We believe in the triune God found in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, that he is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe that the Father sent His Son, Jesus, who is our hope and who saves us from our failings (sins). We believe that His salvation is an entirely free gift given by Him, not something we earn. Anyone who calls on Jesus as their Lord and Savior can be transformed by His grace and be a Christian. We believe God’s Word is completely true and is how we learn about this good news that God intends for us.
We believe that the Bible is the authority on what Christians should believe. The twelve points included below are a summary of our core beliefs about what the Bible teaches us. In addition to our own summary, we join with the Church around the world in affirming the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed as statements of Biblical truth. For those wanting a deeper explanation of our beliefs beyond what is below, we believe the Westminster Standards are a faithful, more in-depth overview of what Scripture teaches.
We believe in the one true God of the Bible, all powerful, all knowing and eternal; we believe that this God exists in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and that these three are one. (Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14)
We believe that God created all that exists from nothing and that the continued existence of all of creation comes from God’s active care for His creation. (Genesis 1:1-2, Matthew 10:29, Acts 17:26-28)
We believe in Jesus, the Son of God, who is God made flesh, both fully God and fully Man. We believe in His physical death and His physical resurrection after three days in the tomb. (John 10:30, Philippians 2:5-7)
We believe in the Holy Spirit, who is present in all believers as the divine comforter sent by the Father and Son to provide support and guidance since the time of Pentecost. (John 16:17, Acts 2:1-4)
We believe that every person was made in the image of God, but through willful disobedience to God, all of humanity fell into a corrupt state. In this fallen state, we are unable to do anything to bring about our own salvation. (Romans 1:19-23, 3:23, 5:12)
We believe that God, in His mercy and despite our sinfulness, chose to give His grace to anyone who would repent of sin and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. This salvation is a gift from God given without any merit that we bring to “earn” His favor and is not just forgiveness of our unrighteousness, but the very gift of Jesus’s righteousness. (Romans 5:17)
We believe this salvation is made possible by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, who was perfect and innocent of the punishment bestowed on Him for our sake. We believe that any good works we do after salvation are what Scripture calls the fruit of the Spirit: signs of God’s work in our lives and not something we do in order to maintain salvation. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Galatians 5:22-23)
We believe the Bible as the true and holy revelation of God. The 27 books of the New Testament and the 39 books of the Old Testament were all inspired by God, free of error in their original manuscripts. All claims to truth we encounter should be tested to be in accordance with God’s Word. While the full Truth of God is larger than the Bible, the Bible is wholly Truth. We believe the entirety of God’s Word must be included in our theology, for all of it is useful for “teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” (Psalm 119:104-105, 2 Timothy 3:16)
We believe Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are sacraments instituted by Jesus as outward signs of inward spiritual grace. By the power of the Spirit, God communicates His grace to us through these sacraments. Neither baptism nor the Lord’s Supper “save” us themselves, but Jesus has commanded us to do these things as part of living a faithful life and he strengthens us through our participation in them. (Matthew 28:19, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Colossians 2:11-12, 1 Peter 3:21-22)
We believe all professing Christians ought to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. In this spirit, we should participate in warm fellowship with other believers as we confess one Lord, one Faith and one Baptism together. (Ephesians 4:2-6)
We believe in the hope of the return of Jesus that we should look toward with eager anticipation. We believe in the judgment of all the people of the world, and that all will experience either eternal life in God’s presence or eternal separation from Him. (Matthew 25:31-33; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:11-13, 22:20)
We believe Christians, as members of the body of Christ, are called to follow the Great Commission given to us by our Lord before he ascended to Heaven. All Christians, not just clergy, should seek to show Jesus’s love to those around us, helping them to know Jesus and to grow in understanding and conformity to His Word and Will. (John 13:34-35, 1 Peter 2:21, 2 Timothy 4:2)