ESSENTIAL CHRISTIAN BELIEFS

GOD: There is one God. He is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He eternally exists in three personalities: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and one. He is perfect in His many attributes of holiness, love, power, knowledge, justice, and mercy.

Genesis 1:1, 26, 27, 3:222 2 Corinthians 13:14
1 Peter 1:2 Matthew 28:19
Psalm 90:2

JESUS CHRIST: Jesus Christ is God's Son. He is co-equal with the Father. He is both God and man. He was born of a virgin. He lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of His people by dying on a cross. He died to become a substitutionary atonement for the sins of His people. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven's glory and will return again someday to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Matthew 1:22-23 1 Timothy 6:14-15
Romans 1:3-4 Hebrews 4:14-15
Isaiah 9:6 Titus 2:13
Acts 1:9-11 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
John 1:1-5; 14:10-30

HOLY SPIRIT: The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son of God. He is the divine helper, assistant, counselor and instructor. He is present in the world to make man aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He provides the Christian with power of living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives every believer a spiritual gift when they are saved. As Christians, we seek to live under His control daily.

2 Corinthians 3:17 Acts 1:8
Ephesians 1:13 Ephesians 5:18
John 16:7-13; 14:16-27 1 Corinthians 2:12; 3:16
Galatians 5:25

GOD'S WORD: The Bible is God's Word to us. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. The Bible is inspired by God, and is the truth without any mixture of error. It is the sole authority for life.

2 Timothy 1:13; 3:16 2 Peter 1:20-21
Psalm 119:105, 160; 12:6 Proverbs 30:5

HUMANITY: Human beings are made in the spiritual image of God, to be like Him in character. As the supreme object of God's creation, we were designed for dignity. However, Adam's sin catapulted the creation into a fallen state, and plunged all his descendants into depravity. Thus, all of us are marred by rebellion and disobedience toward God, which is called "sin". Sin separates people from God and causes many problems in life.

Genesis 1:27 Psalm 8:3-6
Romans 3:23 Isaiah 53:6a; 59:1-2

SALVATION: Salvation is God's free gift to us. We receive this gift through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone. Repentance means turning away from our sin and turning towards Christ. Faith means trusting in Christ alone for the remission of our sins. When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, His perfect obedience is credited to us so that God sees us as the righteousness of Christ. Every person who truly is saved is eternally secure in the Lord Jesus Christ and will spend eternity in heaven, while those who die in their sins will spend eternity in hell.

Romans 6:23 Titus 3:5
John 14:6, 1:12 Galatians 3:26
Ephesians 2:8-9 Romans 5:1

ETERNAL SECURITY: God gives us eternal life through Jesus Christ. If you have made a genuine commitment of faith in Jesus, you cannot lose your salvation. Salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the self-effort of the Christian. God's grace and power enable us to persevere in faith until the end.

John 10:29 Ephesians 2:1-10
1 Peter 1:3-5 Hebrews 7:25; 10:10, 14
2 Timothy 1:12

ETERNITY: People were created to exist forever. We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be externally in union with Him is eternal life. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence.

John 3:16; 2:25; 5:11-13 Romans 6:23
Revelation 20:15 Matthew 1:8; 2:44

BAPTISM: Baptism is a picture and an illustration a symbolic act. Baptism by immersion best illustrates the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ on our behalf and our subsequent faith in Him. It is not necessary for salvation, but is strongly associated with salvation as it best illustrates our new identity with Jesus Christ.

We believe in believer's baptism. A person must first exercise faith in Jesus Christ, believing that He died for their sins, was buried, and rose from the dead. An infant or person who does not understand God's plan of salvation cannot make that kind of commitment. The Scriptural order is belief first followed by baptism. Baptism is limited to those who have personally believed in Jesus Christ as Savior.

Mark 1:9-11 Matthew 28:18-20
Mark 16:15-16 Acts 8:12
Matthew 3:13-17 Colossians 2:12

LORD'S SUPPER: The Lord's Supper is an ordinance of the church. It was instituted when the Lord had the Passover meal before His crucifixion. We observe the Lord's Supper on a regular basis in remembrance of Jesus Christ atonement for our sins. It is a proclamation of His death and an assurance of His second coming. We ask only those who have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ to participate in the Lord's Supper. The elements of bread and grape juice are used as symbols of Christ's body that was broken and His blood that was shed for the remission of our sins.

1 Corinthians 11:21-32 1 Corinthians 5:11-13
Matthew 26:29

ACCESS TO GOD: Each person is able to come to God for himself or herself. There is no need for a third party to tell a person how to pray, how to interpret Scriptures, or how to vote in church. All believers are ministers of servants of God. Therefore the church does not have a distinctive class of priests. All members are made "priests unto God" by the death of Christ. The church is a holy priesthood chosen by God to offer up spiritual sacrifices. There is only one mediator between God and man and that is Jesus Christ.

Revelation 1:5-6 Ephesians 4:11-12
1 Timothy 2:5 Romans 12:1
1 Peter 2:5

CHURCH GOVERNMENT: We believe in the local autonomy of the church. Each church has the right to manage its affairs with no central authority except that of Christ Himself. Freedom does not rule out cooperation. We are a cooperating church with the Southern Baptist Convention. This means that we cooperate with other Baptist Churches in pooling and sharing money for the support of missionaries and ministries at home and around the world. This plan is called the Cooperative Program.

Acts 15

MARRIAGE & FAMILY:  God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.

Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.

The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.

Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.

Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1-8; 127; 128; 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15,17; 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:31-32; 18:2-5; 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:8,14; 2 Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7.

For more detailed information on our beliefs, go to the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message of the Southern Baptist Convention.