What We Believe - The Essentials


All Scripture is self-attesting, and being Truth requires our unreserved submission in all areas of life.  The infallible Word of God - the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments - is a complete and unified witness to God's redemptive acts culminating in the incarnation of the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Bible, uniquely and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the supreme and final authority on all matters on which it speaks.  On this sure foundation, we affirm these additional essentials of our faith.



1.  We believe in one God, the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three Persons:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  To Him be all honor, glory, and praise forever!


2.  Jesus Christ, the living Word, became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth.  He who is true God became true man united in one Person forever.  He died on the cross a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures.  On the third day He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven where, at the right hand of the Majesty on high, He is now our High Priest and Mediator.   


3.  The Holy Spirit has come to glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to our hearts.  He convicts us of sin and draws us to the Savior, indwelling our hearts.  He gives new life to us, empowers and imparts gifts to us for service.  He instructs and guides us into all truth, and seals us for the day of redemption.


4.  Being estranged from God and condemned bu our sinfulness, our salvation is wholly dependent upon the work of God's free grace.  God credits His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, and thereby justifies them in His sight.  Only such as are born of the Holy Spirit and receive Jesus Christ become children of God and heirs of eternal life.


5.  The true Church is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit are united together in the body of Christ.  The Church finds her visible yet imperfect expression in local congregations where the Word of God is preached in its purity and the sacraments are administered in their integrity, where scriptural discipline is practiced, and where loving fellowship is maintained.  For her perfecting she awaits the return of her Lord.


6.  Jesus Christ will come again to the earth personally, visibly, and bodily-- to judge the living and the dead, and to consummate history and the eternal plan of God.  "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20)


7.  The Lord Jesus Christ commands all believers to proclaim the gospel throughout the world and to make disciples of all nations.  Obedience to the Great Commission requires total commitment to "Him who loved us and gave Himself for us."  He calls us to a life of self-denying love and service.  "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).


The Essentials are set forth in greater detail in the Westminster Confession of Faith.


In Essentials ... Unity

In Non-Essentials ... Liberty

In All Things ... Charity



The Apostles Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.


I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, or 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 into hell.  The third day he rose again from the dead, He ascended into 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.

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Although not written by the apostles, the Apostle's Creed is a concise summary of their teachings. 

It originated as a baptismal confession, probably in the second century, and developed into its present form by the sixth or seventh century.

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The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.


And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried; and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.


And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets; and we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.  Amen.

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The Nicene Creed originated at the Council of Nicea (325), and an expanded form was adopted by the Second Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople (381).  It was formulated to answer heresies that denied the biblical doctrine of the Trinity and of the person of Christ.

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