Our church affirms and subscribes to the Baptist Faith & Message 2000. For a more exhaustive explanation of those doctrines and beliefs, visit https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/ for more information.
What We Believe:
The single most important thing about a church is what it believes. What we believe matters. What we believe, in fact, is a matter of spiritual life and death. In most cases, churches will write what is known as a statement of faith, which is a brief doctrinal statement that contains some of the essential elements of the Christian faith. A statement of faith is a minimalist document, or a concise expression of the greatest news in the history of mankind – the fact that Jesus Christ is the solution of our greatest problem — sin.
1) The Scriptures
We believe that the Holy Bible is complete and authoritative in both the Old & New Testaments (66 books in total). The Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. Our church believes that the Scriptures, in their original writings, were without error. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, the focus of divine revelation. Accordingly, the Scriptures stand alone as the church’s source for doctrine and teaching. (Matthew 5:17, 18; Proverbs 30:5, 6; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; Luke 1:1–3, 16, 17; 2 Samuel 23:2; Isaiah 40:8; John 10:35; Revelation 22:18, 19).
2) God
There is only one true and living God. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. God is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being. He is the Creator, the Redeemer, the Preserver, and the Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. He is the Creator, the Redeemer, the Preserver, and the Ruler of the universe. God is holy and perfect. God is all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present. His perfect knowledge extends to all things past, present, and future. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5–6, 14, 18, 21–22; Mark 12:29–32; Psalms 90:1–2; Genesis 1:1; Revelation 1:4–6, 8; John 1:1–3; 6:27; 12:26; 15:26; 16:15; 20:28; Matthew 28:19; Ephesians 4:4–6; 1 Peter 1:2; Acts 2:32–36; 1 Corinthians 12:3–6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Romans 1:7; Hebrews 1:8; Philippians 2:6).
We believe that Jesus the Christ is God, the One and Only Begotten Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born to the virgin, Mary. (John 1:1–14; Luke 1:26–38; Matthew 1:18–25; Isaiah 7:14).
3) Man
Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by His creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. This sin incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death. The only way man can be forgiven from sin is by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Genesis 1:27; 5:1; 1 Corinthians 11:7; Romans 6:23; 3:10; 8:7; Galatians 3:22). The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
4) Salvation
We believe that salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. Jesus himself died as the propitiation for the sins of the world, according to the Scriptures. (i.e., as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice that appeased the justice of God). (Romans 3:25; 5:8; Hebrews 2:17; 4:15–16; 9:22: 1 John 3:5; 4:10; 2 Corinthians 5:14–21; 1 Corinthians 15:3, 22)
We believe that all, who believe in and receive by faith Jesus Christ, are born again by the Holy Spirit, thereby becoming children of God and heirs of eternal life. All Believers are justified on the basis of Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Believers, once saved by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, cannot lose Christ’s promise of eternal life. In its broadest sense, salvation includes four crucial elements:
- Regeneration
- Justification
- Sanctification
- Glorification
5) God's Purpose of Grace
Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable.
6) The Church
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. The Church’s mission is to preach, teach, declare, and make known the Scriptures to all the world, proclaiming that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me (Jesus Christ), through the formal proclamation of the Scriptures, and the Believer’s complete, transformed, and consistent lifestyle. (Ephesians 1:15–23; 3:8–10; 4:15, 16; 5:23–32; Matthew 18:20; 28:18–20; John 14:6; Colossians 1:10–28; 2:19; 3:15; Romans 15:16)
Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors, elders, or deacons.
7) Baptism & The Lord's Supper
We believe in two ordinances of the Church, given by Jesus Christ: (1) Baptism and (2) the Lord’s Supper. Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. Being a church ordinance, it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
8) The Lord's Day
The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private.
9) The Kingdom
The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King. Particularly the Kingdom is the realm of salvation into which men enter trustful, childlike commitment to Jesus Christ. Christians ought to pray and to labor that the Kingdom may come and God’s will be done on earth.
10) Last Things
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to hell and the righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord. (Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 20:11–15; 21:8, 27; Matthew 13:36–43; 25:3–46; Philippians 4:3; John 14:1–6; Hebrews 6:19–20; 2 Thessalonians 1:9)
11) Evangelism & Missions
It is the duty and the privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man’s spirit by God’s Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ.
12) Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these are entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others.
