Beliefs

What is the Gospel?

The gospel is the life-changing message that Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God died on the cross to pay the penalty our sins deserved, was buried and rose on the third day for our justification (I Corinthians 15.3-4; Romans 4.25).

What does it mean to believe
(have faith in) the gospel?

“…to believe the gospel is not only to accept the awesome truths that 1) God is holy, 2) we are hopeless sinners, 3) Christ died and rose again for sinners, and 4) this great salvation is enjoyed by faith in Christ—but believing the gospel is also to treasure Jesus Christ as your unsearchable riches. What makes the gospel Gospel is that it brings a person into the everlasting and ever-increasing joy of Jesus Christ …” —John Piper, The Gospel in Six Minutes

“Faith is essentially the casting and resting of oneself and one’s confidence on the promises and mercy which Christ has given to sinners, and on the Christ who gave those promises … repentance is a change of mind and heart, a new life of denying self and serving the Savior as king in self’s place.” — J.I. Packer, Evangelism & The Sovereignty of God

We Believe

Abbreviated Statement of Faith

The Bible is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error. It is the supreme and final authority for all matters of Christian life and belief.

There is one true and living God, who eternally exists in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who are equal in every divine perfection and who execute distinct but harmonious offices in all the work of the Godhead.

Man was created by God in His own image, but through his sin incurred physical and spiritual death. As a result, all people are separated from God by their sin and are lost and without hope apart from salvation in Christ.

The Gospel is the good news of God’s saving actions towards sinners through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the eternal son of God, took on human nature, lived a sinless life, and died a substitutionary death for sinners.

Salvation is a free gift that comes only by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Anyone who turns from their sin and trusts in Jesus Christ and His death on their behalf receives forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life.

The Holy Spirit works progressively to transform genuine believers more and more into the image of Christ. His work is carried on in our hearts through such appointed means as the study of Scripture, prayer, worship, and fellowship with other believers. The Holy Spirit also empowers believers for Christian witness and service and gives gifts for the building up of the body of Christ, the church.

The universal church, composed of genuine followers of Christ, exists to worship, serve, and glorify God. All members of the universal church are to be vitally committed members of a local church, where they receive pastoral care and the opportunity to employ their God-given gifts in His service.

Jesus Christ will return to the earth, personally and visibly, to establish His kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost—the saved to endless joy, living and reigning with Christ, and the lost to endless punishment away from the benevolent presence of God.