When we speak of "The Gospel", it simply means "The Good News". It is the good news
about what God has done for us through Jesus. It is the most important news you will
ever hear. There are several key components of the Gospel
God is completely and perfectly loving, holy, wise, just, and merciful. As a loving God,
he created us to bring glory to himself by being in relationship with us.
But every one of us has sinned (done wrong things) against God. Sin includes things like
lying, stealing, coveting, and rebellion. This broke our relationship with God. Because
God is holy, he cannot tolerate our sin, and must punish it. To do otherwise would go
against his nature. The only just and fair punishment for sin against the holy God is
death (eternal separation from God). Therefore, we all deserve this eternal death.
In his infinite wisdom, God ordained a plan that would solve our sin problem. He sent
his only Son, Jesus, into the world as a man. Jesus came as both God and man, and
lived a perfect life without sin--something no other man could ever do.
After a few years of ministry on earth, Jesus was put to death on a cross. But since
Jesus had lived a sinless life, when he died, he took the punishment for our sins. It was
the perfect show of love, holiness, justice, and mercy. Jesus showed us God's love by
dying for us. And since God is holy and just, he was able to punish the sins of mankind
appropriately. But because he is loving and merciful, he can now show us mercy and
grace because the punishment for our sins has been paid by Jesus.
The cross would be meaningless if Jesus had stayed dead. Three days after dying, Jesus
came back to life. There is solid evidence that historically supports this event. The
resurrection proved that Jesus had conquered sin and death, and that he could
rightfully offer us eternal life with God.
The Gospel calls for a response from us. Without Jesus, we are dead in our sins. We
need God's forgiveness and grace. And God offers this grace as a free gift to us. We can
do nothing to earn this gift. All we have to do is accept the gift from God! We do this
by admitting that we have sinned, believing that Jesus died and rose again for us, and
turning from our sins and living a life of obedience for God.
We believe the Bible to be the complete Word of God; that the 66 books, as originally
written, comprising the Old and New Testaments, were verbally inspired by the Spirit
of God and were entirely free from error; that the Bible is the final authority in all
matters of faith and practice and the true basis of Christian union.
We believe in one God, Creator of all, holy, sovereign, eternal, existing in three equal,
eternal Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
We believe in the absolute and essential deity of the Father, in His preeminent role in
the revelation of God; that He is Father primarily in light of the relationship which He
sustains with the eternal Son whom He gave for the redemption of man and that He
becomes our Father when we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We believe in the absolute and essential deity of Jesus Christ, in His existence with the
Father in preincarnate glory, in His virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily
resurrection, triumphant ascension, mediatorial ministry and personal return.
We believe in the absolute and essential deity and personality of the Holy Spirit who
convinces of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; who regenerates, sanctifies,
illuminates, empowers, and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ. He it is who,
according to His will, gifts every believer. No one of His gifts is common to all, or
Biblically designated as the sign of true spirituality.
We believe that Satan was created by God and is a fallen angelic being, the originator
of sin, and the archenemy of God and all that He has created.
We believe that man was divinely created in the image of God; that he sinned,
becoming guilty before God resulting in total depravity, thereby incurring physical and
spiritual death.
We believe that salvation is by the sovereign, electing grace of God; that by the
appointment of the Father, Christ voluntarily suffered and gave His life in place of man
(as the vicarious sacrifice) and that, through His death, He bore the wrath of God
against sin (as the propitiation), thereby paying the penalty (providing expiation) for
sin. We believe that being declared right (justification) before God is by faith alone in
the all-sufficient sacrifice and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and that those
whom God has effectually called shall be divinely preserved and finally perfected in the
image of the Lord.
We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ; in the
resurrection of the just and unjust; in the eternal blessedness of the redeemed and in
the judgment and conscious, eternal punishment of the wicked.
We believe that a church is a company of believers, baptized by immersion, called out
from the world, separated unto the Lord Jesus and voluntarily associated for the
ministry of the Word, the mutual edification of its members, the propagation of the
faith and the observance of the ordinances. We believe it is a sovereign, independent
body, exercising its own divinely awarded gifts, precepts and privileges under the
Lordship of Christ, the Great Head of the Church. We believe that its officers are
pastors/elders and deacons.
We believe that there are only two ordinances for the church regularly observed in the
New Testament in the following order:
Baptism, which is the immersion of the believer in water, whereby he obeys Christ’s
command and sets forth his identification with Christ in His death, burial and
resurrection.
The Lord’s Supper, which is the memorial wherein the believer partakes the two
elements, bread and wine, which symbolize the Lord’s body and shed blood,
proclaiming His death until He comes.
We believe in the separation of church and state.
We believe in religious liberty; that every person has the right to practice and
propagate his or her beliefs.
We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day and that, in a special sense,
it is the divinely appointed day for worship and spiritual exercise.
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interest and good
order of society; that those in authority are to be prayed for, conscientiously honoured
and obeyed except only in the things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
is the only Lord of the conscience and Prince of the kings of the earth.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.