Our church uses the Baptist Faith and Message (1963) as its doctrinal statement.
Here is a summary of some of our key beliefs:
Scripture | We believe the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God and that people were moved by the Holy Spirit to write words of Scripture. Therefore, the Bible is absolutely true.
God |
We believe in one God who exists in three distinct persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). We believe that Jesus Christ is the second member of the Trinity (the Son of God) who became flesh to reveal God to humans and to become the Savior of the lost world.
People | We believe that people were created in the image of God to have fellowship with Him, but became alienated from that relationship through sinful disobedience. As a result, people are totally incapable of coming back into a right relationship with God by their own effort.
Salvation | We believe that the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross provides the sole basis for the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, salvation only occurs when a person places his faith in the death and resurrection of Christ as the sufficient payment for his sin.
Christian life | We believe that every Christian should live for Christ and not for themselves. By obedience to the Scripture and daily yielding to the Spirit, every believer will mature and become conformed to the image of Christ.
Church | We believe that the church is the body of Christ of which Jesus Christ is the Head. The members are those who have trusted by faith the finished work of Christ. The purpose of the church is to glorify God by loving Him and by making Him known to a lost world.
Baptism | We believe that baptism is an act of obedience to the command of Jesus Christ, fulfilled as a visual testimony by those who have submitted themselves to God’s desire for their lives. Baptism symbolizes the spiritual cleansing through God’s forgiveness and the newness of life experienced, identifying with Christ in death and resurrection by immersion into the water. Baptism provides an opportunity for believers in Jesus Christ to make a formal declaration of their faith before the church. As a standard for being a follower of Christ, baptism by immersion is a prerequisite for being a member of our congregation.
A word concerning infant baptism - In the Bible, we find parents bringing their children to Jesus. He held them and prayed for them and told us to welcome and care for them. But He did not baptize them, and He did not tell anyone else to baptize them. We do have special times of dedication for our infants, praying for them and promising to love them as a church body. But, we believe that baptism is for those who have made a personal decision to trust Christ alone for their salvation.
