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Our Beliefs

Foundational Beliefs

Christian community involves covenantal responsibility and mutual obligation to one another as members of one body living together before a righteous and holy God. Therefore, members of this community are to be guided by biblical admonitions to demonstrate Christian love and concern for others, honesty, fairness, justice, kindness, forgiveness, mutual edification, self-control, deference, respect and social responsibility toward one another and all people.

Because the Christian community exists in social and cultural context, members must be careful to demonstrate civility and respect for those with whom they disagree, while exercising wisdom in evaluating the ideas and activities of others. Christians living in harmony share a deep concern for the body of Christ, defer to one another, reason together and express genuine Christian love. As a general guideline, in the fundamentals there must be unity, in the non-essentials, there can be liberty, yet in all there must be charity.

We believe there is only one God, Creator of heaven and earth, Who exists eternally in three equal persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  These are not just three ways of looking at God nor do they refer to three different roles that God plays. The Bible indicates that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons.

The Father sent the Son into the world (John 3:16). The Son returned to the Father (John 6:10). The Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit into the world (John 14:26 and Acts 2:33).
In the baptism of Jesus, the Father spoke from heaven and the Spirit descended from heaven in the form of a dove as Jesus came out of the water   (Mark 1:10-11)
John 1:1 affirmed that Jesus is both God and was with — that indicates that Jesus is a distinct Person from God the Father (cf also John 1:18 ). In John 16:13-15 Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father and the Son.
  • The Father  – We believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Author and Creator of all things.  He is revealed in the Word of God in diverse manners – through manifestation of His nature, character and dominion. The Gospels give knowledge of God the “Father” or “My Father”, showing the relationship of God to Jesus as Father, or representing Him as the Father in the triune Godhead, and Jesus Himself as the Son. Jesus also gives God the distinction of “Fatherhood” to all believers when He explains God in the light of “Your Father in Heaven”.  The Bible speaks of the Father as God (Philippians 1:2).
  • The Son – We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the second Person in the Godhead of the triune Godhead.

We believe that it is the will of God that we daily walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

    • Divine Healing: We believe in and practice Divine Healing. It is a sign that will follow believers in Christ. He affirms His teachings on healing by explaining to His disciples that healing the afflicted is by faith. Therefore, we believe that healing by faith in God has scriptural support and ordained authority. St. James’ writings in his epistle encourage elders to pray for the sick, lay hands upon them and to anoint them with oil, and that prayers with faith shall heal the sick and the Lord shall raise them up.
    • Miracles: We believe that miracles occur to convince mankind that the Bible is God’s Word. A miracle can be defined as an extraordinary visible act of Divine power, wrought by the efficient agency of the will of God, which has as its final cause the vindication of the righteousness of God’s Word. We believe that the works of God, which were performed during the beginnings of Christianity, do and will occur even today where God is preached, faith in Christ is exercised, the Holy Spirit is active, and the Gospel is promulgated in the truth (See Acts 5:15; Acts 6:8; Acts 9:40; Luke 4:36; Luke 7:14-15; Luke 5:5-6; Mark 14:15).

We believe that the Bible – both the Old and New Testament Scriptures – is the inspired Word of God; that is, fully breathed by the Holy Spirit, written by mankind under His guidance.

We believe that sin began in the angelic world and was transmitted into the blood of the human race through disobedience and deception motivated by unbelief.

    • Angels, a term used in the Bible, referring to heavenly bodies that clearly and primarily denote messengers or ambassadors of God with such scriptural references as Revelation 4:5, which indicates their duty in heaven to praise God, to behold His face and do God’s will. Since heaven must come down to earth, they also have a mission to earth. The Bible indicates that they accompanied God in the Creation, and also that they will accompany Christ in His return in Glory.
    • Demons denote unclean or evil spirits and are sometimes called devils or demonic beings. They are evil spirits, belonging to the unseen or spiritual realm, embodied in human beings.
      • The Old Testament refers to the prince of demons, sometimes called Satan (Adversary) or the devil, as having power and wisdom, taking the habitation of other forms such as the serpent(Genesis 3:1).
      • The New Testament speaks of the devil as Tempter and goes on to tell the works of Satan, the devil, and demons as combating righteousness and good in any form, proving to be an adversary to the saints. Their chief power is exercised to destroy the mission of Jesus Christ.

We believe that these entities have power and purpose, and can be subdued and conquered as in the commandment to the believer by Jesus. “In my name they shall cast out Satan and the work of the devil”. As the believer resists the devil then the devil will flee (withdraw).

We believe that human beingsere specially created by God to be perfect bearers of His image. We believe that mankind’s first sin was committed in the Garden of Eden when forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was eaten.  This is called the “original sin” and it caused permanent pollution and depraved human nature to be imputed to all its descendants – a nature incapable of pleasing God that incurs the certainty of physical death and the prospect of eternal punishment. Sin is defined as a volitional transgression against God and a lack of conformity to His will.

We believe that the Church is the body of Christ inaugurated by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and consists solely of those who have trusted Jesus Christ for salvation. It forms a spiritual unity of which Christ is the divine head. It is animated by one Spirit – the Spirit of Christ.  It professes one faith, shares one hope and serves one King.  It is the citadel of the truth.  It is the object of our faith rather than of knowledge.  The word “church” or “ekklesia” was first applied to the Christian community by Jesus Christ in Matthew 6:18 at the benediction of Peter at Caesarea Philippi.

  • The Ordinances of the Church:  For an ordinance to be valid, it must have been instituted by Christ. We are speaking of these ordinances instituted by Christ, in which by sensible signs the grace of God in Christ and the benefits of the covenant of grace are represented, sealed, and applied to believers, and these in turn give expression to their faith and allegiance to God. We recognize three ordinances as having been instituted by Christ Himself and therefore, binding upon the Church practice.
    • THE LORD’S SUPPER (HOLY COMMUNION) symbolizes the Lord’s death and suffering for the benefit and in the place of His people. It also symbolizes the believer’s participation in the crucified Christ. It represents both the death of Christ as the object of faith which unites the believers to Christ and the effect of this act as the giving of life, strength, and joy to the soul. The communicant by faith enters into a special spiritual union of his or her soul with the glorified Christ.
    • FEET WASHING is recognized as an ordinance because Christ, by His example, showed that humility characterized greatness in the Kingdom of God, and that service, rendered to others gave evidence that humility, motivated by love, exists.
    • WATER BAPTISM is necessary as instructed by Christ in John 3:5; however, we do not believe that water baptism alone is a means of salvation. We practice immersion in preference to sprinkling, because immersion corresponds more closely to the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord (Colossians 2:12). It also aligns with regeneration and purification more than any other mode. Therefore, we practice immersion as our mode of Baptism.

We believe in the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ, of which no one knows the exact time of His return, but believers will continue to spread the Gospel around the world until He does return; and that He will return from heaven to the earth personally, bodily and visibly and the Church, His bride, will be caught up to meet Him in the air. We believe that both believers and unbelievers will be raised from the dead bodily.