List of Beliefs
We believe, teach, and confess:
That the Bible is the Word of God -- absolute truth, showing God in action.
That God has revealed Himself to us in the Bible.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
That there is only one true God, the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
There is no God but one. (l Corinthians 8:4)
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
(Matthew 28:19)
That man and woman were created by God in holiness and righteousness, but sinned against God. That every person, since the Fall, has broken God's law and therefore deserves His wrath and eternal punishment.
As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." (Romans 3:10-12)
That God in His mercy and grace sent forth His Son Jesus Christ, to save lost mankind.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16)
That Jesus, true God and true man, was crucified, buried, and resurrected for our salvation.
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures [...] But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
(1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 20-21)
That we receive the benefits of Christ’s redemption through faith. Such faith is offered to us by the Holy Spirit. As children we are "born again" through the gift of Holy Baptism.
Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)
Then, through Christian instruction, we come to understand and confess our faith.
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)
That all of our salvation is by the Grace of God. We cannot earn our way to heaven by what we do.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
When one believes and confesses that Jesus died and rose again for him, then he is a Christian assured of eternal life.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26)
That, in response to God’s grace and with the help of His Spirit, we are called to live a faith-filled life of love and service.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
That we should regularly worship, study, and fellowship together as a congregation of believers, both to praise our God and to be strengthened by Him and one another.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)
That Christ offers, in Holy Communion, as a pledge of His forgiveness, that same body and blood with which He earned for us the forgiveness of sins. It is present in a real, yet supernatural way, along with the bread and wine.
Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? (1 Corinthians 10:16)
That finally the Lord will return on the Last Day to gather His people to live forever with Him in glory.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. (Matthew 25:31-33)