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• We
believe in one God eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit; confessing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who
saves us from sin by grace through faith in his shed blood. (Deut.
6:4-5; Mt. 22:37; John 1:18, 3:16; Rom. 8:1-17; II Cor. 3:14; Heb.
11:6; Rom. 10:9-10; Eph. 2:8-9)
• We will give
allegiance to God above every other love or loyalty, giving God
first place in our thoughts, actions, and affections. (Mt. 22:37-40;
Deut. 5:7)
• We believe the
Bible to be the inspired Word of God, and will live in obedience to
its teaching and exercise a life of daily devotion, meditation, and
praise. (II Tim 3:16; Ps. 119:97; Phil. 4:4-7)
• We will practice
a life of holiness and Christ-likeness that is a clear testimony
against the world's self-indulgent and immoral way of life. (Eph.
5:2-5; Col. 3:1-17)
• We will share the
good news of God's love and forgiveness with others, inviting them
to faith in Christ, and to fellowship in the Church. (Mt. 28:19-20;
Rom. 10:14-15)
• We believe water
baptism for individuals who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior is a public witness of their new birth experience. While the
mode of baptism is optional, we encourage immersion to symbolize the
death of our sin nature, our burial with Jesus, and our resurrection
as a new creation in Christ. (Mt. 28:18-20, Acts 22:16, Gal.
3:26-27, I Peter 3:21, I Cor. 12:13, Romans 6:3-7)
• We will meet
regularly as a congregation for fellowship, worship, teaching, and
for observing the Lord's Supper, recognizing the Church as a miracle
of God's grace. Here people with faults and limitations find love,
acceptance, fellowship, rebuke, forgiveness, and counsel under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit. We will work to maintain this
fellowship of faith in transparent relationships. (Heb. 10:24-25;
Acts 2:42-47; John 13; I Cor. 8:9-13; Rom. 14:1-4; I Cor. 5:12-13;
Col. 3:15-17)
• We will use our
God-given gifts and abilities, recognizing God's ownership in all
areas of our lives, to help build up the body of Christ; giving
generously and proportionately of our time and money for the work of
the Church. (I Cor. 12 & 14; Rom. 12:3-8; Eph. 2:10; I Cor. 16:1-3;
II Cor. 8:13-15, 9:6-15; I Tim. 6:17-18)
• We accept and
will follow the approach in Matthew 18 by practicing loving forms of
correction when there is sin or lack of spiritual growth in the
congregation, recognizing that the role of discipline is the
restoration of relationships. (Mt. 18:15-17, 7:1-5; Gal. 6:1; I Cor.
5)
• We encourage and
affirm singleness, marriage and children as gifts from God. We
believe that marriage is a permanent covenant relationship between
one man and one woman, and that husbands and wives take seriously
their respective roles of leadership, submitting to one another in
love, as Christ loved the church. We strongly encourage the nurture
of children as a high priority of parents. (Mt. 19:1-12; I Cor. 7;
Eph. 5:21-33)
• We will show
unconditional and nonresistant love toward all people, including our
personal or national enemies, and especially toward members of the
family of faith. ( Rom. 13:8-10, 12:9-21; Mt. 5:43-48; John 18:1-11)
• We will live a
life of responsible and joyful discipleship, applying principles of
modesty, simplicity, and economy to decisions about our houses,
cars, recreation, and wardrobes. (Mt. 6; I Peter 3:1-7; I Tim. 2; I
Cor. 11:1-16)
• We will speak the
truth in a spirit of love, avoiding all forms of obscenity,
swearing, or vulgar speech. (Eph. 4:25-32; Mt. 5:33-37)
• We will give
attention to proper diet, rest, and exercise for our bodies, seeking
to avoid overeating and harmful use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs.
(Rom. 12:1; I Cor. 6:12-20, 10:23-24; Eph. 5:18)
• We will avoid
entertainment and recreation that will hinder or damage spiritual
growth, seeking to give Christ priority over the satisfaction of our
own self-interest. (I Thess. 5:22; I Cor. 6:12-20, 8:9-13, 10:12-13;
I Peter 1:13-16, 2:11-12; Rom. 14:9-21)
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