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1. THE SCRIPTURES
We believe...
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The Bible is the inspired word of
God and the product of Spirit-controlled men;
therefore it is without error in the original
writings. |
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This divine inspiring extends
equally to each word and to all parts of the
sixty-six books of the Bible. |
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All the Scriptures, both the Old
and New Testaments, center on Jesus Christ.
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All Scripture is to be
interpreted in the natural, historical,
grammatical, literal manner.
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All Scripture was designed for
our practical instruction and that it is the
believer’s sole authority.
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Scriptural
References:
2 Timothy
3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Peter 3:15-16; 1
Corinthians 2:13; John 14:26, 16:13, 17:17;
Hebrews 1:1-2.
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2. THE TRUE GOD
We
believe...
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There is only one living and true
God existing as three persons, the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. |
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The members of the Godhead have the
same nature and attributes and are worthy of the
same worship and honor. |
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The
Father is the source of all things and the one
who sent the Son as His gift into the world.
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Jesus Christ is the Son of God,
eternal and equal with the Father, born of the
Virgin Mary, and that He is both true God and true
man. |
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Jesus
Christ died for our sin on our behalf.
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Jesus
Christ rose physically from the dead and
ascended to the right
hand of
the Father, where He is now ministering on our
behalf.
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Jesus
Christ will receive us unto Himself at His
coming and will return a second time to
establish His earthly kingdom.
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The Holy Spirit is a divine
person who is co-equal with the Father and
Son and that He was active in
creation, convicts the world of sin, reveals
Christ and unites all believers as one body
along with such work as
sealing, indwelling, empowering,
teaching, guiding, sanctifying, and
gifting.
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Revelatory and sign gifts of the
Holy Spirit were given to the early
church for the primary purpose
of authenticating its ministry.
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God created the heavens and the
earth including all life, each after its
own species, by direct act and
not by the process of evolution.
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Scriptural
References:
John 4:24;
Deuteronomy 6:4; Genesis 1:1-31; Colossians 2:9;
Hebrews 1:1-2;
John 1:1; John 1:14-18; John 8:58; Philippians
2:5-8;
1 Peter 2:24; 1
Peter 3:18; Hebrews 7:25; Matthew 28:19;
2 Corinthians
13-14; Matthew 1:18-25; John 14:26, 16:7-14;
Ephesians
1:13-14; Psalm 139:7-12; Hebrews 9:14; Luke
24:49;
Acts 5:3,4;
Romans 8:9-16, 26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 12:13;
2 Corinthians
12:12; Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:3; Exodus
20:11.
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3. MAN/SIN
We believe...
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Man is
the product of the direct creative act of God,
made in the image
of God.
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In the
sanctity of human life begins at the point of
conception.
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All
sexual relationships must pattern themselves
after a faithful heterosexual relationship
within marriage.
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Through
voluntary disobedience to God man fell from his
original
position
of innocence and sinlessness, and as a
consequence became separated from God in
fellowship and became subject to the power of
Satan.
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Sin has
been transmitted to the entire human race so
that every
child of
Adam is born into the world with a fallen nature
devoid of
spiritual
life and is powerless to recover from this
condition.
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Scriptural
References:
Genesis 1:26-27,
2:7, 3:1-6; Romans 1:18-32, 3:1-24, 5:10-19.
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4. SALVATION
We
believe...
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Salvation
is entirely of God, by grace, through personal
faith in the
death and
resurrection of Christ, wholly apart from any
human merit, works, or foreseen faith.
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Believers
were chosen sovereignly by God before the
foundation of
the world
for salvation and are enabled by the Holy Spirit
to believe
in Christ
and the good news of forgiveness and salvation.
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The new
nature and eternal life are communicated to
believers by a supernatural work of the Holy
Spirit.
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Believers
have a right standing before God in that their
sins were put
on Christ
and His righteousness was accredited to them.
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All
believers were set apart for God at the point of
salvation and the believer is increasingly
brought into conformity to the holiness of God,
a process
brought to completion only at the return of
Christ.
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All who
are truly born again will be kept by Christ and
will persevere
in faith
unto the day of complete redemption.
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Scriptural
References:
Ephesians 2:1-8;
Titus 3:5-6; Acts 16:31; John 3:3-7; 2
Corinthians 5:17;
1 Peter 1:23; 2
Peter 1:4; Ephesians 1:4-11; 2 Thessalonians
2:13;
Romans 5:1; 1
Corinthians 1:2; Philippians 1:6; Romans
8:33-39;
John 10:27-29.
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5. THE CHURCH
We believe...
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The
Church is the Body and Bride of our Lord and began fifty days after the
crucifixion of Christ.
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The local
church is a congregation of immersed believers
and its purpose is to glorify God by building
itself up in the faith, by instruction of the
Word, by fellowship, by keeping the ordinances
and by advancing and communicating the gospel to
the entire world.
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The
ordinances of the church are baptism by
immersion as the
identifying
symbol of one’s belief in Christ’s death and
resurrection,
and
communion which is a commemoration of Christ’s
death until He comes.
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The local
church has the absolute right of
self-government free from
the
interference of any hierarchy of individuals or
organizations; and
that the
one and only superintendent is Christ, through
the Holy Spirit.
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The
church has the responsibility to be a voice for
justice and truth in
the
world.
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In
separation from all sinful practices and all
spiritual apostasy.
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Scriptural
Reference:
Acts 2:1-6; Acts
11:15; Acts 2:41-42; Ephesians 5:25-33;
Ephesians 3:31; Ephesians 4:13-16; 2 Timothy
2:2, 15; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Acts 2:47;
1 John 1:3; Luke
22:19; Acts 2:38-42; Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8; 2
Corinthians 6:14;
Matthew 6:15-16; Ephesians 1:22-24;
Ephesians
4:11-12; Ephesians 5:23; 1 Timothy 3:15;
Colossians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28; 1 John
2:15-16; 1 John 4:1-3; 2 Corinthians 5:20;
Matthew 18:15-17; Matthew 16:18.
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6. ANGELS
We
believe...
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We
believe that God created an innumerable host of
personal spirit beings, commonly known as
angels, to glorify and serve Him. The ministries
of angels include rendering assistance to
believers as God directs.
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We
believe Satan was created holy but rebelled
against the Creator, involving numerous angels
in his fall, and introducing sin to the human
race by the temptation of our first parents.
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We
believe Satan was defeated in the death of
Christ and will be tormented forever.
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We
believe Satan’s control over Christians is
limited to external
influences
that may be resisted by the believer.
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Scriptural
References:
Hebrews 1:6;
Psalm 34:7; Psalm 91:11; Hebrews 1:14;
Revelation 5:11; Ezekiel 28:1-19; Genesis 3:1-5;
Matthew 4:1-11; Revelation 20:10.
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7. FUTURE EVENTS
We believe...
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In the
any-moment-coming of Jesus Christ for His church
at which time all church saints will be raised,
glorified and rewarded.
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Christ
will return at the second coming to set up His
millennial kingdom, to overthrow Satan, and to
re-gather Israel to their promised land.
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In the
physical resurrection of all the dead; the saved
to life eternal, the unsaved to eternal judgment
and separation from God in the lake of fire.
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The
eternal state will begin following the judgment
for the lost with believers of all time enjoying
God forever.
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Scriptural
References:
1 Thessalonians
4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:22-28; Revelation
1:5-7; Revelation 19:11-16; Revelation 20:1-6;
John 5:22; Romans 14:10-12; Revelation 21-22;
John 14:1-3.
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