“He is there and He is not silent.” Francis Schaeffer

Since God is a speaking-God we celebrate the fact that the God of heaven can be known, because He has sought us out and made Himself known (Hebrews 1:1-4; 2 Timothy 3:16.) Our aim, therefore, is to be wholeheartedly committed to the great doctrines of Scripture and historic evangelical beliefs, so that we can know and exalt the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Below is a summary of our core theological beliefs. For a more comprehensive expression of our beliefs, please see our Doctrinal Statement.

THE BIBLE

In a unique and glorious way, God wrote a book. We believe the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are the very words of God, written by historical authors under the divine inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit. They make up the authoritative and infallible Word of God, our supreme rule for faith and practice.

THE LIVING GOD

There is one true and living God who is the Creator of all things, the gracious Savior of sinners, and the sovereign King of the universe. God eternally exists in the unity of three distinct Persons — God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three Persons are one with each other, equal in their eternity and divine attributes, and partner together in both the creation and redemption of human beings.

MANKIND

In the creation of all things, God created human beings, male and female, in His own glorious image. God bestowed on them the glory and joy and loving fellowship with Himself, He made them sinless and equal in dignity and worth, and He wisely created them for complimentary roles in the contexts of marriage, family, and the local church.

THE FALL

As a result of the disobedience and rebellion of our first parents (Adam and Eve), the human race fell from its perfect condition in fellowship with God into a condition of decay, sorrow, sin, death, and separation from God. The world we see is not the world that was; and who we are is not who we were originally meant to be. We are far from home. In this fallen condition, all men and women are now sinful by nature and by choice, deserving of divine punishment, and entirely unable to remedy the situation. We stand utterly in need of God’s redeeming initiative and sovereign grace; which He is pleased to give through His Son, Jesus Christ.

THE REDEEMER

The just God (who must pronounce judgment on the guilty) is an infinitely merciful God (who bears the judgment in their place for their deliverance.) From eternity past, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit formed a plan to redeem a people from their sins and restore them to their glory and joy in fellowship with God.

The Son of God came into the world as a man amongst men—God in the flesh. Jesus was and remains fully divine and fully human in his one Person. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin, He lived a life of perfect righteousness on our behalf, He bore the divine punishment for our sins in His death at Calvary, and He bodily rose from the grave on the third day—proving His divine identity and overcoming the reign of sin, death, and Satan.

He now sits at God’s right hand in heaven, He is gathering His people to Himself from all corners of the earth through the ministry of the gospel, He continually intercedes for us, and He will return to finish God’s restoration process.

SALVATION

God’s gift of salvation in Christ is freely offered to all and is received, not by works or merit, but by faith alone in Christ alone. All who by God’s grace are brought to saving faith in Christ: the Spirit of God now dwells within them in new spiritual life (regeneration), they are eternally forgiven of all sins and credited with the righteousness of Christ in a new standing before the Father (justification), they are made the beloved sons and daughters of God (adoption), they are being shaped into the likeness of Christ through life’s pilgrimage (sanctification), they will never perish or fall from grace (preservation), and they will be kept by God until they inherit glorified bodies in God’s eternal, glorified kingdom (glorification.)

THE CHURCH

All who place their faith in Jesus Christ are brought into His one universal Church, composed of all believers and local churches world-wide. A local church is an outpost of Christ’s eternal Kingdom and is meant to be a foretaste of what will come upon His return. Each local church is commissioned by God to proclaim His gospel, preach His Word, love and serve one another, do the work of faithful evangelism, make disciples, and observe the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

THE RESTORATION

In the culmination of God’s purposes, Jesus Christ will visibly, physically, and personally return to the earth to judge the living and the dead, defeat all evil, bring His Church into eternal glory, and set up His eternal Kingdom of righteousness and peace. All those who are in Christ will be raised to everlasting joy and life on the basis of His saving work (e.g Heaven). All those outside of Christ will be raised to judgement and everlasting misery, receiving the just penalty of sin (e.g. Hell). God will create a new heavens and a new earth, wherein we will dwell in the endless glory and joy His fellowship. The old things will have passed away and God will make all things new.