WHAT WE BELIEVE
WE BELIEVE the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is one and the only living God eternally existing in three persons who has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all equal in power and glory. God has revealed Himself through His creation, and in the history of Israel as shown to us in Scripture. (Gen. 1:1; I Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:4-6)
God is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. He created human beings in His divine image and gave them dominion over the earth as well as His blessing. (Gen. 1:26-28; 2:15; Eph. 1:4-6) We believe in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. We believe that this Word was later manifested in the form of the Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus Christ). (John 1:1)
God gave humanity the gift of free will but when human beings disobeyed Him they forfeited the privileged dominion and rule over creation. Subsequently, all relationships within creation became subject to a curse brought into the world by disobeying God (sin). (Gen. 4:8; 6:5-7; Rom. 8:20-22)
In God's great love for His creation, He purposed to bring restoration. Therefore, He chose Abraham and made an everlasting covenant with him, promising that all families on earth would be blessed through him and that he would make Abraham a great nation. He made this covenant with Abraham so that he would direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. (Gen. 12:3; 18:19) And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” -Galatians 3:8
We believe God also chose Israel, the Jewish people, and entered into an eternal covenant with them so they might be the first fruits of a renewed humanity who would mediate blessing and restoration to all the nations of the world. Through Moses, God gave Israel the holy Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) as a covenantal way of life, and the Holy Land of Israel as an inheritance and pledge of the blessing to come in the eternal Kingdom. (Gen. 12:1-3; Jer. 31:31-37; Rom. 11:28-29)
WE BELIEVE there is one true and living God eternally existing in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all equal in power and glory. This triune God created all things, upholds all things, and governs all things. God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and present everywhere. (1 John 5:7-8)
WE BELIEVE Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, was conceived by the Holy Spirit - fully God and fully man. Born of a virgin, as predicted by Scripture, He lived a sinless life and performed miracles while on Earth. He accepted death on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins and was raised from the dead on the third day. He revealed himself to many before returning to Heaven as predicted in Scripture. We believe He will return to earth again. (John 1:1; Romans 1:4; Colossians 1:15; Colossians 2:9, 1 Timothy 3:16; Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:8; 1 Timothy 2:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 15:3-5; 1 Thessalonians 4:16)
WE BELIEVE in the inherent Word of God (cover to cover) as the foundation for our lives. The Bible consists of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. The Bible is the ONLY inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God. It is God's mind to us. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
WE BELIEVE God the Father is an infinite, personal Spirit perfect in every way: holiness, wisdom, power, and love. He hears and answers prayer and interacts with mankind. (1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; James 1:17)
WE BELIEVE that all people are sinners by nature and choice, falling short of God’s standard and breaking His commandments – and therefore are under God’s righteous judgment. Yet God saves and gives new life to all who come to Him in repentance and faith, trusting in the Person and work of Jesus Christ alone. At the cross, Jesus died in our place as our substitute, absorbing God’s wrath that should have come upon us. Because Jesus died for the sins of the world the invitation to believe is open to all, and whoever desires may come to Jesus for new life and the forgiveness of sins. (Romans 3:23, Acts 3:19, Acts 20:21, Ephesians 2:1-3, Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 John 2:2, John 3:16, Matthew 11:28, Revelation 22:17).
WE BELIEVE marriage is a covenant, designed by God, between one man and one woman. God biologically created them male and female from conception. Men and women are both created in the image of God, and as such, they are equal in value, dignity, and worth, but different in function so as to complement and complete each other. God instituted monogamous marriage between male and female as the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society. (1 Corinthians 7:1-3; Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6)
WE BELIEVE believers are instructed in scripture to be baptized by being fully submerged in water and regularly taking communion. These practices were instituted by Christ, taught by the apostles, and practiced by the early church. God's ordinances demonstrate our living faith and obedience to Christ. (Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25)
WE BELIEVE the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead. We believe that at salvation the Holy Spirit regenerates, indwells, and seals every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our comforter, helper, teacher, and guide. (1 Corinthians 12:13; Matthew 12:31; Ephesians 4:4-6; John 14:26) The Holy Spirit helps to conform us to the likeness of Christ. We also believe that the Holy Spirit empowers us to live as witnesses for Christ and that comes from an experience of the Holy Spirit coming upon a believer to empower them as we see in the book of Acts. That event of being filled or baptized in the Spirit needs to translate into a lifestyle of continuing to be filled, led, and empowered by the Holy Spirit as Paul teaches in Ephesians 5:18. We believe that all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are available to His church today just like they were in the Early Church. (John 14:16-17;John 16:7-11;Titus 3:5-6;Romans 8:9;1 Corinthians 6:19-20;Ephesians 1:13-14;Acts 1:8;Titus 3:5-6;Romans 12:6-8;1 Corinthians 12-14;1 Peter 4:10-11)
WE BELIEVE in a literal Heaven and a literal Hell and that all those who place their faith, hope, and trust in Jesus Christ will spend eternity in Heaven with the Lord, while those who reject Jesus’ free gift of salvation will spend eternity separated from the Lord in hell. (Psalm 9:17; Matthew 5:3, 5:22, 18:9 and 25:31-34; Mark 9:42-49; Luke 12:5; John 3:18; Hebrews 12:23; 1 Peter 1:4; Revelation 14:10-11 and 20:11-15)
We believe Our Lord and Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus) will return to Jerusalem and set His feet down on the Mount of Olives in the fulness of His glory at the end of this age, to rule forever from King David’s throne. He will bring about the complete restoration of Israel, the dead will be raised, those who belong to Him will be saved, the wicked will be judged (anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life), and will be eternally separated from His presence. He will overcome all forms of idolatry, and Israel and the nations will be united under the reign and rule of Jesus forever. (Isa. 9:4-5/5-6; Rom. 8:18-19; Rev. 20:11-15; 21:1-4)
We believe writings of the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament are divinely inspired and fully trustworthy (true), a gift given by God to His people, provided to impart life and to form, nurture, and guide them in the ways of truth. They are of supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and practice. (II Tim. 3:16, 17; II Pet. 1:19-21)
"Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith— to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen." -Romans 16:25-27
Through the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord, Jesus Christ the gift of the Holy Spirit has been given to His followers who believe, have been called, and have responded with faith and repentance.
Speaking through the Prophet Isaiah, God said: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will also make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” The prophecies of Isaiah are intended to be a light for the Church throughout the nations. This was Isaiah's message to the Church:
"But the Lord will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations will come and join them there and unite with the people of Israel. The nations of the world will help the people of Israel to return, and those who come to live in the Lord’s land will serve them..." -Isaiah 14:1-2
It is a gift to have ears to hear and eyes to see and to understand the ancient instructions related to the will of our Father in heaven which are directly related to the return and restoration of Israel. The Lord said this of the Prophet Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” -Jeremiah 1:5
As an appointed Prophet to the nations, Jeremiah proclaimed: "There will be a day when watchmen cry out... ‘Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’ See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth...They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble because I am Israel’s father...“Hear the word of the Lord, you nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: 'He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.'" -Jeremiah 31:6-7,9-10
As the Church, and as those who have received God's gift of the Holy Spirit, we have been given a prophetic responsibility and we must cooperate with the Holy Spirit. It is the responsibility of the Body of Christ to pray in alignment with the will of God.
This is not a time to remain silent or complacent.
"to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,." -Ephesians 3:10