We believe there is one God. He has existed eternally, and has revealed Himself to people in three distinct, yet equally divine persons. Even though we cannot fully understand God’s divine nature, it is possible for people to know Him. He created the universe, as well as all the creatures in it. He sustains the universe by His supreme power. Since the beginning of creation, God has in many ways expressed His desire to be our God, and to have a relationship with each of us that is personal and eternal. We believe God loves us, and wants the very best for each of us.

God the Father loves people so strongly that He acts as a good father should act. He instructs us through the Bible. He listens to us when we speak to Him through praying. He disciplines us to help us grow to maturity. He is both just in His decisions, and merciful to people who turn to Him. He provides everything we need to live, giving us our food, clothing, and shelter, the air we breathe, and each day we live. His love for us is so strong that, even after we rejected Him and His love, He gave His Son to pay the death penalty for our sins. He did this so that, if we choose to love Him, we can live with Him forever.

We believe Jesus is the eternal divine Son of God the Father. Jesus chose voluntarily to become human, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. He lived a sinless life, but allowed Himself to be executed by crucifixion. However, just as He had said would happen, He rose from the dead three days after His execution. For forty days after his resurrection from the dead, He appeared to hundreds of people who became witnesses to that fact. He ascended to heaven, where he now acts as mediator between God the Father and people. We believe that at the end of time He will visibly return to earth to complete His eternal plan, to take us to heaven to live with Him forever.

The Holy Spirit lives in every person who follows the teachings of Jesus by living as Jesus taught. By living within these people, the Holy Spirit gives spiritual life to them and distinguishes them as children of God. The Holy Spirit guides Jesus’ followers in understanding and applying God’s principles and values. He also equips them to serve Jesus by giving them talents and abilities, which are to be used to build up God’s kingdom.

God created humans to live in relationship with Him — to be loved by Him, and to love Him in return. However, the first man and woman were deceived by God’s enemy, Satan. They rebelled against God’s instructions to them, and chose to be wrongfully independent from God. This decision alienated them from God. Since that time, every other human being has suffered the consequences of that rebellion. We all fail to please God, and are open to Satan’s deception. Our failure to please God is called “sin.” Unless a good relationship is re–established with God, our sin results in condemnation under God’s judgment and would cause us to spend eternity in hell, separated from God forever. Furthermore, there is nothing we can do on our own to re–establish a good relationship with God.

God divinely inspired human authors to write the sixty–six books of the Bible. Through these people God communicated the values, principles, and ideals which please Him and are in our best interests. We believe the Bible is entirely accurate, complete, and reliable. We look to the Bible for the revelation of the character of God, and as the final authority on all matters of faith and conduct.

God designed the church to help people rebuild a good relationship with Him, and to represent Jesus Christ to a world that needs Him. The Bible speaks of the church as Christ’s body, and compares the church to a living organism. Jesus is the head, and the Holy Spirit arranges people to form the parts of the body. The Holy Spirit gives each Christian special functions to perform for the good of the body. As each part does its work, the body grows and matures. God works through the body — the church — to bring other people back into a good relationship with Himself through Jesus Christ.

When we sin (rebellion against what pleases God), we deserve to die. Once we sin, we are incapable on our own of re–establishing a good relationship with God. But, God loves us, and still wants us to live with Him forever. God loves us so much that He is willing to save us from our decision to rebel, and from its consequences. He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on our behalf, and to be raised from the dead to provide a promise of eternal life with Him. Since we cannot earn this, it is a gift to us. The Bible tells us this gift is called “grace,” something we do not deserve, but which God is willing to give us as we follow His will. Even though salvation is by grace — that is, it is a gift to people — God has instructed us that it is only received when people are obedient to His will. Salvation is not earned by this obedience, but obedience is required; to disobey is to continue rebelling against God. Our acceptance of God’s grace is demonstrated through both private and public commitments.

Faith is the first of the private commitments. Faith has two elements. First, we must accept the facts that we have sinned, that God has provided the means for our salvation (Jesus died on our behalf and was raised from the dead), and that apart from God’s grace we are without hope. Second, we must act in keeping with what we believe

Repentance means “to turn around.” In other words, when we repent we are turning away from our rebellion from God, and turning toward a life that is pleasing to God. While repentance is a private commitment, it has very public effects. We stop disobeying God, and begin living as He wishes. When we repent, our changed lives demonstrate to God our commitment to live a life pleasing to Him.

Confession means “to say the same thing.” That is, we are to publicly say the same thing God says. We must say the same thing about ourselves (that we have rebelled against Him), and about Him (that Jesus is our Savior, and that He has the right to determine how we will live). Our public confession continues for the rest of our lives as we publicly reaffirm that Jesus is our Savior and our Lord.

According to the Bible, baptism is to immediately follow our faith, repentance, and confession. It is the point in time when God extends mercy to us, forgiving our sins. It is the point in time when the Holy Spirit begins living within us, and when the Holy Spirit gives us the talents and abilities we will need to do our part in building up the kingdom of God. In the New Testament all baptisms were of people old enough to make important decisions for themselves, and baptism was done by immersion (the person’s whole body was dipped until buried in the water). Because we cherish following the Bible in doing as it instructs, and following the examples of the Bible, we baptize only those people who are old enough to make their own decision to be life–long followers of Christ. And again, because we seek to do Biblical things in Biblical ways, we accept only immersion as baptism.