Jesus Changes Everything

We believe in one God who exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The concept of one God or Being of three persons is called the Trinity. God is infinite, which does not always make sense to our finite understanding. He is not limited by time or space. He is the Creator of Heaven and Earth and the One who redeems, saves, or rescues mankind from sin and its painful consequences.

Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God. The Scripture declares his virgin birth, his sinless life, His miracles, His substitutionary death on the cross, His bodily resurrection from the dead, and His exaltation to the right hand of God.

The Holy Spirit is an integral part of the Christian life. The third person of the Trinity, He is given to every follower of Christ to guide, comfort, convict, and help us grow into Christ-likeness. We believe that every Christ follower should earnestly seek and expect a subsequent experience called the baptism in the Holy Spirit. With it comes God's power which enables us to present Jesus to a world in need.

Comprised of 66 books authored over thousands of years by dozens of authors, the Bible tells one seamless story: a passionate God on a relentless pursuit to redeem His creation. The Bible is the authoritative and inspired Word of God and is trustworthy and reliable for telling us what to believe and how to live.

Sin separated humanity from God. Man was created in the image of God; however, by a voluntary act of the will, Adam and Eve disobeyed God. That first sin had several repercussions: man was removed from the Garden of Eden, a curse was pronounced, the process of physical death began, and man died spiritually. Sin left humanity in a fallen, sinful condition.

We were created in the image of God to have community with Him and represent Him on earth. However, through a willful act of disobedience, we were separated from Him. The Father sent Jesus to redeem us through an act of atonement which culminated with Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. This gave us the opportunity to trade our sin for His righteousness through faith. Jesus' sacrifice is the only means for our salvation and reconciliation with the Father.

The Church is the Body of Christ, and Jesus is the head of the Body. The Church is not a building or an event but the community of individuals who have put their trust in Jesus Christ. The purpose of the Church is to glorify God, make disciples, make Jesus known to a lost world, and meet the needs of those in our communities and around the world. We celebrate baptism as a first step of obedience for new followers of Christ, and communion as an ongoing remembrance of the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross.

When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, it ignites a spiritual chain reaction and produces evidence of our salvation. We are forgiven of sin, declared right before God, and given eternal life with Him. The Holy Spirit is given to assure us of our salvation, adopt us into God's family, and empower us for a life of following Jesus. As we follow Him, others can see the fruit of the Spirit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Baptism in Water: The Scripture teaches that all who repent and believe in Christ are to be baptized by being immersed in water. Baptism is a public profession of faith in Christ, symbolic of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and a declaration that we have died to sin and have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life.

Communion: The Lord's table consists of two elements, the bread and the cup, symbolic of the body and blood of Christ. Communion is a memorial of Christ's suffering on the cross and a celebration of our salvation, an opportunity for a believer to examine oneself and repent in order to experience the forgiveness granted to us in the cross.

In the end of all things, Jesus will reign eternally. He will judge His creation according to the character that has been revealed in us through His word, with justice and mercy. Those who have found salvation through Jesus Christ will enjoy His presence forever; those who have not will be separated from God for eternity.