About Us
Our Beliefs: A Statement of Faith
THE HOLY SPIRIT -The Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of
life, convicts the world of sin, righteousness and
judgment. Through the proclamation of the gospel He
persuades men to repent of their sins and confess Jesus as
Lord. By the same Spirit a person is led to trust in divine
mercy. The Holy Spirit unites believers to Jesus Christ in
faith, brings about the new birth, and dwells within the
regenerate. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify the Son
who in turn came to glorify the Father. He will lead the
Church into a right understanding and rich application of
the truth of God's Word. He is to be respected, honored,
and worshipped as God the Third Person of the Trinity.
MAN - God made man - male and female - in His own image, as the crown of creation, that man might have
fellowship with Him. Tempted by Satan, man rebelled against God. Being estranged from his Maker, yet
responsible to Him, he became subject to divine wrath, inwardly depraved and, apart from a special work of
grace, utterly incapable of returning to God. This depravity is radical and pervasive. It extends to his mind,
will and affections. Unregenerate man lives under the dominion of sin and Satan. He is at enmity with God,
hostile toward God, and hateful of God. Fallen, sinful people, whatever their character or attainments, are
lost and without hope apart from salvation in Christ.

THE GOSPEL - Jesus Christ is the gospel. The good news is revealed in his birth, life, death, resurrection and
ascension. Christ's crucifixion is the heart of the gospel, His resurrection is the power of the gospel, and his
ascension is the glory of the gospel. Christ's death is a substitutionary and propitiatory sacrifice to God for
our sins. It satisfies the demands of God's holy justice and appeases His holy wrath. It also demonstrates His
mysterious love and reveals His amazing grace. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man.
There is no other name by which men must be saved. At the heart of all sound doctrine is the cross of Jesus
Christ and the infinite privilege that redeemed sinners have of glorifying God because of what He has
accomplished. Therefore, we want all that takes place in our hearts, church and ministries to proceed from
and be related to the cross.

MAN'S RESPONSE TO THE GOSPEL - Man's response to the gospel is rooted and grounded in the free and
unconditional election of God for His own pleasure and glory. It is also true that the message of the gospel is
only effectual to those who genuinely repent of their sins and, by God's grace, put saving faith in Christ. This
gospel of grace is to be sincerely preached to all men in all nations. Biblical repentance is characterized by a
changed life, and saving faith is evidenced by kingdom service or works. While neither repentance nor works
save, unless a person is willing to deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow Christ, he cannot become His
disciple.
MAN'S INHERITANCE THROUGH THE GOSPEL - Salvation,
the free gift of God, is provided by grace alone, through
faith alone, because of Christ alone, for the glory of God
alone. Anyone turning from sin in repentance and looking
to Christ and His substitutionary death receives the gift of
eternal life and is declared righteous by God as a free gift.
The righteousness of Christ is imputed to him. He is
justified and fully accepted by God. Through Christ's
atonement for sin an individual is reconciled to God as
Father and becomes His child. The believer is forgiven the
debt of his sin and, via the miracle of regeneration,
liberated from the law of sin and death into the freedom of
God's Spirit.
SANCTIFICATION - The Holy Spirit is the active agent in our sanctification and seeks to produce His fruit in
us as our minds are renewed and we are conformed to the image of Christ. Though indwelling sin remains a
reality, as we are led by the Spirit, we grow in the knowledge of the Lord, freely keeping His commandments
and endeavoring to so live in the world that all people may see our good works and glorify our Father who
is in heaven. All believers are exhorted to persevere in the faith knowing they will have to give an account
to God for their every thought, word and deed. The spiritual disciplines, especially Bible study, prayer,
worship and confession, are a vital means of grace in this regard. Nevertheless, the believer's ultimate
confidence to persevere is based in the sure promise of God to preserve His people until the end which is
most certain.

EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT - In addition to effecting regeneration and sanctification, the Holy Spirit also
empowers believers for Christian witness and service. While all genuine believers are indwelt by the Holy
Spirit at conversion, the New Testament indicates the importance of an ongoing, empowering work of the
Spirit subsequent to conversion as well. Being indwelt by the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit are
theologically distinct experiences. The Holy Spirit desires to fill each believer continually with increased
power for Christian life and witness, and imparts his supernatural gifts for the edification of the Body and
for various works of ministry in the world. All the gifts of the Holy Spirit at work in the church of the
first-century are available today, are vital for the mission of the church, and are to be earnestly desired and
practiced.

THE CHURCH - God by His Word and Spirit creates the Church, calling sinful men out of the whole human
race into the fellowship of Christ's Body. By the same Word and Spirit, He guides and preserves that new
redeemed humanity. The Church is not a religious institution or denomination. Rather, the Church
universal is made up of those who have become genuine followers of Jesus Christ and have personally
appropriated the gospel. The Church exists to worship and glorify God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It
also exists to serve Him by faithfully doing His will on the earth. This involves a commitment to see the
gospel preached and churches planted in all the world for a testimony. The ultimate mission of the Church
is the making of disciples through the preaching of the gospel. When God transforms human nature, this
then becomes the chief means of society's transformation. Upon conversion, newly redeemed men and
women are added to a local church in which they devote themselves to teaching, fellowship, the Lord's
Supper and prayer.
All members of the Church universal are to be a vital
and committed part of a local church. In this context
they are called to walk out the New Covenant as the
people of God and demonstrate the reality of the
kingdom of God. The ascended Christ has given gift
ministries to the church (including apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors and teachers) for the equipping of
Christ's body that it might mature and grow. Through
the gift ministries all members of the Church are to be
nurtured and equipped for the work of ministry. Women
play a vital role in the life of the church but in keeping
with God's created design, they are not permitted "to
teach or to have authority over a man" (1 Tim. 2:11).
Leadership in the church is male. In the context of the local church, God's people receive pastoral care
and leadership and the opportunity to employ their God-given gifts in His service in relation to one
another and to the world.

SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH - Water baptism is only intended for the individual who has received the
saving benefits of Christ's atoning work and become His disciple. Therefore, in obedience to Christ's
command and as a testimony to God, the Church, oneself and the world, a believer should be immersed in
water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Water baptism is a visual demonstration of a
person's union with Christ in the likeness of His death and resurrection. It signifies that his former way of
life has been put to death and vividly depicts a person's release from the mastery of sin.

As with water baptism, the Lord's Supper is to be observed only by those who have become genuine
followers of Christ. This ordinance symbolizes the breaking of Christ's body and the shedding of his blood
on our behalf, and is to be observed repeatedly throughout the Christian life as a sign of continued
participation in the atoning benefits of Christ's death. As we partake of the Lord's Supper with an attitude
of faith and self-examination, we remember and proclaim the death of Christ, receive spiritual
nourishment for our souls, and signify our unity with other members of Christ's body.

THE CONSUMMATION - The Consummation of all things includes the visible, personal and glorious return
of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead and the translation of those alive in Christ, the judgment of
the just and the unjust, and the fulfillment of Christ's kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth. In
the Consummation, Satan with his hosts and all those outside Christ are finally separated from the
benevolent presence of God, enduring eternal punishment, but the righteous, in glorious bodies, shall live
and reign with Him forever. Married to Christ as His Bride, the Church will be in the presence of God
forever, serving Him and giving Him unending praise and glory. Then shall the eager expectation of
creation be fulfilled and the whole earth shall proclaim the glory of God Who makes all things new.


Copyright © 1998, 2001 Sovereign Grace Ministries .
GOD IS TRIUNE - There is one God: infinite, eternal, almighty, and perfect in holiness, truth, and love. In
the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, co-existent, co-equal,
co-eternal. The Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit, yet each is truly Deity. One God -
Father, Son and Holy Spirit - is the foundation of Christian faith and life.





GOD THE FATHER - God the Father is the Creator of heaven and earth. By His word and for His glory, He
freely and supernaturally created the world from nothing. Through the same Word He daily sustains all His
creatures. He rules over all and is the only Sovereign. His plans and purposes cannot be thwarted. He is
faithful to every promise, works all things together for good to those who love Him, and in his unfathomable
grace gave His Son Jesus Christ for mankind's redemption. He made man for fellowship with Himself, and
intended that all creation should live to the praise of His glory.

JESUS CHRIST - Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, was the eternal Word made flesh,
supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He was perfect in nature, teaching and
obedience. He is fully God and fully man. He was always with God and is God. Through Him all things came
into being and were created. He was before all things and in Him all things hold together by the word of His
power. He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation and in Him dwells the fullness of the
Godhead bodily. He is the only Savior for the sins of the world, having shed His blood and died a vicarious
death on Calvary's cross. By His death in our place, He revealed the divine love and upheld divine justice,
removing our guilt and reconciling us to God. Having redeemed us from sin, on the third day He rose bodily
from the grave, victorious over death and the powers of darkness, and for a period of forty days appeared to
over five hundred witnesses, performing many convincing proofs of His resurrection. He ascended into
heaven where, at God's right hand, He intercedes for his people and rules as Lord over all. He is the Head of
His body, the Church, and should be adored, loved, served and obeyed by all.
THE SCRIPTURES - We accept the Bible, including the
39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New
Testament, as the written Word of God. The Bible is the
only essential and infallible record of God's self-disclosure
to mankind. It leads us to salvation through faith in Jesus
Christ. Being given by God, the Scriptures are both fully
and verbally inspired by God. Therefore, as originally
given, the Bible is free of error in all it teaches. Each book is
to be interpreted according to its context and purpose and
in reverent obedience to the Lord who speaks through it in
living power. All believers are exhorted to study the
Scriptures and diligently applythem to their lives. The
Scriptures are the authoritative and normative rule and
guide of all Christian life, practice, and doctrine. They are totally sufficient and must not be added to,
superseded, or changed by later tradition, extra-biblical revelation, or worldly wisdom. Every doctrinal
formulation, whether of creed, confession, or theology, must be put to the test of the full counsel of God in
Holy Scripture.