What We Believe

Our Statement of Faith

Our beliefs conform to The 2000 Baptist Faith & Message of the Southern Baptist Convention. In summary, our church believes the following.

The Scriptures

The Holy Bible was written by men and divinely inspired in its original writings. With God as its author, it is His revelation to man, totally true and trustworthy, and the supreme standard for human conduct and doctrine. All Scripture focuses on Christ and is a testimony to Him and His work.

The Triune God

There is one and only one true, eternal, personal God. He is the creator, preserver, and ruler of the universe. He is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. He is all powerful and all knowing, and His perfect knowledge extends to all things past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience.

God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

God the Father

God as Father reigns over all aspects of His created universe. He is Father to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

God the Son

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, taking upon Himself human nature fully (with the exception of sin) while retaining the fullness of His divine nature. He lived a sinless life, was crucified on the cross, died, was buried, and was raised from the dead with a glorified body. He appeared to His disciples and ascended into heaven.

God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son. He illuminates truth in the hearts of men and women, and convicts us of sin. He calls us to Christ and effects regeneration. He cultivates Christian character–the fruits of the Spirit–and bestows spiritual gifts for serving the church. He intercedes for us in our prayers. He dwells in and with believers, and is the guarantee that God will bring all believers into the fullness of Christ.

Man and Sin

Mankind (male and female) is the crowning work of God’s creation, made in His own image. In the beginning mankind was innocent of sin. But by their free choice, they sinned against God and brought sin and death, pain and suffering to the human race and into the world. All have thus inherited a nature inclined to sin and are under condemnation.

Salvation and Sanctification

Christ’s death on the cross provided for a substitutionary atonement for our sins, a justification of the sinner and a forgiveness of sins. It provides for our redemption and for our reconciliation with God. This salvation is offered freely to all who have been elected by God, who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and who repent and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It is not on the basis of their works, no matter how good they are. There is no salvation apart from Christ, and our salvation is eternally secure by the power and grace of God.

Once justified, the believer undergoes the experience of sanctification, the cooperative work of the Holy Spirit by which the believer grows toward spiritual maturity.

The Church

The church is the New Testament community of believers assembled for fellowship and the observation of the ordinances, exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit and seeking to extend the gospel to all nations. The church is the body and bride of Christ, and our justification and sanctification occur in the context of the church.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

The ordinance of baptism is the immersion of a believer in water. It is a testimony to the faith of the new believer and an act of obedience. It symbolizes the believer’s death to sin, burial of the old life, and resurrection to walk in newness of life.

The ordinance of the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience where the church partakes of the bread and fruit of the vine to memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

Last Things

Jesus promised that He would return one day, personally and visibly, in God’s own time, to the earth. When He returns, the dead will be raised and all mankind will be judged. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, a place of everlasting punishment. The justified will be glorified and dwell forever with God in the New Heavens and the New Earth.

The complete Baptist Faith & Message can be found at www.sbc.net