At the center of our beliefs is one of the most important questions that ever has been asked. In the new testament of the Bible in the book of Acts a jailkeeper asks the question “What must I do to be saved”. This fundamental question is one that informs our beliefs, our theology, and in its answer we find the central basis for our beliefs.
As we answer this question it is important for us to recognize that the very question we want to answer is in the Bible, which is God’s word, and it tells us everything that we need to know in order to love and serve Jesus. It is reliable and without error.
The book of Acts answers this question about salvation with these words “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” As a Christian Church we believe that knowing Jesus as He has been revealed to us through the Bible is the way in which we are given eternal life. In order to understand why Jesus had to come and die on the cross for our sins, we have to understand the bigger story of what the Bible teaches.
We believe that through the disobedience of Adam and Eve decay, disrepair, and ruinous sin entered the world. If we go to the very first book of the Bible we read of Adam and Eve who were the first people to walk this earth, and who were made without sin. They were instructed to obey God, and when they did not sin intruded into the world. This is an external struggle as the world was corrupted by it, and it is an internal struggle as we are born sinners because of it. We call this “the fall”, and because of this fall, we, along with our world, are not as we are supposed to be.
We believe that God, in His kindness and grace, was not content to leave His world and His people in a state of ruin. In sharing with Adam and Eve the tragic consequences of their sin, He also shared with them that one day He would send a messiah, or a king, that would rule in the hearts of God’s people. Since then God has chosen a people who by His grace and kindness, have looked ahead by faith for the coming of the messiah to our world, and we have the privlege in our time and place to see that Jesus is the promised one that brings us hope and salvation.
We Believe that the coming of Jesus is good news for all people, and that as it is proclaimed God uses His word to bring His people to trust Jesus as their Savior. As this message is proclaimed to all people, God’s people respond to it in faith..
We believe that through the work of His Holy Spirit each and every one of God’s people will be brought into His kingdom on the last day.
We believe that God’s grace is not temporary. All who truly place their faith in Jesus Christ will be counted among the elect on the last day.
We believe that one day Jesus will come again, and that He will make “all things new”. The restoration of our fallen condition and of our damaged world will one day be made complete when there is a new heavens and a new earth.
We believe that the Bible is best understood from a reformed perspective. We are Reformed in our faith and practice according to the Scriptures as summarized in the Belgic confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort.