Statement of Faith & Unity

 Ephesians 4:4-6:

 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”

 Seven “Ones”

   One God and Father - Gen 1:1;Exodus 20:1-3

   One Lord - John 1:1,14;Matt. 16:16;Heb. 1:1-4;1 John 1:1-3

   One Spirit - Acts 2:38;Acts 5:32;Romans 8;Gal. 5:22-25

   One Body - I Cor. 12:12-27;Eph. 2:13-16

   One Hope - Eph. 1:18;Rom. 5:1-6;Rom. 8:23-25

   One Faith - John 3:16;Heb. 11:1,6;Rom. 4:9,18-25;Rom. 5:1,2;Eph. 2:8,9

   One Baptism - Mark 16:16;Acts 2:38;Rom. 6:3,4;Gal. 3:27;I Pet. 3:21

Core Beliefs

I believe in one God, Creator of all things, visible and invisible, existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.    

 I believe in God. the Father, who is over all and through all and in all, Who created and upholds all things by the word of His power, Who so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son that the world should be saved through His Son.

 I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s one and only Son, my only Lord and Savior, Who was born Jesus of Nazareth, both fully human and fully divine, conceived of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, Who suffered and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, Who died and was buried, and Who rose again bodily from the dead on the third day, Who ascended into Heaven and now sits at the right hand of God the Father, and Who will return to earth to judge both the living and the dead.

 I believe in the Holy Spirit, Who lives in every Christian, who glorifies the Lord Christ, convicts people of sin, regenerates the believing sinner, and guides, instructs and empowers believers for godly living and service.

 I believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of all people and the Divine and final authority for Christian faith and life.

I believe in the universal church of Jesus Christ, which is His body, consisting of all persons called to service by grace through saving faith.

 I believe that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and consequently are lost, helpless and hopeless apart from Christ.  But in Christ we have hope, because Christ died for us to appease God’s wrath with His blood.

           I believe that since we have been justified by grace through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.  And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.                           

 I believe we are commanded as a response of faith to repent and be baptized into Jesus Christ.

 

 

Principle-Driven Purposes

 

We believe we have responsibilities as believers in Christ.  We believe God wants each believer to be a:

 

(1)   Member of his family (Acts 2:41,47).  Following Christ involves belonging and loving, not just believing.   See 1 Peter 1:3; Ephesians 2:19; John 13:34,35.

 

(2)   Model of His character (Acts 2:42,45).  Following Christ involves being clothed with Christ (Galatians 3:27), being filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and walking as children of light (Ephesians 5:8).

 

(3)   Minister of His grace (Acts 2:45).  Following Christ involves using the gifts from God to benefit others.  See Ephesians 4:28; Romans 12:6-8; Ephesians 2:10.

 

(4)   Messenger of His love (Acts 2:46,47).  God wants us to spread the good news of Christ Jesus to others.  See Acts 20:24; Ephesians 4:29; 5:19.

 

(5)   Magnifier of His name (Acts 2:47).  God desires us to be true worshippers of Him (John 4:23,24; Ephesians 5:19,20).

 

**These concepts and some of the wording on the above purposes of every believer is taken from “Purpose Driven Church” by Rick Warren (see page 114)