.png)
What We Believe & Teach
The Church & Christian Living
1. The Church
We believe, according to the Scriptures, that the Church of Jesus Christ is composed of:
(a.) The Local Church:
The local church is an organization composed of born again believers in Jesus Christ who have been scripturally baptized, and observe the ordinances as outlined in God’s Word, and who meet in a definite place or location (Acts 2:41,46; Rev. 2; Heb. 10:24,25) for the purpose of fulfilling the great commission (Matt. 28: 19-20).
(b.) The Universal Church:
The true church of Jesus Christ, in its spiritual form, is composed of all born again believers, whether living or dead, with Christ Himself being the chief “Corner stone” and supreme Head. This group composes the Body of Christ, which is also the Bride of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-14; Eph. 5:23-24).
2. The Christian Life
We believe, according to the Scriptures, that every born again believer is a new creation in Christ set apart for God’s glory. Christian growth will produce evidence of a new biblical change in attitude toward life (Eph. 4) as a result of their conversion.
They should shun all evil influence and affiliation; joyfully forsake the further partaking of all sinful habits in order to glorify Jesus Christ in their new life (Rom. 6:1-4). They will furthermore, worship, serve, and honor God as Lord of their life and in all things give our Savior the preeminence (Col. 1:18).
3. The Ordinances
We believe, according to the Scriptures, that Jesus Christ commanded the observance of two ordinances before He ascended unto His Father in Heaven, namely, baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
(a.) Baptism:
We believe that all born again believers are to follow the Scriptural example of baptism of Jesus. We believe that He was immersed, so we conclude that we are to be immersed after His example. Although salvation is not contingent upon baptism, we believe that every born again believer is commanded to follow the Lord in Scriptural baptism as soon after conversion as possible (Matt. 28:19-20). This is a public confession of the salvation experience, a commitment to break with all sin and the world, and a sinner’s intent to reckon oneself dead unto sin and alive unto God (picture of Romans 6, Col. 2:12). This ordinance openly signifies that the believer is crucified with Christ and buried with Him, being dead to sin and resurrected with Him by the power of God to newness of life through Him.
(b.) The Lord’s Supper:
The Lord’s Supper consists of the eating of the bread symbolizing Christ’s body which was broken for us and the drinking of the cup symbolizing His blood which was shed for us. The fellowship of this table belongs to all born again children of God and will be observed by this assembly regularly. Each believer should make a careful examination of their heart before partaking, for the unworthy partaker of the Lord’s Supper brings damnation upon himself (1 Cor. 11:23-30).
