What we believe
The Bible
We believe that the Bible is the only infallible (cannot have errors) means by which we can know how to live and what to believe. We believe that all sixty-six books of the Bible were inspired by God and carry His full authority.
God
We believe that there is only one true and living God. He is a spirit without beginning or end and is perfect in all His attributes. God is one God in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that God has revealed Himself both in the world He created and through His Word, the Bible.
Mankind & Sin
We believe that God created Mankind as male and female. Mankind was created with both a body and an immortal soul to reflect God’s glory. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were created without sin, but fell into sin when they disobeyed God.
Sin is any way in which we do not obey God. God, being perfectly holy, cannot allow sin before Him, and so mankind is separated from having the good relationship with God we were created to have by sin. Sin is so bad that all sin deserves death, and all mankind sins. We believe that because we are sinful in our nature, there is no way that we can achieve a right relationship with God on our own.
Jesus & Salvation
We believe Jesus, the Son of God, was and is always fully God. He took on a human body when He was born by the virgin Mary, and so became fully God and fully Man at the same time. Jesus lived a perfect life without sin, but was crucified and buried for the sins of His people. Jesus then rose again on third day, completely securing eternal life for all His people. Jesus now reigns over all things in heaven and will come again to judge the world.
We believe that the only way for someone to have a right relationship with God and have eternal life instead of eternal death and judgement is to trust in Jesus for salvation from their sins. Learn more about how to do that here.
The Church
We believe that God does not just relate to each person individually, but also corporately as “the Church”. We believe that all Christians and their children are called to be part of a Bible-believing church.
We believe that local congregations should be governed by a group of elders, which is a biblical office that provides spiritual oversight and leadership. We also believe there is a biblical office of deacon, which leads in service and stewardship.
If you want to know what we believe in greater detail, you can find our Constitution here .
Our Worship
We believe that God made man in His image in order to glorify and enjoy Him, and that worship is the fullest expression of that purpose. Worship is where God promises to meet with His people, that He might be glorified and that we might grow in our understanding and experience of His grace.
We believe that the core elements of biblical worship are prayer, the singing of Psalms in praise to God, and the reading, preaching, and the hearing of the Word of God.
We pray to open the worship service, asking God to be present among us, and we pray before and after the preaching of God’s Word, asking Him to apply it to our lives. We also usually have a season of prayer to pray for the congregation, to confess sins corporately, to give thanks for what He has done, and to praise Him for who He is.
Our preaching is centered on what God says in His Word – not what we want it to say. Our pastor generally preaches section by section through a book of the Bible so that we are taught the fullness of God’s Word. You can listen to recent sermons here.
When we sing, you might notice that we don’t use instruments or sing modern praise songs or traditional hymns. Though it isn’t the common practice today, we believe that singing Psalms from the Bible without instruments is the biblical and historical expectation for how we praise God together in worship. Because God knows Himself perfectly – far better than we can know and comprehend Him – then He is the one who sets the standard of how He is to be worshiped. Singing only Psalms without instruments is part of what we understand the Bible to teach about how to worship. Feel free to ask one of the elders if you have more questions!
