The Bible We believe God is so high above us that if He chose not to make Himself known, there would be no way we could ever know Him. The good news is that He did make Himself known, and He has shown us who He is and what is pleasing to Him in the Bible, His holy Word. Although the Bible was written by men, God inspired every word contained in the Bible in such a way that it is absolutely perfect and without error. Therefore, we can know that everything the Bible teaches is true and trustworthy. The Bible is the foundation for our faith and the standard by which we live. All of the Bible-both Old and New Testaments-point to Jesus Christ, who is the center of God's plan and the fulfillment of all that God has revealed. Luke 24:25-27; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21 God We believe there is only one living and true God and that He has forever existed in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each of these persons is equal to one another and is absolutely perfect. Present everywhere and full of love and justice, God is all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful, and absolutely perfect, and He is in absolute control. Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14 God the Father We believe in God the Father, who is infinite, perfect, and holy. In all wisdom, power, and love, He knows everything that has ever happened and that ever will happen, and He is intimately involved with His creation, creating and governing the universe and working out all of history according to His purpose. He hears and answers prayer, and He is mighty to save from sin and death all who come to Him by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Proverbs 19:21, 21:1; Luke 10:21-22; John 3:16, 6:27; Romans 8:28; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 1 Peter 1:3; Revelation 1:6 Jesus Christ, God the Son We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who became man without ceasing to be God. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He never did anything wrong, and because He was absolutely perfect, He was able to take our place and die on our behalf, taking the punishment that we deserved on Himself. He rose from the grave, conquering death, and He then went back up to heaven where He has been lifted high at the right hand of God and where He now intercedes on our behalf. He will return again one day to judge those who have died and those who are still living. Matthew 1:18-25, 20:28, 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 1:26-38, 24:1-53; John 1:1, 20:1-23, 20:28, 20:30-31; Acts 1:11; Romans 5:6-8, 6:9, 9:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Timothy 3:16; 2 Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 7:25, 9:28; 1 Peter 2:21-23, 4:5 God the Holy Spirit We believe in the Holy Spirit and that He convinces people of their sin and changes people’s hearts, enabling them to turn from their sin and to know and love God. He lives inside all believers and guides and empowers them, constantly making them more like Jesus and guaranteeing them salvation when Jesus returns one day. Ezekiel 37:12-14; John 3:1-8, 14:16-17, 14:26, 15:26, 16:7-14; Romans 5:5, 8:5-11, 12-17; Galatians 5:22-26; Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30; Titus 3:4-7 Man We believe mankind is the special creation of God, whom God made male and female in His own image. However, we believe that the father of the human race, Adam, committed the first sin and that as a result, all of mankind has inherited a sinful nature from him and is separated from God. Therefore, every person is now born into sin and is an enemy of God. Mankind is thus currently in a desperate situation. Left to himself, he would continue in a pattern of sin and would be unable to do anything to help himself out of his hopeless predicament. Genesis 1:26-31, 3:1-19; Romans 3:10-12, 3:23, 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3, 12; Colossians 1:21, 2:13 Sin We believe sin is anything we do—whether in thought, word, or action—that displeases God. Every single person is a sinner. And the just penalty for our sin is death. Because we are children of Adam, the first sinner, we are sinful by our very nature. Sin is so deeply ingrained in us that even if we tried not to sin, we would not be able to stop sinning. Left to ourselves, we would never seek God, nor would we ever be capable of anything wholly good. Romans 3:10-12, 3:23, 5:12, 6:23, 7:15; Ephesians 2:1-3, 2:12; Colossians 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 1:9 Salvation We believe that because man is in a desperate state of sin, he can do nothing on his own to earn a pardon from his judgment. No one is good enough to earn salvation. Thus, we need a new nature—we must be “born again,” which means that the Holy Spirit must enable us to recognize our sin and to see our need for God. Salvation is from beginning to end completely the work of God. In short, God in His great mercy took pity on us and sent His only Son Jesus Christ, who was fully God and fully man and who lived a perfect life, to die on the cross on our behalf—taking the punishment for our sin—so that all those who have faith in Him will live forever with Him in heaven. John 1:12, 3:3-8, 3:16, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-21 The Church We believe in the universal church—that is, that the Church is made up of all born-again believers from all over the world and throughout time. We also believe in the local church, which is where a group of believers come together to worship God, fellowship with each other, hold each other accountable, and work together to reach their community and their world with the good news of Jesus Christ. Acts 13:1-4, 20:28; 1 Corinthians 1:12-14, 5:4-6; Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:25-27; Titus 1:5-11 The Ordinances We believe that Jesus established two ordinances for the local church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that Christian baptism is an outward sign of an inward change. Therefore, we believe that in accordance with what God’s Word teaches, when a person surrenders his life to Christ, he should be baptized. Baptism is reserved for the believer, and it creates a picture for the believer of dying to sin and being raised to new life in the power of Jesus Christ. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a special way Jesus gave us to remember His sacrifice on the cross. Jesus said that the bread stood for his body, which was broken for us, and that the wine stood for his blood, which was shed for us, and He said that we should remember Him whenever we eat and drink these things. Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38-39, 2:41-42, 18:8; Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26