Statement of Faith
We believe that the Bible is the inspired and authoritative Word of God through which God has disclosed his character, his will, and his plan of redemption.
We believe in only one God who has existed eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, his virgin birth, his sinless life, his miracles, his death as an atonement for sin through the shedding of blood, his bodily resurrection, his ascension to heaven, and his personal return in power and glory.
We believe that human beings are sinful, guilty, and lost without Christ and that salvation from the consequences of sin comes only through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross where he bore our sins and died on our behalf.
We believe that sinners are made right before God only by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.
We believe in the ministry of the Holy Spirit whose presence enables believers to live by faith and grow in spiritual maturity.
We believe in the bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the dead for both salvation and final judgment.
This brief statement of faith does not cover the full extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and authoritative Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe.
What is Baptism?
Baptism is an ordinance instituted by Jesus Christ in the New Testament (Matt 28:19) for those who confess faith in him (Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16; Acts 8:12). Baptism is done by immersing the whole body in water (Matt 3:16; Acts 8:38-39), in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19).
When you are baptized, it serves as a sign of your fellowship with Christ and your identification with him in his death, burial, and resurrection (Rom 6:3-5). Baptism marks that you have now put on Christ (Gal 3:27) and received forgiveness for your sins (Acts 22:16). It is the public declaration of your repentance and your belief in Christ (Acts 2:38), symbolizing that you have committed to live and walk in newness of life through Christ (Rom 6:4).
When you decide to be baptized, you are acting in obedience with Christ's command in Matt 28:19-20. At the moment you decided to place your faith in Christ, you were saved (Acts 2:21; 4:12). When you are baptized in water, you are acting out, in the physical realm, what has already happened to you in the spiritual realm, your death, burial, and resurrection through Christ (Gal 2:20; Rom 6:3-5; Col 2:12). Baptism by immersion best illustrates the symbolism of our shared death (crucifixion), burial, and resurrection with Christ. Going into the water symbolizes death and burial. Coming up out of the water symbolizes being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life.
