Articles of Faith

God the Father

We believe God, the First Person of the Trinity, is the Creator and Ruler of all things. God is a sovereign Spirit, Who requires us to worship Him in spirit and in truth. God is the absolute authority, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. God's character is perfect, holy, loving, and righteous. God demonstrated the ultimate example of love when He executed the plan for salvation through Jesus Christ. God is the Father of all as there was nothing before Him and there will be nothing after Him. God, through his infinite wisdom, has predestined all things to exist through His divine will, including the exact time Christ will return. We believe there is only one true and living God, Who is infinite and deserves exclusive glory, honor, and obedience, "To the only wise God our Savior be majesty, dominion, and power, both now and forever (Jude 25).

Man

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God. We believe God created man with moral excellence, free from sin, and yearning for fellowship with God. Man's existence was to glorify God; however, man was influenced by the sin of disobedience through the gateway of pride. As a result of man's disobedience, a separation from God occurred. Man submitted his God-given authority to the serpent, thus corrupting the harmony of the communion with God. Subsequently, all who have been born after the fall of man are inherently inclined to sin. Due to man's sinful nature, there is a constant conflict between our desire to please ourselves and submit to the Spirit of God. Man's sin introduced death, the penalty of sin. Man was not capable of paying the debt for sin as we were in bondage to sin. Therefore, Jesus served as the bridge to connect man back to God giving man hope for redemption and eternal restoration.

Salvation

We believe salvation is a gift of God through Christ attained by grace through faith and not by individual talent, skill, or merit. Salvation is initiated by a recognition of being a sinner in need of a Savior. Salvation is the result of the unwavering acceptance of Jesus birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, and inevitable return. Salvation is the catalyst for life in Christ as one who has received the benefits of salvation and responded to the gospel (good news) of Jesus from the preaching, teaching, or ministering of the Word of God. Salvation is attained by the decision of the individual to allow Jesus to be their Lord and Savior leading to eternal life with Christ. We believe those who are saved have received God's calling to salvation as it is God's will that none be lost. We believe salvation is complete because of Jesus and those who are saved are in the hands of Jesus from the Father, Who the Bible declares" has lost none." (John 17:12). Thus, our place in God is cemented as we are sealed until the day of redemption. We believe those who are saved are immediately baptized (spiritually) into the body of Christ and are one with Him through the regeneration work of the Holy Spirit. We believe those who are saved are justified and declared righteous heirs entitled to eternal life. We believe those who are saved are sanctified to live a life that glorifies God.

God the Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, is the Comforter whom Jesus promised to come. The Holy Spirit's function in this age began at Pentecost establishing the foundation of the Church and empowering individuals to build the Body of Christ through signs and wonders. This authenticated the work of the apostles to build the kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit empowers the believer today to accomplish the work of Christ. The Holy Spirit baptizes all believers into the Body of Christ instantaneously, and guides, teaches, and directs believers into all truth. The Holy Spirit assist the believer to receive the revelation of God's Word. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer providing us with conviction when one decides to yield to their own will. The Holy Spirit administers all spiritual gifts for the edification of the church to bring glory to God. The Holy Spirit is the agent of conversion as the Holy Spirit helps those who are "lost" to identify the need to be saved through Christ. The Holy Spirit baptizes and seals the believer into the body of Christ until the day of redemption, thus executing God's eternal plan of restoration for His creation.

Angels

We believe angels are spiritual beings created by God and not to be worshipped. Angels are used by God to strengthen believers, deliver God's messages, and carry out God's judgment. The purpose of angels, who are a higher order of creation than man, is to serve God and worship Him. We believe Satan, "the accuser" formerly known as Lucifer was an angel created by God. Lucifer was cast down from heaven and he took one-third of the angels with him as a result of his pride and desire to go against the order of worship and reverence to God. Satan is the prince of this current world system as he is granted power for an appointed time. We are aware of Satan's limited power and unlimited influence, which is why believers are to put on the whole armor of God to resist the enemy, Satan. We know that Satan's ambition is to kill, steal and destroy making him the arch enemy of God's will, God's design and God's people. Satan is not exempt from accountability to Christ's authority as Christ declared possession of the keys to hell and the grave. The scriptures clearly outline Satan's final judgement of eternal existence in the lake of fire.

God the Son

We believe Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity, by whom all things continue to exist, is seated at the right hand of God serving as an advocate for the saints. We believe that Jesus is the model for all to follow. We believe that Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, is undeniably the Son of God, predicted by scripture, born of a virgin, incarnated, sinless with the fullness of human characteristics and the fullness of holy deity. Jesus, the Word in the flesh, is the physical representation of the Word of God. Jesus, the Chief Cornerstone, is the head of the church asserting full authority over the church as Jesus is the foundation of any effective ministry. Jesus, the Redeemer, demonstrated divine intention and purpose as He was born, died by shedding His blood on the cross, buried in a borrowed tomb, and rose from the grave with all power to re-establish fellowship with God that was compromised by man's sin. Jesus, the Everlasting King, promised to return from His position on the right hand of God the Father in heaven for those who believe in Him, and proclaim He is the only way to everlasting life. Jesus is the name above all names with unlimited power and authority.

The Church

We believe that the "church" is the local church (organization) and the church body (the individual believer). We believe the local church is the temple of God set aside for sacred worship, observance of ordinances, gathering of the saints, to edify the body of Christ while glorifying God. The local church is the headquarters for believers to attain the skills and knowledge required to build the Kingdom of God. The local church is to be a beacon of Christ's light in the community demonstrating God's love to a sin-sick world. We believe the individual is a temple consecrated unto God for His purpose. The church body consist of all believers of which Christ is the head. The church body consist of believers who have been given gifts and talents to give glory and honor to God, serve the body, and advance the movement of Christ's influence throughout the world. The church is the bride of Christ commissioned to spread the message of the Kingdom as we await His glorious return. Both the local church and church body have a responsibility to demonstrate Christian character and virtues as outlined in the Word of God.

Eschatology

We believe physical death is inevitable for everyone. Physical death is a separation between soul, body, and spirit. Our physical body will return to the dust, the spirit will go back to the Creator, and our soul will be in the presence of the Lord. Those who are saved, and experience physical death are considered "sleep." There will be a rapture for all who are "sleep" and alive in Christ. Scripture teaches, during the rapture believers who are "sleep" will rise first and those who are alive will experience a transition as there will be "a change in form" transitioning from an earthly existence to a heavenly existence. We believe in the bodily resurrection of everyone. However, those who are in Christ will receive eternal life and those who rejected Christ will experience damnation and eternal punishment. We believe those who experience physical death (unsaved) have experienced no loss of consciousness or awareness and are in hell awaiting judgment and final punishment of the lake of fire. God's desire is that we will not experience spiritual death, as God never designed hell for man, but for Satan and his angels. We believe the Word of God prophetically declares the events leading to the end of this age and the preparation for the eternal Kingdom.

Ordinances

There are two sacred ordinances in the church. The first ordinance is baptism. Jesus Christ instructed us to baptize newly converted believers in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Therefore, we believe baptism (submerging) is an integral part of the Christian experience as it symbolically express one buried with Christ (burying the old man) and resurrection with Christ (life as the new man). Baptism is not a prerequisite to salvation; however, it is simply an expression to proclaim the fellowship and identification with Christ which was already accomplished at the moment of salvation. The second ordinance is the Lord's Supper. Christ instructed us as often as we partake of the Lord's Supper, do it in remembrance of Him until He comes. We are to examine ourselves, so we do not partake of the body and the blood unworthily as we are reminded of how inadequate we are, highlighting the need for Jesus. Observing the Lord's Supper does not produce salvation, however, observing the Lord's Supper reiterates what salvation produced.