SCRIPTURE

The Bible is God's Word to us. It is written by human authorities, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures are the all-sufficient and infallible. Scripture holds the highest authority over all other means of revelation and communicates to us everything God desires us to know about Him, ourselves and who we are called to be in response. Because it is inspired by God, it has salvation for its end and is truth without any mixture of error (Psalm 19:7-10, 2 Timothy 3:15-17 2 Peter 1:19-21).

CREATOR

Before history began the one and only true God, eternally existent and self-sufficient in a community of three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Within the Godhead, there is submission and love and worship and friendship, such that God lacks nothing within Himself. God exists in Trinity—three, yet one; one, yet three—each member equal in glory, co-eternal in majesty. Within the Trinity, every attribute of God is perfectly embodied and effectively revealed. (Genesis 1:26, Genesis 11:7; Deuteronomy 6:4; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:1-2, 14, 18; Hebrews 1:8-9; Revelation 22:3)

THE TRINITY

GOD THE FATHER

We believe in God the Father, an everlasting, infinite, perfect personal being who is the sovereign and rightful ruler of all that exists – perfect in all of His attributes. He is sufficient in Himself, not standing in need of any creature that He has made, perfect in wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and grace. He seeks His glory above all things, and in doing so, offers us the greatest joy imaginable. (Genesis 1:1; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Isaiah 43:6-7)

GOD THE SON

Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Son of God, begotten, not created. He is the chief Mediator between God and man, and the visible image of the invisible God. Not considering equality with the Father something to be held onto, in humility, He became man without ceasing to be God. He did so in order that He might reveal God, redeem us, and bring us back into a relationship with our Creator. (John 3:16; Colossians 1:15; John 10:30; Philippians 2:5-8)

GOD THE SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit of God is the Divine Person who brings conviction of sin to the world and is the Holy Minister responsible for the regeneration, sanctification, and preservation of the saints. He is the indwelling Guide and Counselor in all believers, guiding them into all truth as the Father wills. He equips and partners with believers in the mission of God. (John 14:15-17, 26, 16:12-15; Galatians 5:22-23; Acts 1:8)

CREATION

As an expression of divine love and glory, God chose to create the Universe and all things therein. He made everything out of nothing by the power of His word—all of which was good. At the pinnacle of His creation, He fashioned humanity in His own image, male and female, and gave them dominion over all else that He had made. Bearing the image of God, we have been given the capacity and responsibility to reflect God's nature and character in and throughout all of creation. (Genesis 1:1-31)

THE FALL

The inhabitants of Eden take an unfortunate turn. Despite having every needed provision for lives of joy and peace with God and creation, mankind chose himself over God. We believed the lie that we knew better what would bring us fulfilled lives. Because of man's rebellion, the perfect relationship between us and God was broken, and Heaven and Earth were no longer one. Every human since this fall has been born with a sinful nature—a heart bent away from God—prone to choose self over God, in need of God's saving grace. (Genesis 3:4-7; Romans 3:23-24)

REDEMPTION

From the moment of man's initial sin and the plunge of all creation into its curse, God promised to set things right. He reiterated that promise to Abraham in a covenant, telling him that blessing to all nations would come through his offspring, namely Jesus. God foreshadowed that coming redemption in His covenant with the nation of Israel, instituting a sacrificial system for sin whereby the people might find reconciliation with God. The prophets of Israel then foretold of a new and better covenant in accordance with the promises to Abraham. This covenant would be established by a messianic figure who would atone for sin once and for all. (Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:16; Leviticus 16; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Isaiah 53:1-12)

JESUS MESSIAH

Jesus proved to be that figure, fulfilling all Old Testament prophesies. He was God made flesh—the second person of the Trinity. He entered human history as a man to live without sin in perfect obedience, to die for sin as the propitiation from God's righteous wrath, and to victoriously resurrect over sin and death. Jesus then returned to His place of glory in Heaven, where to this day He intercedes before the Father on behalf of all those who trust in His sacrifice. God adopts these people of faith as children and unites them as His church. He regenerates our dead hearts to new life and gives the Holy Spirit to help us continue Christ's work of restoring Shalom. (John 1:1-3, 14; Hebrews 2:17, 4:15, 7:25; Colossians 2:13-15; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 1:13; Titus 3:5; 1 John 4:12)

SALVATION

God saves. The Godhead and all the heavenly hosts take great joy and pleasure in the lost being found, the spiritually dead being made alive in Christ. The rescuing of His children is an integral part of His redemption of the world. He adopts us into His family as a co-heir with Jesus. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone—not by any works or practices of our own. Jesus' righteousness is given to us freely, and we then are innocent and blameless in God's eyes, free to live in fellowship with Him forever. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 8:29-30, Luke 15)

THE CHURCH

When Jesus lived on Earth, He called Apostles to follow Him, to learn from Him, and to continue the work that He began. He entrusted the Gospel to the Apostles, charging them to spread it to all people. The church today is a part of that same mission, serving as God's vehicle for redemption in this world and participating with Him to bring the whole world back to Himself. (Matthew 4:19, 28:19-20; Ephesians 2:19-22)

THE GOSPEL

“Here is what I understand the good news to be: the good news is that the one and only God, who is holy, made us in his image to know him. But we sinned and cut ourselves off from him. In his great love, God became a man in Jesus, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross, thus fulfilling the law himself and taking on himself the punishment for the sins of all those who would ever turn and trust in him. He rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted Christ’s sacrifice and that God’s wrath against us had been exhausted. He now calls us to repent of our sins and to trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness. If we repent of our sins and trust in Christ, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God. Now that is good news.”

Mark Dever - ‘The Gospel and Personal Evangelism’

RESTORATION

The story ends with God making things as He originally created them: perfect. Free from sin, pain, and even death, we will be united with our Creator again, invited to partake in the Kingdom He has been establishing. Jesus has promised to return one day, not again as a humble servant, but in glory to judge the nations. He will usher in a resurrection of all peoples and will bring final justice. He will establish a new Earth in which the redeemed people of God will enjoy Him and His blessings forever. (Revelation 11:18; 2 Peter 3:13)