The Triune God.  We believe that there is one true God—the God of the Bible.  And although we can never fully comprehend this mystery, God has, since before the beginning of time, existed in three “persons”—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  (Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Samuel 7:22; 1 Kings 8:23; 2 Kings 5:15; 1 Chronicles 17:20; Psalm 47:7; Isaiah 37:16, Isaiah 43:10, Isaiah 44:6; Ephesians 4:4-6)

God the Father.  God describes himself as a father to those who have faith in him—his children.  As any loving father must do, God desires the best for ,and gives the best to, his children.  This includes lavishing gifts on them, protecting them from evil, providing for their needs, empowering them, and even rebuking and disciplining them.  Fortunately, God is a gracious and merciful father who often saves his children from the earthly consequences of their wrongdoing.  His unconditional love for them is not based on their obedience to him, but on the fact that they are his children.  (Deuteronomy 32:6; Psalm 2:7; Proverbs 13:24, Proverbs 29:17; Matthew 6:25-26; John 15:16; Romans 4:11, Romans 8:14-15; Hebrews 12:5-7; I Peter 2:9)

Jesus, God the Son.  Jesus was completely human and completely God at the same time.  He never sinned, and he always did exactly what the Father wanted him to do, including allowing himself to be brutally executed on a Roman cross.  He did this to take all our punishment upon himself, for the redemption of each person who fully believes in him.  Although we are all still sinners by choice and by nature, if we accept Jesus’ free gift to us, we will be with him forever in the paradise that he is preparing for us.  Those who do not accept Jesus and his gift will be forever separated from God in a place of ultimate suffering.  This is why the Gospel message carries such urgency for us.  (Matthew 3:17, Matthew 11:27, Matthew 16:13-17, Matthew 26:63-64; Mark 14:61-62; Luke 4:17-21, Luke 22:70; John 1:1, John 3:16-18, John 4:25-26, John 6:35 & 51, John 10:30, John 11:25-26, John 14:6, John 15:1-6; Philippians 2:6)  

God, The Holy Spirit takes up residence in all people who believe in Jesus, but some people allow him to work in their lives more than others.  The Holy Spirit’s purpose on Earth is to point people to Jesus and to glorify him.  The work that he does includes drawing us to the Father, convicting us of sin, teaching us truth, encouraging us when we disparage, guiding us down right path, empowering us with faith to be bold and trust Jesus, and developing us in the unique gifts he bestows.  (John 3:5-7, John 14:25-27, John 16:5-14; Acts 1:8, Acts 2:38, Acts 4:31; Romans 8:5-9, 16 & 26; 1 Corinthians 2:10-16; Galatians 5:16-26)

The Bible.  We believe the 66 books comprising the Protestant Canon are the sole, divine word of God.  We believe that they are flawless in their original inscription, and that their compilation is guided by the Holy Spirit, rooted in the historical Church, and supported by the internal consistencies throughout Scripture.  We believe that the entirety of Scripture is vital for our lives, and we should take great care in understanding the context and original intent of the text.  We believe that God could have accomplished his Kingdom on Earth without the written word, but that He chose to reveal himself in this way out of his sovereign wisdom, for our benefit.  Although the final book was completed almost 2,000 years ago, the Bible does not fulfill its purpose until it is being lived out through the lives of its readers.  Thus, the Bible is God’s living Word, and Jesus, being the ultimate fulfillment of its message, is referred to as “the Word made flesh.”  We, as his people, have personally experienced that the Bible brings life, peace, joy, conviction and clarity to all who submit to it, and that there is power in its spoken and written word to all who receive it.  Although the Bible is the foundation of all Christian teaching, and the final authority in all disputes, it is never to be worshipped or placed on a plane equal to or greater than God himself.  (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

The Greatest Commandments.  Jesus said that all the commandments of God can be summed up in two sentences:  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." And “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  When these commandments are referred to as “the greatest” it does not mean that they are superior to other scriptures.  Rather, they are a summation that speaks to the essence of all God desires for us as his children.  In addition, we can be sure that any interpretation of scripture that does not line up with these commandments is one that needs to be reconsidered.  It is also worth noting that the love mentioned herein is not always pleasant, but it is always good. (Matthew 22:37-40)

Sin. Our Father God can only be found in the presence of perfect holiness.  Anything less is intolerable to him, and called “Sin.”  With the exception of Jesus, every human being is guilty of sin, and thus, incapable of knowing God.  For more about this, read below under “Salvation.”  God gave us his Word, the Bible, so that we would know the difference between righteousness and sin.  Therefore, we must be careful to never usurp that authority for ourselves, permitting that which the Bible does condemns, or condemning that which it permits, or is silent about. (Romans 3:10-12)

Salvation is the ultimate gift of God to humanity, and is accomplished by grace alone, through faith alone.  The Bible makes it clear that every human has rebelled against God and fallen short of his standard of perfection, or holiness.  Many religious leaders in Jesus’ day claimed that they kept God’s law perfectly, but Jesus put them in their place by teaching them that God’s standard was even more rigorous, and impossible to keep 100% of the time.  He did this to help them (and us) realize their (and our) desperate need for a Savior.  Jesus is the only one who ever has or ever will live a perfect, holy life on Earth.  In him—and him alone—is found eternal, abundant life.  In order for our rebellion, or sin, to be forgiven, a sacrifice had to be made.  Since the only acceptable sacrifice to God is a pure one, Jesus’ death was the only option for redeeming mankind to God.  When Jesus breathed his last breath, he said, “It is finished.”  Through his death, burial and resurrection (rising from the grave to live again), he made it possible for our sin to be completely forgiven—past, present and future.  From the moment a believer receives this eternal gift and his or her name is written in God’s “Book of Life”.  Jesus describes this process as being “born again”, receiving a new relationship to God and therefore a new spiritual identity.  At the moment of salvation, our identity radically changes from enemies of God to sons and daughters of God. Salvation is a gift given to those who believe that Jesus came to this earth, lived a perfect life as a human, died on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins, and rose from the grave to claim victory over all evil, including our sin.  As with any gift, for this gift to be received it must be accepted.  While we can “do” nothing to earn our salvation, we must surrender our lives completely to the sovereignty of Jesus, which is the evidence of true belief.  Believing in Jesus is more than just acknowledging that he existed, performed miracles and taught good rules to live by.  Believing (comprised of the words “be” and “live”) is putting complete trust and control of one’s life in the hands of Christ.  (Romans 3:23; Matthew 5:1-48, Matthew 19:16-21; John 14:6; Isaiah 53:7; John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:19; Romans 5:8, Romans 6:23; John 19:30; 1 Peter 1:3-5 & 11; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, 2 Corinthians 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14, John 3:5-7, Mark 8:34-36)

Faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”  It is putting complete trust in something or someone.  This is the essence of our love for God.  The Bible teaches that “without faith it is impossible to please God,” and nothing that is done apart from faith is acceptable to him.  Every man who ever has or ever will enter the Kingdom of God had done so and must do so by faith in Jesus Christ alone.  It does not take a person of “great faith” to do great things in the Kingdom of God.  All it takes is a “mustard seed” worth of faith in a great God to accomplish the miraculous.  (Isaiah 7:9; Habakkuk 2:4; Matthew 17:20; John 14:12; Romans 1:17, Romans 3:22, Romans 5:1, Romans 10:17; 2 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 11)

Obedience is both the evidence and the product of one’s faith in God.  At the same time, God is not pleased by legalistic adherence to his laws, but by faith in the Giver of those laws.  Obedience is manifested in submission to God out of trust, regardless of contrary emotion.  Without it, we cannot claim to know God.  As James, the brother of Jesus, puts it, “Faith without deeds is dead.”  (John 14:15, Romans 1:5, Romans 14:23; James 2:18-26; 1 John 2:3-5, 1 John 5:3)

The Body of Believers.  The Body/Church/Fellowship of believers is God’s plan for his Kingdom on earth, and he doesn’t intend for any Christian to go it alone.  The Church is the “Bride of Christ.”  God loves her and pursues her as a man would love and pursue his own bride.  It is also the primary means by which Christ currently exists and works in the world, and is intended to project a visible (incarnate) image of him to the world.  It is comprised of all Christ-followers, each of whom is a valuable “body part” and necessary for the health, strength and growth of the Kingdom of God.  As such, we must gather in ways that bind us together, make us more effective in our mission, and help us to encourage, teach, protect, support, and pray for one another.  (Acts 2:42-47; Romans 12:3-16; 1 Corinthians 12)