• our beliefs shape our convictions

• our convictions mandate our mission

• our mission informs our strategy

• our strategy drives our staffing and directs our priorities and programs.

BELIEF STATEMENTS:

1. GOD :: We believe in one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in three Persons who is worthy of all glory, honor, and power forever. [Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:18-20]

2. THE BIBLE :: We believe the Scripture, both Old and New Testament, is verbally inspired of God and is inerrant in the original writings and is the Christian’s final authority in faith and conduct. [2 Peter 1:16-21; 2 Timothy 3:16-17]

3. THE PERSON & WORK OF CHRIST :: We believe that, by the miracle of the Virgin Birth, the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God, in order to reveal God and to redeem man; that He died for our sins (the sins of all men) as a substitutionary sacrifice and arose bodily from the dead for our justification; and that He is now exalted at the right hand of God, Head of the Church and Lord of the individual believer, fulfilling His ministry as our Great High Priest and Advocate. [John 1:1-3, 14, 18; Hebrews 1:1-3; Colossians 1:13-20]

4. THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT :: We believe that each believer has received one or more spiritual gifts so that he/ she might exercise them for the strengthening and outreach of the Body of Christ. We believe that some of the gifts mentioned in Scripture were primarily for the founding of the church and, therefore, were temporary in nature. We do recognize, however, that God may choose to give any gift to the church at any time in order to serve and accomplish His purposes so that He might be glorified. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the power for the Christian life through teaching and leading into truth, convicting of sin, empowering for faithfulness, transforming into Christ-likeness, and preserving/ guarding for glory. [Acts 5:3-4; John 15:26-27; 16:14; 1 Corinthians 12:7-13; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30]

5. SALVATION :: We believe that salvation is the free gift of God (neither merited or secured, in part or in whole, by any virtue or work of man) to be received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom all true believers have, as a present possession, the gift of eternal life, a perfect righteousness, sonship in the family of God, deliverance and security from all condemnation, every spiritual resource needed for life and godliness, and the divine guarantee that they shall never perish. [Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:19-31; 8:1; Colossians 1:15-24; Jude 24-25]

6. MAN :: We believe that man was created in the image of God, but that he sinned, incurring not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God and which is inherited by every member of Adam’s race. We believe that man is subject to the power of the devil and has within himself no possible means of recovery or salvation. [Romans 1:18-32; Ephesians 2:1-2]

7. THE CHURCH :: We believe that the true Church is composed of all who, through saving faith in Jesus Christ, have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit; that those who are thus members of the true Church will be eligible for membership in the local church; and that baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper are to be observed by the church during the present age. The decision to participate in baptism and the Lord’s Supper will be on an individual basis, but this participation is not to be regarded, in any sense, as a means of salvation. [1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 27; Matthew 28:18-20]

8. THE BLESSED HOPE :: We believe in the personal, imminent and premillenial coming of our Lord, first to receive His own to Himself and, later, to set up His earthly kingdom and to reign over the redeemed of Israel and all the nations of the world. We believe that this blessed hope has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer. [Titus 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58]

9. THE CHRISTIAN WALK :: We believe that we are called with a holy calling to walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, and so to live in the power of the indwelling Spirit of God that we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. We believe that the flesh, with its fallen, adamic nature, which in this life is never eradicated, must be kept by the Spirit (through our walk of faith) constantly in subjection to Christ, or it will surely manifest its presence in our lives, to the dishonor of our Lord. [Romans 6:1-14; 12:9-12; Colossians 1:28; 1 Peter 1:14-16]

10. THE ETERNAL STATE OF MAN :: We believe that the souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation do, at death, immediately pass into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming for the Church, when soul and body, reunited, will be associated with him forever in glory. We believe that unbelievers will be punished with everlasting separation from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power. [Revelation 20-22; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10]

CONVICTION STATEMENTS:

1. We exist for the glory of God.

2. God is glorified through Christ as his gospel is proclaimed, believed, and obeyed, transforming the believer to become like Christ.

3. The Holy Spirit creates a new kind of community that reflects Christ to the world.

4. Members of this community develop others to thrive according to God’s design.

5. A Christ-centered community seeks the good of its community for the glory of God through hospitality, work, and service.

MISSION STATEMENT:

We are building a Christ-centered community to reach our community for the glory of God.

STRATEGY STATEMENTS:

1. CONVICTIONS – We will align all ministries and people development to our five convictions by educating all attenders and challenging and encouraging them to fully embrace the convictions in their personal lives.

2. EXCELLENCE – We will carry out all ministry efforts with excellence and accountability, seeking our direction, wisdom, discernment, and ability from God.

3. CONDUCT - We will conduct ourselves in a way that honors Christ through loving relational commitments as we are being built into a Christ-centered community (see our relational Manifesto).

4. DEVELOPMENT – We will intentionally develop existing and emerging leaders by educating, encouraging, and enabling them to lead in their ministries, homes, and workplaces with the faith and hospitality that result from Christ-centered personal lives.

5. CULTURE – We will cultivate a Christ-centered culture that is characterized as praying, proclaiming and welcoming, discovering and working, connecting and serving, celebrating and going.