The Bible: All 66 books of Scripture are uniquely and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, and are perfect in all that they teach. They are the only rule of faith and practice, and are the supreme and final authority on all matters to which they speak. The Bible is God’s story of Creation, the Fall, and Redemption solely in Christ, and the promised Second Coming of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Psalm 119, 2Tim 3:16-17, 2:15, Col 3:16, Heb 4:12, 2Peter 1:20-21

Trinity: God has existed in relationship with Himself for all eternity. He exists as one substance in persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Equal in power and authority each serves a different function.

Gen 1:26, Isa 61:1, Matt 28:19, Mk 1:9-11, Lk 1:35, John 5:21, 14:26, Acts 1:7-8, Acts 2:4, 5:3-4,Rom 5:5, 2Cor 13:14, Eph 1:20-23, 5:18-20, Phil 2:9-11, 1John 1:3

God the Father: We believe in one God, the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things. He is holy, slow to anger and abounding with love. He is unchanging, all powerful, all knowing, and fully present everywhere. He is self existent, needing nothing but Himself to survive. God communicates to us through all of nature, but is revealed most clearly in Scripture. He is the author of our salvation.

Gen 1:1, Ps 103, 97, 139:13, Lev 19:2, Isa 44:6, Mal 3:6, John 3:16, Rom 5:8, 8:31-33, 10:20, Eph 1:4-6, 11, 2:4, Phil 1:6, Col 1:16

God the Son: Jesus Christ was and is the very Son of God, born to a virgin named Mary. He descended from heaven and as God, took on the flesh of man. He was very God and very man, as He lived in bodily form on earth. Jesus lived a perfect life and was sinless and righteous in every way, yet He died on a cross, a sinless sacrifice for our sins. The third day He rose bodily from the grave and walked and ministered on earth for approximately 40 days, being seen by hundreds of witnesses. He ascended into Heaven and now sits at the right hand of God the Father, interceding as our new High Priest, for the children of God. He will return again in a visible form to bring both judgment and blessings upon the earth. He accomplished our salvation.

Matt 1:22-23, Luke 1:26-38, 2:11, John 1-5, 14, 11:25-26, 14:6, Acts 4:12, Rom 5:1-9, 6:23, Gal 4:4, 5:1

God the Holy Spirit: Jesus said as He ascended into Heaven that He would send the Holy Spirit, who would dwell among us here on earth. The Holy Spirit has now come (Acts 2) and glorifies Christ and applies His saving work to the hearts of His children. He convicts us of sin, and works sovereignly in our lives to draw us closer to Christ. He gives new life, and guides us to all truth, and seals us for the Day of our Redemption. He applies our salvation.

John 6:44, 14:16-17, 16:7-13, Acts 2:1-4, 2Cor 3:17, Gal 4:6, 5:22-23, Eph 1:1, 13

Eternal Security: God is the author and finisher of our salvation. He will complete that work which He began in us. We do nothing to attain our salvation and we do nothing to maintain it. Salvation is of the Lord, alone. It is the alien righteousness of Christ that sustains us, not our own righteous, as we have no righteousness to offer. Is obedience important to God, and for our own happiness? Absolutely! Christ has come that we would know life, and life to the full (SonLife!). The more we live in obedience to His Word, the more we will realize the life that God has for us – but our obedience has nothing to do with gaining or maintaining our salvation.

Isa 41:10-14, 43:1-3, 46:4, John 10:28-29, 11:25-26, Rom 8:1-3, 31-33, 37-39, 11:29, Eph 1:13-14, Phl 1:6, Heb 7:25, 1Ptr 1:3-5, 23

Salvation: Being separated from God by our sinful hearts, we are wholly reliant upon the sovereign grace of God and the righteousness of Christ for our salvation. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 The cost of our sin is eternal damnation. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 “But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 Jesus the Christ came to earth as our Redeemer, to pay the price for our sins! As Jesus “knocks” on the door of our hearts we must repent, Acts 17:30 (turn away from our sin) and believe that He is the Son of God, and that He died for our sins, paying the perfect and total price for them all. And that He forgives us totally, and remembers our sin no more, but only the alien righteousness of Christ that has been credited to our “account”. We had a debt we could not pay – He paid a debt He did not owe. We must ask Jesus Christ to come into our hearts save us from the penalty of our sins, and be the Lord of our lives. “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 His grace is free to all who call upon His name, and it’s a good thing because we have no good works with which to buy it. As children of God we are heirs of eternal life, we are at once justified before God, and the life long process of sanctification, becoming more and more like Christ, begins.

The Church: Jesus Christ died for the Church, which is made up of all those who believe and are saved. People from every tribe, tongue and nation on the earth are a part of this glorious spiritual organism. The visible Church is far from perfect, but as the very Bride of Christ, she is seen as holy by God. The Church, the fellowship of believers, is God’s witness on earth to all who will believe. Jesus died for the Church, and will come back as the Groomsman for a great wedding one day, between He, the Groomsman, and the Bride, His Church. This will be the consummation of all history and is the eternal unchangeable plan of God.

Matt 16:15-19,John 17:6-26, Acts 2:42-47, Col 1:18, Eph 2:19-22, 3:21, Heb 10:25, Rev 21:2, 10-11

There are five “marks” of a church: 1) Christ is the Head of the Church (1Ptr 5:4, Col 1:18) 2) Qualified Leadership (1Tim 3:1-13, 1Ptr 5:1-4, Heb 13:17) 3) Bible Preached Rightly “Christ Centered/Cross Focused” (1Tim 3:16- 4:5, Rev 14:6) 4) Sacraments Given (Baptism/Communion) (Matt 28:19, 1Cor 11:23-29) 5) Church Discipline is Rightly Enacted (purpose: Restoration) (1Cor 5:4-5, 12-13, Hebrews 13:17

As a Believer, what is important to God? Jesus stated clearly in the gospel of Matthew chapter 22 verses 37-39. The greatest commandment is this: To love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is a summary of the first four of the Ten Commandments (Exodus chapter 20). 1. You shall have no other God’s before me, 2. You shall have no idols, 3. You shall not misuse the name of God, and 4. You shall keep the Sabbath Day holy. The second greatest commandment, Jesus stated, is this: To love your neighbor as yourself. This is a summary of the last six commandments given in Exodus, (Rom 13:9) 5. You shall honor your parents, 6. You shall not kill, 7. You shall not commit adultery, 8. You shall not steal, 9. You shall not lie, and 10.You shall not covet your neighbors possessions. No one besides Christ Himself has ever kept these commandments, in thought and deed, and no one ever will, but it is the desire of every believer’s heart to please their Father in Heaven, (not so that He’ll love us, He already loves us!) and to love God and others as Christ first loved them.

If you haven’t already, there will be a day when you ask Christ to come into your heart and life. It is like a line in your life that you will not cross back over, “from this point on I will love and serve the Lord with my life and all that He gives me…” You will struggle with sin, everyone does (Rom 7:15ff). But unlike before, God will pick you up again and again and place you on your feet to follow Him again, and again. He will never give up on you, nor will He EVER, EVER stop loving you. When you make that decision let our pastor know, he would love to rejoice with you!