What We Believe
Saturated in Scripture and Transformed by the Gospel
We believe in the Good News of Jesus Christ, proclaimed in the Bible!
Specifically, we are part of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), an evangelical denomination in the Protestant and Reformed tradition. We accept the historic Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms as a summary of the system of doctrine taught in scripture. More information about our denomination and its doctrinal positions can be found on the PCA website.
Here is a short summary of some of our most foundational beliefs.
1. The Bible
The 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are inspired by God, the very words of God, and without error as originally written. The Bible is in its entirety the Word of God, and is the final authority in faith and life. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
2. God
There is one God, who eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Mark 12:29//Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:18-19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:4-6; John 20:27-28; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
God is eternal, holy, and infinitely perfect. He created all things out of nothing, and rules sovereignly over the universe. (Genesis 1:1-3; John 1:1-4; Revelation 1:8; Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 6:3; Matthew 5:48; Psalm 135:6; Isaiah 46:9-10)
3. Humanity
God created men and women in his image, with great dignity and value, so that they would worship and enjoy him forever. (Genesis 1:27-28; Revelation 4:11; Psalm 16:11)
All mankind fell into sin with Adam, and is therefore condemned to death--not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. Human beings are born with a sinful nature, and are sinners in thought, word, and deed. (Genesis 2:17; 3:6; Romans 3:10-23; 5:12)
4. Jesus
For his own glory, in love and mercy, God graciously chose to save lost sinners by sending his Son. (John 3:16; 17:1-2)
Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He has always been fully God, and is also fully man. (Matthew 1:20-23; John 1:14)
Jesus lived a perfect life, and died to pay the penalty of sin for all who belong to him, reconciling us to God. (2 Corinthians 5:18-21; Colossians 2:13-14; Romans 5:8-10)
After three days, Jesus rose bodily from the grave, as the Scriptures said would happen, and went back into Heaven where he rules at the right of God the Father. (Matthew 28:5-6; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Acts 1:6-11; Hebrews 1:3)
5. How We Can Be Saved
Although all people have broken God's law and justly deserve death and Hell, God has provided a way of salvation through Jesus Christ. We cannot save ourselves, but salvation is a free gift of God's grace.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
This gift of God is received by trusting in Christ for salvation. It is believing that Jesus, the Son of God, died to pay for our sins and rose from the dead, and that in his resurrection we have eternal life in him. All who repent of their sins and turn to Jesus in faith can be confident that they belong to him.
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:9-10).
Those who are truly justified by Christ are eternally preserved through his ongoing ministry and by the Holy Spirit.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. (John 10:27-29)
Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)
6. The Work of the Holy Spirit
All who receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith are born again by the Holy Spirit, who dwells with them and in them. (John 3:3; John 14:16-17)
Through this new birth, those who trust Jesus are adopted as the children of God. (Galatians 4:4-6)
Those who have been made spiritually alive must walk in dependence upon the Holy Spirit in order to please God. Those who trust in Christ will be changed more and more by the Holy Spirit to bear spiritual fruit and reflect the holiness of Christ. (Galatians 5:16; 2 Corinthians 3:18)
7. Christ's Return
At death, the souls of those who trust in Jesus Christ will immediately be with him in the presence of God and will enjoy him forever. (Luke 23:43)
Jesus will return, bringing his saints with him, and the bodies of all who have died will be raised to life. (John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
Jesus will judge all people. All who belong to Jesus will live with him forever in the New Heavens and New Earth, but all others will be cast into Hell and eternally separated from him. (Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:1-8)
8. The Church
The Church, all those in every time and place who truly trust on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, is the Body and Bride of Christ. Christ is head of the Body. (Ephesians 1:22-5:22)
All believers are baptized into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit, and having thus become members of one another, we are responsible to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4:3)