STATEMENT OF FAITH

GOSPEL CENTERED MISSIONS

1.    The Bible. We believe the entire Bible to be inspired of God, inerrant in its original autographs. We believe God has preserved its transmission through the ages so that we may uphold any faithful translation and confidently declare it to be the only infallible, authoritative Word of God. Apart from the Bible, there is no infallible, authoritative revelation.

2.    God. We believe that there is one living and true God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This triune God is the creator of all things and is infinite and holy in all His perfections. To Him all mankind owes the highest love, reverence, and obedience.

3.    Jesus. We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless Life, His miracles, His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal, visible return in power and glory to judge the world and establish His kingdom. We believe that while fully God, Jesus came and clothed Himself in our humanity, yet without at any time diminishing His deity; He remains and ever shall be fully God and fully Man, worthy of all worship and praise.

4.    Man. We believe man was specially created by God, male and female, in God’s own image. Though the crowning work of God’s creation, the first man used his God-given freedom of choice to sin against his Creator, incurring God’s wrath and plunging the human race into sin and corruption.  Apart from God’s grace and redemption in Christ, mankind remains under a state of condemnation and subject to God’s judgment. Yet mankind still maintains the image of God so that all people, regardless of ethnicity, gender, age, disability, or social status possess dignity and are worthy of respect and care.

5.    Salvation. We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful man regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. Apart from Christ, people are “dead in their trespasses and sin” and incapable of obedience to God or professing faith in Christ. In His great love, God sent His Son to take upon Himself the wrath of God for our sin so that whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord, having been moved by the Spirit, will be saved. Christ's death alone secures the redemption of all who believe.

6.    The Holy Spirit. We believe the Holy Spirit is the fully divine, third member of the Trinity. We believe His primary work is that of exalting Christ. He does so mainly in His present ministry of convicting the world of their sin, drawing people to Christ, and empowering Christians to live to the glory of God and faithfully proclaim the gospel until Jesus returns.

7.    The Resurrection. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost: they that are saved unto the blessedness of dwelling eternally in God’s presence and they that are lost unto eternal punishment and separation from God.

8.    The Church. We believe in the spiritual unity of all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who is the head of His spiritual body. These are they who worship God in spirit and truth and through whom God makes Himself known to the world as they incorporate into local churches and as they make more and better disciples who know and worship Him.

9.    The Great Commission. Whereas we believe only those who call upon Christ will be saved and that belief in Christ is solely sufficient and completely necessary for salvation, we further believe that the faithful, obedient declaration of the gospel among the nations is the vital, necessary work of the church of Jesus Christ. Evangelism is the means God uses to draw people to Himself and for His glory, as His people declare the good news of redemption in Jesus Christ, leaving the results to God.