Statement of Faith

We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are God’s uniquely revealed and written Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and are the church’s first and final authority in all areas of faith and life for all people in every age.

The Bible speaks to us with the authority of God himself. We seek to understand, love, follow, obey, surrender, and submit to God’s Word—both Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, and the Scriptures, the written Word of God, which bear true and faithful witness to Jesus Christ.
We believe the ongoing revelation of the Holy Spirit will always be consistent with Scripture. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). 

(See also Matthew 4:4; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 4:12)

We worship the one only living and true God who is revealed in the Bible and who is the source of all life, glory, goodness, and blessedness.

With the holy catholic church in all ages, we confess the mystery of the Holy Trinity—that there is one God alone, infinite and eternal, Creator of all things, the greatest good, who is one in nature, yet who exists in a plurality of three distinct persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is the sovereign ruler of creation, working all things according to the counsel of his omnipotent and righteous will.
In sovereignty God has seen fit to accommodate free will among human beings whom God created as moral creatures. The exercise of free will by human beings has resulted in great social, cultural and cosmic good and terrible evil, disorder, and disobedience.
Nevertheless, God is in no way the author of evil or sin but continues to govern creation in such a way as to cause all things to work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. God opposes all evil and will bring creation to a glorious consummation.
God—and God alone—is worthy of worship. We respond to God by consciously and intentionally seeking to declare, explore, celebrate, and submit to God’s righteous and gracious kingship over all of creation and over every aspect of our individual and corporate life, and thereby “to glorify him and enjoy him forever.” (Westminster Larger Catechism, 7.01)

(Genesis 1:1-2; Exodus 20:3-4; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 47:2; Isaiah 45:5; Matthew 28:19; Luke 1:35; John 14:26; Romans 1:22-23; 8:28; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 1:7-11; Jude 1:25; Revelation 4:11)

In the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the eternal Son of God uniquely entered human history and became a real human being, fully God and fully human. He is truly the Word of God — that is, the perfect and culminating expression of God’s mind and heart, of God’s will and character — present in the intimate fellowship of the Holy Trinity from eternity and fully engaged with the Father in the work of creation and redemption.

Jesus Christ is God’s only mediator between God and humankind and God’s unique agent for the salvation of the world, accomplished through the death of Jesus on the cross. In his death Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for sins — “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)
Scripture also describes the death of Jesus as a ransom or redemption from slavery; payment of a debt; a shepherd’s life given for his sheep; vicarious satisfaction of a legal penalty; victory over the powers of evil; a sacrificial substitution (Christ’s death for our death); an actual event through which a way is opened for human beings to be reconciled with a holy God; a way in which sins are covered, forgiven, and removed. The death of Jesus is the historic event through which God has given us “forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness, and salvation, to me and to others. This comes out of grace alone
solely for the sake of Christ’s saving work.” (Heidelberg Catechism, 4.021/Lord’s Day 7 Question 21). In contrast, those who persist in unbelief face an eternity apart from God in hell.

On the sole basis of the finished work of Christ on the cross, sinners who confess Jesus as Lord are reconciled to a holy God and are participants in the resurrection of Christ, set free to live for God in holiness and joy. Jesus is the perfect expression of what humanity was designed to be. Jesus is the supreme authority over every human authority, over the church, and over our individual moral choices. As Jesus said and we confirm: “I am the Way, The Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6).
The risen Lord Jesus Christ has been exalted to the place of honor beside God the Father. Jesus Christ the eternal Son, is now Lord of heaven and earth, advocating and interceding on behalf of the church.
As we eagerly and prayerfully anticipate that “he will come again to judge the living and the dead,” and to establish God’s righteous kingdom in fullness and perfection, we say, “Come Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20) (Matthew 1:21-23; Mark 10:45; Luke 1:31-35, 13:22-30; John 1:1-3, 14-18; Romans 3:25, 5:18-19; 1 Corinthians 1:23-25; 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:19, 21; Ephesians 1:18-23; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:1-3, 7:25, 9:11-12; 1 Timothy 2:3-6; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 2:2, 4:2-4)

We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is the power of God that makes faith real in our lives. By the Spirit, people of faith cry “Abba” as God’s adopted children. The Spirit awakens from spiritual death those whom God has chosen, convicts them of sin, comforts them with the hope of the Gospel, seals their faith, unites them with Christ and with the church, the Body of Christ. The Spirit teaches and leads believers in God’s right ways and empowers them to love and serve God.

We believe that God the Holy Spirit fulfilled the prophecy of Joel by coming upon the believers at Pentecost, and that from then on, the Holy Spirit is given to Christians upon conversion. God the Holy Spirit baptizes every Christian into the Body of Christ, empowers and gifts us all for ministry, and also produces the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Christians are born of the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and sanctified by the Spirit. God the Holy Spirit teaches Christians, guiding us into all truth through the Bible which the Holy Spirit inspired. God the Holy Spirit testifies about and glorifies Jesus.
The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the individual and collective life of believers in Jesus effects real transformation—a life of increasing holiness, righteousness, power, and love, as they are changed more and more into the image of Christ. The Spirit connects Christians to the life of Christ and releases in them the supernatural and saving power of Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and glory. (Psalm 139:7-10; John 14:26, 15:26; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 2:10-13; 6:11; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22-25; Ephesians 1:4-6, 13-14; 2:10; Philippians 2:12-13; 2 Thessalonians 2:13)