God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He has revealed Himself to us in three Personalities: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each Personality of the trinity is completely God and shares the same nature and attributes. God the Father is perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. He is mercifully concerned with the affairs of people. And, by grace, He saves from destruction the spiritual death of all those who come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is God's Son. He is both fully God and fully human. He came to earth and shared in our humanity to reconcile us to God by living a sinless life and becoming the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by His death on the cross. His death satisfied God's justice, and made possible for all who believe in Him to be freed from the penalty of sin and made acceptable to God on the grounds of His sin-payment. Having died on the cross, Christ rose bodily from the dead and ascended into heaven. He will return again to earth to consummate history and the eternal plan of God, according to His promise.
The Holy Spirit was sent from God to apply to us the saving work of Christ: to enlighten our minds and make us aware of our need of a savior, and to regenerate and permanently indwell each believer, becoming the source of assurance, knowledge, power and wisdom for godly living. The Holy Spirit gives each believer spiritual gifts for the strengthening and proper functioning of the church. And He guides believers in their understanding and application of Scripture and truth.
The Bible is Gods Word to us. It was written by human authors who were supernaturally guided by the Holy Spirit. Although the authors were not infallible, because what they wrote was inspired of God we believe the Old and New Testament original writings are without error. The Bible is complete as a revelation of Gods will for salvation, and is the final authority for Christian faith and living.
God created people in His own image to have a relationship with Himself. Yet, we have defied God and have become alienated from Him and unable to please Him due to an attitude of disobedience, called sin. All people are born into the world separated from God, sinners by choice and by nature, incapable of restoring the broken relationship, and in need of the grace of God. God reconciles people to Himself completely by grace, a gift to be received by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone. Having believed, we are spiritually regenerated, sealed with His Spirit, brought in to His family, and empowered by Him to live a holy and pleasing life.
The Church is the spiritual community of all who have been reconciled to God, of which Christ is the head. While universal in nature, it finds expression in local gatherings of believers who unite to worship God, encourage one another and reach the world with Gods good news. All believers are given vital functions within the local church though gifts of the Spirit. The local church is to be a unified community of servants, stewarding their spiritual gifts and resources for the ultimate purpose of bringing glory to God.
People were created to exist forever. At the end of time, all people will be resurrected and will stand before God to be judged for what they have done in this life. While those who did not receive Gods forgiveness and acceptance will be condemned to eternal separation from God, those who have been reconciled to God through faith will rejoice together in eternal communion with Him.
As a teenager I often wondered how I could live forever. I was hoping that science would one day find a way to increase the human life span indefinitely. If science didn’t find the solution by the time I was old, I was planning on freezing myself until they did. All that changed when I heard that there was another way to live forever. At the age of 18 I heard a sermon on how to obtain eternal life. When the pastor asked if anyone would like to obtain eternal life- I was all in. It was April of 1990. That day I walked forward to pray a prayer to receive Christ as my Lord and Savior and repented from my sins. I have to admit my life wasn’t radically transformed from that point forward. Unfortunately I didn’t comprehend what it fully meant to receive Christ. I needed to do more than pray a onetime prayer to God- I needed to follow Him. In December of that same year it finally clicked. Again I was listening to a sermon and the pastor was talking about how only a transformed life was evidence of salvation. From that day on- I was transformed. I knew receiving Christ didn’t mean just going to church, but it meant submitting every aspect of my life to His lordship and serving Him with all my heart.
This pretty much sums up my desire as a Christian, “submitting every aspect of my life to His lordship and serving Him with all my heart.”
Since that day, I have been blessed. Although my life has not been perfect; God has always been in control. He has always been faithful and He has always been with me. In 1998 He gave me a beautiful godly woman-my wife Mindy. He has blessed our family with 3 children; Alyssa, Josiah and Jonathan.
I owe Him more than I could ever repay and I owe Him all the glory. – Soli Deo Gloria.
