Beliefs

We believe that the sixty-six books of the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament, as originally written, are the complete and error free Word of God for the church.  God’s Spirit directed human authors to record His will for us in all matters of faith and practice.  The Bible is our final authority and the objective basis of Christian teaching (2 Peter 1:20, 21; 1 Timothy 3:16,17).

We believe in one God, Creator of all, holy, sovereign, eternal, existing in three equal Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:4; 1 Timothy 6:17).

We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God, and that he came from heaven to take on human nature also (John 1:1; Philippians 2:5-8).  We believe he was virgin born (Matthew 1:23), lived sinlessly (Hebrews 4:15), accepted the punishment of death for our sin, in our place (1 Peter 3:18), defeated death and rose from the grave (1 Corinthians 15:3,4), is our go-between with God (1 Timothy 2:5), and that He will return to earth to gather His followers (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17).

We believe that the Holy Spirit is fully God, the third person of the Godhead.  As the Father’s agent on earth right now, He shows us our sin, points to what is right, and confirms that evil will be judged (John 16:8-11).  He infuses us with the New Life (John 3:5-8), joins believers together as the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13), guarantees our future (Ephesians 1:13,14), builds our new character to be like Christ (Galatians 5:22-25), helps us to understand God’s truth (2 Peter 1:20-21, 1 John 2:20), and comforts us.

We believe that humankind was created in God’s image and likeness (Genesis 1:26, 27) but that Adam’s rebellion (sin) separated him and his descendants from God (Romans 3:22,23; 5:12).  We inherit that rebellious nature, so that we too are separated from God and unable, by our own efforts, to remedy our lost and hopeless condition (Ephesians 2:1-3,12).

We believe that reconciliation with God (salvation) is a gift of His grace (Ephesians 2:8-10).  It is received by  any person who trusts in Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death on the cross to pay for our sin (John 1:12), and who turns from his rebellion against God (Acts 3:18-20; Romans 10:9,10).

We believe that everyone God has reconciled to Himself is kept by God’s power and is thus secure in Christ (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38,39).  We believe that followers of Jesus Christ see evidence that our reconciliation is real when we persevere in obedience to Christ (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Galatians 5:22-25; 1 John 1:8; 2:2) and when our Father corrects our disobedience (Hebrews 12:4-11).

We believe that God gifts each follower of Christ with abilities that He intends us to use in an attitude of humble service to the church as a whole (Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-7,11).  We believe that every follower of Christ was baptised by the Holy Spirit (placed into the Body of Christ) at conversion.  We believe that the sign gifts are neither essential to reconciliation/salvation nor proof of the Holy Spirit’s presence or of a deep spiritual experience in one’s life (1 Corinthians 12:27-31).  We believe that those who are motivated by love from and love for Christ will exercise genuine, body-edifying gifts rather than self-gratification (1 Corinthians 13) under the guise of spiritual gifts.

We believe that the church is everyone, everywhere, who has repented to God and asked forgiveness for their sin, trusting that Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, died on the cross to pay for that sin (Acts 3:19,20).  We believe that all who have trusted in Christ are placed into the universal community of faith (called the “Body” of Christ”) by the Holy Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 12:13), and are together to live in committed relationship with Christ (as His “Bride”—Ephesians 5:25-27).  We believe that those who belong to the church should be in regular fellowship with its local manifestation (Hebrews 10:25, Acts 2:42-47), and that the local church should practice the unique, symbolic acts of testimony that Christ established for His Body, baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 28:19,20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

We believe that history is in the hands of God, and that He will bring time to conclusion, after which all of humankind enters into eternity (Hebrews 1:10-12, Isaiah 46:9,10).  We believe that Jesus Christ is going to return in person to earth, to bring eternal blessing for those who belong to Him, and to bring judgment and eternal punishment for the wicked (Hebrews 9:27, Romans 14:10-12, Matthew 25:31-46).

We believe that marriage is the first and foundational institution that God gave for people and for the construction of societies that would reflect his glory (Genesis 1:26, 28).  We believe that it is an exclusive, covenantal relationship between one man and one woman, as declared at creation (Genesis 2:24), confirmed by Jesus Christ (Matthew 19:4-6) and affirmed by the apostles (Ephesians 5:31-33).

We believe that while both husband and wife remain alive, the covenant is in force, and broken only by the severe violation of one or both parties against it.

We believe that consensual and loving intimate sexual relations are the God-granted physical sign of the marriage covenant, as ordained at creation (Genesis 2:24) and that any use of this gift outside of the covenant is a violation of its sacred meaning.