THE GOSPEL

When we speak of "The Gospel," it simply means "The Good News." It is the good news about what God has done for us through Jesus. It is the most important news you will ever hear. There are several key components of the Gospel:

God

God is completely and perfectly loving, holy, wise, just, and merciful. As a loving God, he created us to bring glory to himself by being in relationship with us.

Sin

But every one of us has sinned (done wrong things) against God. Sin includes things like lying, stealing, coveting, and rebellion. This broke our relationship with God. Because God is holy, he cannot tolerate our sin, and must punish it. To do otherwise would go against his nature. The only just and fair punishment for sin against the holy God is death (eternal separation from God). Therefore, we all deserve this eternal death.

Jesus Came

In his infinite wisdom, God ordained a plan that would solve our sin problem. He sent his only Son, Jesus, into the world as a man. Jesus came as both God and man, and lived a perfect life without sin--something no other man could ever do.

Jesus Died

After a few years of ministry on earth, Jesus was put to death on a cross. But since Jesus had lived a sinless life, when he died, he took the punishment for our sins. It was the perfect show of love, holiness, justice, and mercy. Jesus showed us God's love by dying for us. And since God is holy and just, he was able to punish the sins of mankind appropriately. But because he is loving and merciful, he can now show us mercy and grace because the punishment for our sins has been paid by Jesus.

Jesus Rose Again

The cross would be meaningless if Jesus had stayed dead. Three days after dying, Jesus came back to life. There is solid evidence that historically supports this event. The resurrection proved that Jesus had conquered sin and death, and that he could rightfully offer us eternal life with God.

Our Response

The Gospel calls for a response from us. Without Jesus, we are dead in our sins. We need God's forgiveness and grace. And God offers this grace as a free gift to us. We can do nothing to earn this gift. All we have to do is accept the gift from God!  We do this by admitting that we have sinned, believing that Jesus died and rose again for us, and turning from our sins and living a life of obedience for God.

If you would like to know more or to talk to someone about this decision, please don't hesitate to e-mail or call the church. This is the most important decision you could ever make in your entire life.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

OUR BELIEFS

If you want to peruse our more detailed statement of faith, you can do so below.

The Bible
We believe the Bible to be the complete Word of God; that the 66 books, as originally written, comprising the Old and New Testaments, were verbally inspired by the Spirit of God and were entirely free from error; that the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice and the true basis of Christian union.

God
We believe in one God, Creator of all, holy, sovereign, eternal, existing in three equal, eternal Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

The Father
We believe in the absolute and essential deity of the Father, in His preeminent    role in the revelation of God; that He is Father primarily in light of the relationship which He sustains with the eternal Son whom He gave for the redemption of man and that He becomes our Father when we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ the Son
We believe in the absolute and essential deity of Jesus Christ, in His existence with the Father in preincarnate glory, in His virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, triumphant ascension, mediatorial ministry and personal return.

The Holy Spirit
We believe in the absolute and essential deity and personality of the Holy Spirit who convinces of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; who regenerates, sanctifies, illuminates, empowers, and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ. He it is who, according to His will, gifts every believer. No one of His gifts is common to all, or Biblically designated as the sign of true spirituality.

Satan
We believe that Satan exists as an evil personality, the originator of sin, and the archenemy of God and man.

Man
We believe that man was divinely created in the image of God; that he sinned, becoming guilty before God resulting in total depravity, thereby incurring physical and spiritual death.

Salvation
We believe that salvation is by the sovereign, electing grace of God; that by the appointment of the Father, Christ voluntarily suffered and gave His life in place of man (as the vicarious sacrifice) and that, through His death, He bore the wrath of God against sin (as the propitiation), thereby paying the penalty (providing expiation) for sin. We believe that being declared right (justification) before God is by faith alone in the all-sufficient sacrifice and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and that those whom God has effectually called shall be divinely preserved and finally perfected in the image of the Lord.

Future Things
We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ; in the resurrection of the just and unjust; in the eternal blessedness of the redeemed and in the judgment and conscious, eternal punishment of the wicked.

The Local Church
We believe that a church is a company of  believers, baptized by immersion, called out from the world, separated unto the Lord Jesus and voluntarily associated for the ministry of the Word, the mutual edification of its members, the propagation of the faith and the observance of the ordinances. We believe it is a sovereign, independent body, exercising its own divinely awarded gifts, precepts and privileges under the Lordship of Christ, the Great Head of the Church. We believe that its officers are pastors/elders and deacons.

Ordinances
We believe that there are only two ordinances for the church regularly observed in the New Testament in the following order:
Baptism, which is the immersion of the believer in water, whereby he obeys Christ’s command and sets forth his identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
The Lord’s Supper, which is the memorial wherein the believer partakes the two elements, bread and wine, which symbolize the Lord’s body and shed blood, proclaiming His death until He comes.

The Church and State
We believe in the separation of church and state.

Religious Liberty
We believe in religious liberty; that every person has the right to practice and propagate his or her beliefs.

The Lord's Day
We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day and that, in a special sense, it is the divinely appointed day for worship and spiritual exercise.

Civil Government
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interest and good order of society; that those in authority are to be prayed for, conscientiously honoured and obeyed except only in the things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience and Prince of the kings of the earth.