What We Believe

RESPONSIVE COVENANT SERVICE
 
MINISTER:  By what common and gracious experience do we enter into spiritual fellowship and covenant relations with God and with one another?
 
CONGREGATION:  Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, we do now, in the presence of God, Angels, and this assembly most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another, as one body in Christ.
 
MINISTER:  What is the great bond of our union with God and each other?
 
CONGREGATION:  We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit to walk together in Christian love.
 
MINISTER:  What are our great privileges and duties in this our own Church?
 
CONGREGATION:  To strive for the advancement of this Church in knowledge, holiness and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality, to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines.
 
MINISTER:  What vows do we gladly make as stewards of that which God has entrusted to us?
 
CONGREGATION:  To contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the Church, the relief of the poor and the spread of the gospel throughout the nations.
 
MINISTER:  For the sake of our homes and our loved ones, what gracious tasks do we humbly assume?
 
CONGREGATION:  To walk circumspectly in the world, to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger, and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Savior.
 
MINISTER:  Since One is our Master, even Christ and all we are brethern, by what fraternal ministries are we to strengthen and adorn the teachings of our Lord and Savior?
 
CONGREGATION:  We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember each other in prayer; to aid each other in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense; but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rule our Savior, to secure it without delay.
 
MINISTER & CONGREGATION:  Humbly confessing our past sins, we pray for grace and strength to keep these, our holy vows, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.  AMEN 
 
 
 WHAT WE BELIEVE
 
We believe in God
We believe there is only one true and living God.  He is immutable, indefatigable and infinite.  He is not only a reality; He is the Ultimate Reality, an intelligent Spirit, and the Creator of all.  He is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
 
We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe Jesus is Savior, Lord Christ and the incarnate reality of God.  He was the walking revelation of God's love to humanity; He emodied grace; He died on the cross for the redemption of God's creation; He got up on Easter morning to confirm to the world that God is still in control of Heaven and Earth.
 
We believe in the Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is Christ in present tense empowering the believer, energizing the church and encouraging Christians that God is still with us; He convicts of sin; He points us to truth; He leads us into righteousness.
 
We believe in the Church
We believe in the church, the church is the prolonged incarnation of Jesus Christ; His body, bride and building witnessing to the world through word and sacrament; the church is a fellowship of regenerated men and women called out to live together in community life.
 
We believe in the Holy Scriptures
We believe that the scripture is God's word; It is written authority for the Church; the scripture was given to ordinary men through inspiration; the scripture is inerrant in principle and infallible in content.
 
We believe in Humanity
We believe man was created in the image of God; God breathed his life into man; man voluntarily rebelled against God and fell from a state of perfection, thereby experiencing separation from God; consequently all men are sinners.  By choice, man is redeemable through Jesus Christ in his only hope to experience once again the peace of God.
 
We believe in Salvation
We believe in God's saving grace; that the blessings of salvation are free to all through the Gospel; that the requisite of acceptance is a thankful, penitent and obedient faith; that nothing interferes with the salvation of the sinner except his refusal of the Gospe; man's disbelief is his condemnation.
 
We believe in Justification
We believe that justification is being brought into a right relationship with God; His position is accomplished without consideration of good works (of righteousness); that justification is the pardoning of sin, the gift of eternal life displays God's love for human-kind, and that by faith in the redemptive blood of Jesus Christ was his righteousness given to us.
 
We believe in the Lord's Supper and Baptism
We believe baptism is an ocular demonstration of God's inward renewal in the life of the believer; in baptism our names are changed.  In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit we are placed under the authority of God's power and protection.  It is the symbol of Christ's death, burial and resurrection to a new life.  It is a prerequisite to the privileges of the church in relation to the Lord's Supper.  Jesus Christ took bread and wine, established them as the imperishable symbols of the church.  The Lord's Table is open to all people in the faith who desire to fellowship with Him.
 
We believe in the Virgin Birth
We believe in the Virgin Birth, Mary, mother of Jesus, conceived him by the Holy Spirit.  He is without sin.  He was born of a virgin and as no other man in the past or in the present can ever be born.  He is both the Son of God and God the Son.