Under God, and subject to biblical authority, the pastoral staff, elders, and congregation bear concerted witness to the following, which we hold to be essential to our ministry.

1. God

God has revealed Himself to be the one living and true God, infinite, eternal, almighty, and perfect in love; holy and righteous in all His ways; one in essence, existing eternally in the three persons of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

2. God's Self-Disclosure

God, who discloses Himself through His creation, has savingly spoken in the words and events of redemptive history. This history is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word, Who is made known to us by the Holy Spirit in sacred Scripture.

3. Scripture

Scripture is the only true and trustworthy written record of this divine self-disclosure. This written word of God, the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament, given by divine inspiration, is the only infallible rule of faith and practice. It is to be interpreted according to its context and purpose and in reverent obedience to the Lord Who speaks through it in living power.

The Scriptures are the authoritative guide of all Christian life. They are totally sufficient and must not be added to, superseded, or changed by later tradition, extra-biblical revelation, or worldly wisdom. Every doctrinal formulation, whether of creed, confession, or theology must be put to the test of the full counsel of God in Holy Scripture.

4. Creation and Fall

God, by His Word and for His glory, freely created the world out of nothing. He made man and woman in His own image, as the crown of creation, that they would glorify God and enjoy fellowship with Him. Tempted by Satan, they rebelled against God. Being estranged from their Maker, yet responsible to Him, they became subject to divine wrath, inwardly depraved, and, apart from grace, incapable of returning to God.

This depravity is radical and pervasive. It extends to the mind, will, and affections. Unregenerate man lives under the dominion of sin and Satan. He is at enmity with God, hostile toward God, and hateful of God. All humanity, as fallen and sinful people, whatever their character or attainments, is lost and without hope apart from salvation in Jesus Christ.

5. The Person of Christ

We affirm that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, born of a virgin named Mary; that He is God incarnate, and that the purpose of the incarnation was to reveal God, to redeem men through His vicarious and atoning death, and to rule over God's kingdom. He is bodily resurrected and has ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will personally return in power and glory. He is the second Person of the Godhead, possessing all the divine excellencies, and in these He is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father as one divine essence. Jesus Christ represents humanity and deity in indivisible oneness, thus being fully God and fully man at the same time.

6. The Gospel of Christ

Our salvation in Christ is the good news of the gospel, revealed in His birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. At the heart of the gospel is the cross of Christ, in that He died in our stead and appeased God's wrath toward our sins, demonstrating His mysterious love and revealing His amazing grace. Therefore, we want all that takes place in our hearts, churches, and ministries to proceed from and be related to the gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of those who believe.

This salvation, the free gift of God, is provided by His grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. Anyone turning from sin in repentance and looking to Christ and His substitutionary death receives the gift of eternal life and is declared righteous by God as a free gift. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to him. He is justified and fully accepted by God. Through Christ’s atonement for sin an individual is reconciled to God as Father and becomes His child. The believer is forgiven the debt of his sin and, via the miracle of regeneration, liberated from the law of sin and death into the freedom of God's Spirit.

7. Ministry of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit has come to glorify the Son, who in turn came to glorify the Father. The Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Through the proclamation of the gospel, He persuades and enables people to repent of their sins and confess Jesus as Lord. By the same Spirit we are led to trust in divine mercy. The Holy Spirit unites believers to Jesus Christ in faith, brings about the new birth by which we are adopted into God's family, and he dwells within the regenerate. He will lead the Church into a right understanding and rich application of the truth of God’s Word. He is to be respected, honored, and worshiped as God.

8. Sanctification

The Holy Spirit is the active agent in our sanctification and seeks to produce His fruit in us as our minds are renewed and we are conformed to the image of Christ. Though indwelling sin remains a reality, as we are led by the Spirit we grow in the knowledge of the Lord, freely keeping his commandments and endeavoring to so live in the world that all people may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.

All believers are exhorted to persevere in the faith, knowing they will have to give an account to God for their every thought, word, and deed. Spiritual disciplines, including Bible study, prayer and fasting, worship and confession, are a vital means of grace in this regard. Nevertheless, the believer’s ultimate confidence to persevere is based in the sure promise of God to preserve His people until the end.

9. The Church and Its Ministry

God, by His Word and Spirit, creates the one holy catholic and apostolic church, calling sinners out of the whole human race into the fellowship of Christ’s body—the Church universal. By the same Word and Spirit, He guides and preserves for eternity that new, redeemed humanity which, being formed in every culture, is spiritually one with the people of God in all ages. This universal Church is made up of those who have become genuine followers of Jesus Christ and have personally appropriated the gospel.

Upon conversion, newly redeemed men and women are added to the Church universal and are to be a vital and committed part of a local church, devoting themselves to teaching, fellowship, prayer, as well as the sacraments of water baptism and the Lord's Supper. In this context they are called to walk out the New Covenant as the people of God, and demonstrate the reality of the kingdom of God.

The Church exists to worship and glorify God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It also exists to serve him by faithfully doing his will on the earth. The ultimate mission of the Church is the making of disciples through the preaching of the gospel.

10. The Consummation

The Consummation of all things includes the visible, personal and glorious return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead and the translation of those alive in Christ, the judgment of the just and the unjust, and the fulfillment of Christ’s kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth. In the Consummation, Satan with his hosts and all those outside Christ are finally separated from the benevolent presence of God, enduring eternal punishment, but the righteous, in glorious bodies, shall live and reign with Him forever. Married to Christ as his Bride, the Church will be in the presence of God forever, serving Him and giving Him unending praise and glory. Then shall the eager expectation of creation be fulfilled and the whole earth shall proclaim the glory of God who makes all things new.