Our God is the Triune God of the Bible, who has revealed himself to people in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, yet is not three gods, but one God. We admit that this is impossible for human logic to understand, but we bow to the logic of the almighty and all-knowing God (Isaiah 55:9).

We believe that the Bible is God’s inspired Word (2 Timothy 3:16). This means that everything in the Bible is true, since God does not lie (John 17:17). It also means that everything in the Bible is authoritative for our lives, since God is the creator of all things and certainly has the right to tell us how to live. God’s Word is the means God uses to tell us about himself and his plan of salvation for us.

The Bible clearly teaches that all people are sinful from the moment of conception (Psalm 51:5), a condition passed on to them by their sinful parents (John 3:6). This condition is traced all the way back to our first parents, Adam and Eve, who first sinned in the Garden of Eden by disobeying God’s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). This sinful condition is just as evil in God’s eyes as any other sin a person would commit, and all who possess it deserve God’s wrath and punishment. Because of this, it is clear that children too are sinful and are in need of a Savior.

God’s law is summed up for us in two simple commands, as Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:37-40, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” The 10 Commandments serve as a brief explanation of what it means to show love to God and our neighbor. God’s law serves primarily to show us that we are sinful people who are in need of a Savior (Romans 3:20). In this way, the law prepares us to receive the gospel. The law also serves to guide us in how believers can show our love for God as we live our lives for him.

The gospel, or good news, is the message of God’s undeserved love towards sinful people, shown to us especially in the person of Jesus Christ (John 3:16). Though all people deserve God’s wrath and the eternal punishment of hell because of their sins, God is full of mercy and desired to save our fallen race. He therefore set in motion a plan to send his Son to be Savior of the world by taking their place (Galatians 4:4-5). He would live the perfect life they could not, and would sacrifice his life and bear the punishment that sinners deserved. By doing this, he paid the debt of every sinner to God and offers his holy life to each of us, thereby giving us eternal life in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:21). This good news is the solid foundation on which we base our faith.

The Bible teaches us that we are made right with God only on the basis of Jesus and what he has done for us. None of our own efforts can contribute anything to our salvation. Rather, God declares us not guilty of the sins we have committed simply because he has already punished our substitute, Jesus, for them (Romans 4:25). Since Jesus paid for all sins, there is nothing left for us to do in order to gain God’s favor or our own salvation. We already have God’s favor and salvation!

>God freely offers us the results of Christ’s work on our behalf – forgiveness of sins, a transformed heart, and eternal life in heaven. These blessings are received by faith, like a hand that receives a present from someone. Faith holds on to the promises of God and is itself created within a person’s heart through the work of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). No one can choose to believe on their own power, because the Bible tells us that prior to having faith, we are all dead in sin and therefore powerless to take any beneficial spiritual action (Ephesians 2:1). Faith is a gift of God for which no one can take credit but God himself, who gives it (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Since there is nothing left for us to do for our salvation, some may suppose that there is no place for good works in our lives. The Bible says differently. The Bible directs us to do good works, though not to earn anything from God. Rather it directs us to do them out of love and thanks to God for what he has already done for us in Christ (1 John 4:19). Good works will automatically flow from a believer’s heart in response to God’s love, as Paul reminds us, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Credit for these good things goes not to us, but to God, who gives us the power to do them and who himself prepared them in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

The Bible teaches us that Baptism is a sacred act by which God connects sinful people to Christ and his redemptive work (Romans 6:3). Through water connected with God’s promise, Baptism saves, that is, it offers forgiveness of sins, a transformed heart, and eternal life (Titus 3:5). These are the same spiritual blessings given to a person through God’s Word in the gospel. Baptism, however, is a means that God provides so that those who cannot yet understand God’s Word may still receive the benefits of Christ’s work on their behalf. The Bible gives ample evidence that children should be baptized (Psalm 51:5; Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 10:14; Acts 2:39).

We believe that in the Lord’s Supper, people receive not only the bread and wine which are clearly present, but also Christ’s body and blood, which are present by virtue of Christ’s clear words, “This is my body…this is my blood” (Matthew 26:26-28). The Bible teaches that it is necessary to have a clear understanding of this sacrament so that it may be a blessing and not judgment for the one who partakes (1 Corinthians 11:27-29). It also teaches that the Lord’s Supper is an expression of the common faith we share with each other (1 Corinthians 10:16-17) . Therefore we have the practice of instructing people, before they join us in this sacrament, so that we might be sincere when we express our common faith. Like Baptism, the Lord’s Supper also gives forgiveness of sins, a transformed heart, and eternal life, because it connects us to Jesus’ saving work.

Jesus tells us, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-19). Paul reminds that God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). Therefore we believe that a vital part of being a Christian is sharing the message of Christ crucified with others, so that they may know that they have forgiveness for their sins, and that eternal life is offered to them freely for Christ’s sake.

The Bible teaches us that this world will come to an end at a time chosen by God (2 Peter 3:10-11). At that time, Jesus will come in glory to judge the living and the dead. The dead will be raised, and people will be divided according to whether they had faith in Christ or not. After the judgment, believers will be taken to heaven, while unbelievers will be condemned to hell (Matthew 25:31-46). The Bible does not teach that Jesus will reign over an earthly kingdom when he comes, as he himself said, “My kingdom is from another place” (John 18:36). This present creation will be destroyed with fire, and then God will create a new heavens and earth where he will dwell with his people (2 Peter 3:12-13).