe that God created humans perfect, and He created them to live together in harmony with Him. But He also created humans with the ability to choose to live separated from Him—in disobedience to Him. The very first humans chose disobedience; ever since that time, it has been the nature of human beings to live in separation from God, despite the injustice, cruelty, and suffering that has always resulted. We refer to this disobedience as sin. Sin separates us from God in this life, and since humans do not have the power to heal that separation themselves, sin must separate us from God forever—unless God intervenes, because only He can bring about this healing.
REDEMPTION OF SINS
We believe that God knew humans would choose separation from Him, but He is so wildly, passionately in love with every human being He ever created that He had a plan from the beginning to redeem us from the consequences of our disobedience and restore us to a relationship with Him. He sent His Son to take on humanity, live a perfect life, give up His life as the only sacrifice that could atone for humans’ disobedience, and then rise to life again to declare His triumph and seal the restoration of humankind.
SALVATION IN JESUS
We believe that Jesus of Nazareth, whose life is revealed in the biblical gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), is the man who was also God’s Son. We believe that everyone who has faith in this truth about Jesus has been declared obedient and restored in the eyes of God and is free to live in that assurance and to come before God in worship and prayer. We believe the Holy Spirit makes this faith possible and works to help our faith grow.
THE GREAT COMMISSION
As followers of Jesus Christ, we believe we have been called to share this truth with everyone who needs to hear it.