The Bible

We believe and teach that the bible is the inspired word of God.  God used men to write the bible, but they were guided by the Holy Spirit and thus the bible is without error.  We believe and teach that the bible is the new written authority by which the church is governed.  No by-laws, constitution or traditional practices supersede the bible and their existence is to be determined by the bible.  (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21)

God the Father

We believe and teach that there is only one true God.  He is a person although Spirit.  He is sovereign, perfect in His attributes, the progenitor of the universe and all therein.  He has unfolded His purposes and Himself in Jesus Christ and He actualized His purpose through His Holy Spirit.  We believe and teach the Trinitarian principle set forth in scripture: that three is one God who reveals Himself in three persons as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  (Deuteronomy 6:4; John 4:24; Matthew 28:19, 20; Isaiah 45:22)

Creation

We believe and teach that all existence has its origin in God.  The universe and the world is the work of God.  We do not believe that the universe and world and all therein is the result of impersonal force, but that the God of purpose is the progenitor. (Genesis 1:1; 1:27; 2:7; Psalms 24:1, 2)

Man

We believe and teach that man was created by God in His image.  Man is the apex of God's creation and thus man is essential in cosmic redemption.  Man chose to rebel against God and follow a life of sin.  We believe and teach that all men are sinners in need of salvation.  (Genesis 1:26-30; Psalms 8:3-6; Romans 3:23; Isaiah 53:6)

Salvation

We believe and teach that salvation has to do with cosmic redemption of which man is crucial.  Salvation presupposes the reality of sin and the need for deliverance from the consequences of sin.  We believe and teach that Christ came to deliver man from the wrath of God and from man's fallen self.  We believe and teach that salvation is a process begins in regeneration and continues to glorification.  We believe and teach that salvation is the product of God's grace and must be preceded by faith and not by works.  We believe and teach that salvation is eternal, therefore once saved, always saved.  We also believe and teach that one who is saved does not practice sin as a way of life.  (Romans 8:18-25; Romans 6:23; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Romans 5:1-5; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 5:24; 10:28, 29; 1 John 5:11-13; 5:18; 3:4-9; Romans 6:1-9; 8:29, 30)

Election and Predestination

We believe and teach that election and predestination is the purpose of God in Christ. The sovereign will of God does not negate the free will of man.  God must take the initiative in salvation, but men must respond.  We do not teach special election in that God has purpose to save some and not others, not do nor do we teach particular atonement, that Christ only died for believers.  We teach that Christ is the sphere of God's election and predestination, therefore, for one to be elected or predestined, he or she must be in Christ. (Matthew 23:37-38; John 6:44; Ephesians 1:3-13; Romans 8:28-39)

The Church

We believe and teach that the New Testament stresses the significance of the local congregation.  The local church is representative of the church general.  Every local church is to be considered the body of Christ, but there is one body which all believers form.  We believe and teach that Christ is the active head of the church, no pastor, bishop, or pope is to be considered head.  We teach that the church is theocratic and not democratic.  Although we believe in a congregational government, we moreover, believe and teach that Christ is Lord of the church and the Bible is the authoritative word that guides the church. We teach that pastors are placed in the local congregations to oversee the total operation of the church and the deacons are to assist him in ministering to the church.  We teach that one is to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be baptized by immersion to become a member of the local church.  We believe that each local congregation is independent of the other in its method of operation, but we certainly recognize the unity of the Spirit and that Christ is head of the church.  Thus, we are interdependent.  (Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42, 47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23, 27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthian 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11, 21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 3:1-15; 4:14; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelations 2-3; 21:2-3)

Baptism And the Lord's Supper

We believe and teach that baptism is significant in the Christian experience for it is symbolic of the gospel and the believers experience in salvation.  It is an act of obedience, but moreover it is a demonstration of the believers inward experience.  It is important that immersion is the mode of baptism and that it is public, for it is a testimony given.  We teach and believe that baptism is not essential to become a Christian, but submission to baptism is evidence of one's Christian commitment.  We believe and teach that one is baptized on the authority of the one God who is manifested as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  To be baptized in Jesus' name is nothing more or less than being baptized in the name of the trinity.

We believe and teach that the Lord's Supper is a symbolic observance of the death of Jesus, who died for the remission of our sins.  The membership of the local church through partaking of the bread and the wine are reminded of Jesus' sacrifice and suffering for our sake.  It also reminds the believer of the Lord's promise to return. (Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19,20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19, 20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42, 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16, 21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12)

The Lord's Day

We believe and teach that the Sabbath day is Saturday which commemorates the completion of creation and was set apart as a day of rest for man's sake.  Sunday, however, is the Lord's Day for it commemorates the resurrection of Christ; the beginning of a new creation.  We believe and teach that the Lord did not command us to worship on Saturday or Sunday, but each day commemorates a significant beginning.  However, Sunday, the resurrection day, supersedes Saturday in that hope and salvation are embedded in it.  The significance of Saturday rejoices in the light of Sunday's resurrection.  Therefore we believe and teach that Sunday ought to be a day among days that we set apart as the Lord's day where worship and fellowship with believers is the order of the day.  (Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 12:1-12; 28:1; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3; 33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1; 19:28; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; Colossians 2:16; 3:16; Revelation 1:10)

The Kingdom

We believe and teach that we are not to make any distinction between the term "kingdom of God and Kingdom of heaven".  They both refer to the rule and reign of God.  When generally speaking, we understand that God is the sovereign ruler of the universe, but when specifically speaking, we mean the rule and reign in the hearts of men.  Thus, we believe and teach, that the kingdom is commensurate in Christ, in continuum in the Christian community, and will be consummated in the age to come.  We believe that the kingdom is of the age to come, but that age has already begun in this age, therefore, the eternal life given to believers is the life of the age to come.  (Matthew 19:23-24; Isaiah 9:6-7; Matthew 3:2; 4:8-10; 23; 12:25-28; 13:1-52; 25-31-46; 26:29; Mark 1:14-15; 9:1; Luke 4:43; 8:1; 9:2; 121:31-32; 17:20-21; 23:42; John 3:3; 18:36; Acts 1:6-7)

Last Things

We believe and teach that Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly to the earth in His glory.  The dead in Christ will be raised and those who remain shall be taken up to meet the Lord in the air.  We believe and teach final judgment and that the unbelievers who willfully reject Christ will be eternally separated from God and the righteous.  Those who accept Christ will experience bodily resurrection in glorified bodies and will receive rewards based on faithfulness and will dwell forever with the Lord.  We believe and teach that it is not possible to construct a time schedule for these events.  (Matthew 16:27; 18:8,9; 24:27-30; 36; 44; 25:31-46; 26:24; Mark 8::38; Luke 12:40; 16:19-26; 17:22-37; 21:27-28; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 17:31; Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 15:24-28; 35-38; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 1:5; 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 5:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; 2 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:1, 8; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:27-28; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:7; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1-22; 13)

Evangelism and Missions

We believe and teach that the primary task of the church is to evangelize.  Every member of the church is to be involved in evangelism.  We also teach that the corporate body as well as individual members of the body ought to be witnesses unto Christ.  The Christian community is to be a preaching community as well as a witnessing community.  We believe and teach that witnessing is first of all who we are.  Second of all, evangelism is our proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We believe and teach that we are a missionary church, in that we are committed to support the various needs of domestic and foreign enterprises that have salvation as their end.  (Matthew 9:37-38; 10:5-15; 24:14; 28:18-20; Luke 10:1-18; 24:46-53; Acts 1:8; 8:1-4; 8:26-40; 10:42-48; 13:2-3; Romans 10:13-15; 1 Peter 2:4-10; James 2:14-26)

Education

We believe and teach that the goal of Christian education is to aid in developing the Jesus nature implemented by the Holy Spirit in every believer.  Cognitive learning is a means to incarnational growth (helping each other grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.)  Christian education is a means of strengthening and making clear the Christian witness.  Christian education is the discipleship process in operation in the church.  We believe and teach that effective evangelism and witnessing is an outgrowth of disciplined education.  (Deuteronomy 6:1-10; Matthew 5:2, 7; 7:24; Ephesians 4:11-16)

Stewardship

We believe and teach that stewardship is the Christian response to the Lordship of Christ.  Stewardship is living in the right perspective.  We believe and teach that sin is being a steward and acting as if you are owner.  We teach that God is owner and all that we possess comes from Him and belongs to Him, that includes ourselves.  Therefore, we are responsible to the owner to serve Him with our time, talents and material possessions to the glory of God.  We also teach that tithes and offerings is the Biblical method of supporting the work of God in the world.  However, grace giving which is giving with a sense of how much we have been blessed spiritually in Christ and materialistically through the providence of God, and physically by the mercies of God is not limited by the tithing principle.  The attitude of the giver us indicative to ones relationship to God.  (Genesis 14:20; Leviticus 27:30-32; Deuteronomy 8:18; Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 6:1-4; 19-21; 21:33-41; 23:23; 25:14-29; Luke 12:16-21, 42; 16:1-13; Acts 2A:44-47; 5:1-11; 17:24-25, 20:35; Romans 6:6-22; 112:1-2; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; 6:19, 20; 2 Corinthians 8-9; 12:15; Philippians 4:10-19; 1 Peter 1:18, 19)

Spiritual Gifts

We believe and teach that spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit as He desires, to every believer.  Spiritual gifts are innate to the spiritual birth.  The gifts are given to enable believers to carry out the work of God in the world, through the church.  We teach every that every believer has all of the fruit of the Spirit, but not all of the gifts of the Spirit.  We believe and teach that the purpose of gifts is to build up the church.  Therefore, gifts are not given for personal benefit, but rather to nurture one another in the body and to add to the body.  We believe and teach that the apostles and prophets were foundational to the church in its infancy, thus these two groups of gifted men are no longer necessary today.  We further believe and teach that the supernatural miracles that accompanied the apostles and prophets passed away with them.  This is not to say that God is not working miracles today, for salvation itself is a miracle.  We believe and teach that the gifts of prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues, and discerning of spirits are not prevalent today because of the presence of the Bible.  But this is not to say that God is not using these gifts in some remote areas where there are no Bibles.  (1 Corinthians 12:4-30; 1 Corinthians 13: 14; Romans 12:4-8; Ephesians 2:20; 4:11-16; Galatians 5:22, 23; 1 Peter 4:10)

Cooperation With Christian Bodies

We believe and teach that we are to fellowship and cooperate with Christian bodies that believe and teach the same basic doctrines of the Bible.  We do not fellowship with any Christian groups that do not accept us as Christians.  We cannot fellowship with groups that do not believe that we are saved.  We also do not fellowship with groups that were organized by men and that have other authoritative writings along side the Bible, that do not believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, that do not believe that Christ is central, that have new translations of the Bible that they have written, that are cults, etc.

Although we belong to a National and State Convention as well as a District Association, we do so voluntarily and with the understanding that these bodies do not have authority in the functioning of the local congregation.  We cooperate with these conventions and associations that we together can accomplish more for the kingdom of God than we can individually.  (Ephesians 4:13; 1 John 4:1-6; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 1 Timothy 3:1-17; Matthew 24:24; Acts 15:1-35; Galatians 1:6-10; 2:1-21; Ephesians 1:1; Revelation 1:4)

Church and State

We believe and teach that the church is to be in the world, but not part of the sinful system of the world.  We believe and teach that we should be good citizens, upholding the laws of the land when they do not violate Biblical principles.  We believe that all authority is ordained of God for our best interest.  We believe and teach that all social ministries should have salvation as their goal.  (Matthew 4:1-4; 8-10; John 6:5-15; 24-58: Luke 19:10; Matthew 5:13; 7:24; John 17:15-18; Romans 13:1-5; 1 Peter 4:15-16)

Human Sexuality

We believe and teach that legitimate sexual relations are exercised soley within marriage.  Hence, sexual actitivies, such as, but not limited to, adultery, fornication, incest, homosexuality, pedophilia and bestiality are inconcistent with the teachings of the Bible and the Church.  Futher, lascivious behavior, the creation and/or distribution and/or viewing of pornography, and efforts to alter one's gender, are incompatible with the Biblical witness.

Marriage has been ordained by God.  This Church recognizes marriage as exclusively the legal union of one man and one woman in which such union is a lifetime commitment.  (Genesis 1:26-27; Leviticus 18:19-23; Romans: Chapter 1; 1 Corinthians: Chapter 5; Hebrews 13:4)