A Real Church Beliefs

A Real Church for Real People

Mission: Love God, Love People

Vision: Reaching out to the unchurched and the hurting with the Gospel, developing fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ.

Focus Points: It is vitally important to ensure

that our church understands and embraces the essentials of the faith.

The Godhead: We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Deut 6:4; II Cor 13:14). He is omnipotent, He is omnipresent, and He is omniscient. He is everything that is good, righteous and holy.

Salvation and Assurance: Salvation is the gift of God by grace through faith alone. This salvation was brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the remission of our sins (Eph 2:8-10; John 1:12; Eph 1:7; I Peter 1:18-19). We believe that those who are truly redeemed are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30; Rom 8:1, 38, 39; I Cor 1:4-8; I Peter 1:5). It is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word which clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Rom 13:13,14; Gal 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).

New Life in Christ: As soon as salvation occurs, we become “new creations” (2 Corinthians 5:17). God continues to work in the lives of His people through the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

The scriptures: We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbally inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed (II Tim 3:16, 17; II Peter 1:20,21; Matt 5:18; John 16:12,13). We believe that the Holy Scriptures consist of sixty six books. We use literal translations of the Holy Scriptures.

The Person and work of Christ: We believe and teach that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man (John 1:1,2,14; Luke 1:35). The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Rom 3:24; I Peter 2:24; Eph 1:7; I Peter 1:3-5). Jesus Christ has ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9, 10; Heb 7:25, Heb 9:24; Rom 8:34; I John 2:1-2)

The Person and work of the Holy Spirit: We believe in the full deity of the Holy Spirit. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the Supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; II Cor 3:6; I Cor 12:12-14; Rom 8:9; Eph 5:18).

The Sin Nature of Man: We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that through Adam's sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became separated from God. Man is unable to redeem himself from his sinful condition (Gen. 1:26,27; Gen. 3:17-19; Rom 3:22-23, 5:12; Eph. 2:1-3, 12-13)

The ministry and spiritual gifts: We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowing of spiritual gifts. It is, however, the believer's responsibility to attempt to develop their God given spiritual gift(s). The baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs at conversion and is the placing of the believer into the Body of Christ. We also believe that particular spiritual gift(s) are neither essential, nor an indication of deep spiritual experience (I Cor. 12:7,11,13 & Eph. 4:7-8). We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted (John 15:7 & I John5: 14, 15). We believe it is the privilege and responsibility of every believer to minister according to the gift(s) and grace of God given to him (Rom 12:1-8; I Cor. 13; I Peter 4:10-11).

Baptism and the Lord's Supper: Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. (Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12).

The Church and Fellowship: We believe that the church, which is the body and espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age (Eph 1:22,23; 5:25-27; I Cor 12:12-14; II Cor 11:2). We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament scriptures (Acts 14:27, 18:22, 20:17, I Tim 3:1-3 & Titus 1:5-11). We believe in the autonomy of the local churches, free of any external authority and control (Acts 13:1-4, 15:19-31, 20:28; Rom 16:1,4; I Cor 3:9, 16, I Cor 5: 4-7, 13; I Peter 5:1-4). It is mandated by Scripture to recognize believer's baptism and the Lord's supper as means of testimony for the church in this age (Matt 28:19,20; Acts 2:41,42; Acts 18:8; I Cor 11:23-26).