What we Believe
THE ESSENTIALS WE BELIEVE:
We subscribe to the doctrinal statement of "The Baptist Faith and Message"
as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000.
ABOUT GOD
There is one and only one living and true God. God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. He is all powerful and knowing and to Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. He has eternally existed in three personalities: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and are one God (Genesis 1:1,26-27, 3:22; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; I Peter 1:2; II Corinthians 13:14).
ABOUT JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is God. He is co-equal with the Father. Jesus, born to a virgin, lived a sinless life and offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of people by dying on the cross. He arose from the dead, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return again someday to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5, 14:10-30; Hebrews 4:14-15; I Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 1:3-4;
Acts 1:9-11; I Timothy 6:14-15; Titus 2:13)
ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is God. He is co-equal with the Father and Jesus Christ. He makes people aware of their need for Jesus Christ, and He lives in every Christian with power and guidance for doing what is right and with understanding of Christian truth. He gives every believer a spiritual gift(s) when they are saved. As Christians, we are to seek to live under His control daily (II Corinthians 3:17; John 14:16-17, 16:7-13; Acts 1:8;
I Corinthians 2:12, 3:16; Ephesians 1:13, 5:18; Galatians 5:25).
ABOUT THE BIBLE
The entire 66 books of the Bible are verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original writings. It is the truth without any mixture of error, and it is the supreme source of truth for what we believe and how we behave
(II Timothy 1:13, 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21; Psalm 12:6, 119:105,160;
Proverbs 30:5).
ABOUT SIN
Adam, the first man, sinned by disobeying God. This act resulted in the fall of mankind, meaning that all people have sinned and lost their ability to live in perfect obedience to God. Sin separates people from God for eternity and causes many problems in life (Genesis 3:1-24; Romans 3:10-23,
5:12-21, 6:23).
ABOUT SALVATION
Salvation is a free gift of God and we can never earn it or deserve it by good works. We receive this free gift by trusting in Jesus Christ as God's offer of forgiveness and by accepting Jesus Christ's leadership in our lives (Ephesians 2:8-10; II Corinthians 5:21; Romans 10:9-10).
ABOUT ETERNAL SECURITY
Because God gives us eternal life through Jesus Christ, the true believer is secure in that salvation for eternity. If you have been genuinely saved, you cannot "lose" it. Salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the self-effort of the Christian. It is the grace and keeping power of God that gives us this security (John 10:29; II Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25, 10:10,14; I Peter 1:3-5).
ABOUT THE CHURCH
The church is the body of Christ and the family of God. It is made up of saved and baptized believers who celebrate God's presence (worship), demonstrate God's love (ministry), communicate God's Word (evangelism), incorporate God's family (fellowship), and educate God's people (discipleship). (Matthew 4:10, 16:18, 22:36-40, 28:19-30; I Corinthians 12:12-14; Hebrews 6:1, 10:25; Psalm 122:1; John 13:35; Ephesians 2:10).
ABOUT EVANGELISM
It is the responsibility and privilege of every Christian to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and to seek to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8).
ABOUT ETERNITY
People are created to exist forever. We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally in union with Him is eternal life. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence (John 3:16, 14:17; Romans 6:23, 8:17-18; I Corinthians 2:7-9;
Revelation 20:15).