Our Foundational Beliefs

As members of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), we are a local expression of Jesus Christ’s global Church. In our sincere desire to be faithful to our merciful God and Savior, we are:

Doctrinally Reformed • Warmly Confessional • Fervently Evangelistic

Our Savior taught us that a life of wisdom and endurance that will stand firm through the storm, is a life that is founded upon the solid rock of God’s perfect and unchanging Word (Matt. 7:24-27). As a local church, it is our desire to help our members grow up to this kind of spiritual maturity in Christ. We believe that God’s children are at their best when they are growing in the knowledge of God—not merely in terms of intellectual understanding, but in such a way that is soul-renewing, heart-transforming, and life-defining.

Below, we have provided a broad overview look at some of the most fundamental beliefs that we hold as a church. While there are many additional things that we could cover and explore in greater detail, our hope is that this introductory look will help you have confidence that we are a church whose leaders and members are committed to being faithful to God by being submitted to the whole counsel of his Word.

 

 

Holy Scripture

  • We believe that the Bible, contained exclusively in the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, is the inspired and inerrant Word of God.1
  • As the very Word of God, the holy Scriptures are, in their original manuscripts, a perfect revelation of God’s infallible and authoritative truth, and are therefore to be, without deviation or compromise, the Church’s foundation, standard, and guide in all matters of faith and life.2
  • We further affirm that the Bible is to be interpreted and understood in all of its parts according to the measure of Christ; for it is of our glorious Savior and King that all the prophets and apostles spoke.3
  1. II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:21; Hebrews 1:1
  2. Psalm 19:7-11; John 17:17; Matthew 7:24-27; I John 4:6; I Thessalonians 2:13
  3. John 5:39-40, 46; Luke 24:27; Acts 10:43; Ephesians 2:20-21; Colossians 1:28

The Triune God

  • We believe in the one, true, living, holy, sovereign and immutable God,1 eternally existing in blessed Trinity as three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.2
  • We believe that our God is the sole Creator of all things, which he made from nothing, by the Word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.3
  • We further believe that all things in heaven and on earth chiefly exist for the revealing of God’s glory.4
  1. Deuteronomy 6:4; Jeremiah 10:10; Daniel 4:34-35; Isaiah 46:8-11 Malachi 3:6
  2. Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; John 15:26
  3. I Corinthians 8:6; Hebrews 11:3; Genesis 1
  4. Romans 11:36; I Corinthians 10:31; Romans 8:18; 9:22-24: II Corinthians 4:16-18

Mankind & Sin

  • We believe that God created mankind after his own image, distinctly male or female, with inalienable dignity and equality one to another, and with respective complimentary roles which God has wisely ordered for our good.1
  • We believe that Adam and Eve were created innocent and pure, dwelling in perfect and blessed communion with God in Eden. Yet, in succumbing to the the temptation of Satan, our first parents turned their hearts away from God in sin by forsaking his Word and seeking their fulfillment outside of their perfect union with God.2
  • By this willful rebellion, Adam’s holy nature was corrupted such that our forefather became spiritually dead, depraved in every faculty of his being, alienated from continued communion with God, subject to God’s wrath and curse, and without any hope in himself for meriting redemption from the guilt of his sin.3
  • As the federal representative of all humanity, Adam’s sin, guilt, and corruption are inherited by all human beings (born by natural generation) such that all men are now spiritually dead and depraved from the womb, without any hope in themselves of reforming their sinful nature or escaping the just wrath of God against their sin except by the merciful intervention of God.4
  1. Genesis 1:27; I Timothy 2:12-14
  2. Genesis 1:31; 2:15-3:8
  3. Genesis 2:17; 3:14-24
  4. Romans 5:12; 3:23; Psalm 51:5; Ephesians 2:1-3, 12; 4:17-19; Jeremiah 13:23

Jesus Christ & Salvation

  • We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and the only Savior of sinners. At the incarnation, Jesus became man by being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary and being born of her. He is thus fully God and fully man, two distinct natures in one person, forevermore.1
  • We believe that Jesus Christ came into the world to save elect sinners by functioning for them as a new federal head and representative who has succeeded where Adam failed. This work of Christ on behalf of sinners who rightly deserve God’s wrath is properly called the good news of the Gospel. This Gospel is the unique message of salvation which the Church is privileged to rest in and proclaim to all the world.2
  • Our message is that only Jesus’ perfect sinless life and sacrifice of infinite worth upon the Cross (as the priceless Son of God) are able to atone for the infinite guilt and debt of our sin. The atoning sacrifice which was offered by Jesus Christ is effective to absolve every sin of every sinner who trusts in Christ alone for salvation and to bring them back into blessed communion with God.3
  • However, because of man’s corrupt and sinful nature, he will not receive this free offer of salvation aside from the merciful intervention of God. Thus, salvation is rightly understood as a sovereign gift of God’s electing grace, received by faith alone. Salvation is not the result of any of man’s own works or merits; nor are sinners elected by God because of anything foreseen in them. The fountainhead of all salvation is the love of God alone, and is entirely undeserved by all people, because all are dead in their trespasses and sins apart from Christ.4
  • It is through the work of God’s Spirit and the Church’s proclamation of this Gospel, that elect sinners are effectually called from every tribe and tongue to faith and repentance in Jesus Christ. When God calls any person to faith, they are immediately filled with the Holy Spirit, born again, converted, justified, and adopted into the household of God forevermore where they will continue to be sanctified and persevered unto the full and unhindered enjoying of God to all eternity.5
  1. Acts 4:12; John 6:62; I Tim 2:5; Luke 1:31, 35; John 1:1, 14; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 7:24
  2. Luke 19:10; Romans 5:12-21; I Corinthians 15:45-49; Colossians 1:28; Matthew 24:14, 28:18-20
  3. Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 2:22-24; Romans 6:23; I John 1:7; John 3:16, 14:6-7
  4. John 6:44, 63-65; Romans 9:14-16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:3-6
  5. I Peter 1:3; Ephesians 1:3-14; Hebrews 10:14; John 10:27-30

The Church

  • In this present age, the Church exists in two forms: the visible and the invisible. The visible church defines all those who are in some way visibly connected to the Christian faith on earth. The invisible church defines those who are spiritually united to God through a saving faith in Jesus Christ.1
  • We believe the true Church of Christ is made up of all God’s redeemed children from every age who have been called out of the darkness of their sin in Adam, and into the marvelous light of God’s grace in Christ.2
  • The Church is a peculiar, spiritual people who exist to love and worship God in purity, to care for one another’s needs as we persevere together in our faith, to spur one another on in holiness, and to proclaim the saving message of the Gospel to all nations through the ministry of the Word as it is accompanied by confirming deeds of sacrificial love and personal holiness.3
  1. Matthew 3:12, 7:21-23, 13:24-30; Romans 9:6-8; II Timothy 2:19; I John 2:19-20
  2. Galatians 3:7, 5:16; Ephesians 2:14, 3:6; Acts 4:12; I Peter 2:9; Colossians 1:13-14
  3. I Peter 2:9; Psalm 67:1-3; Romans 11:36; Ephesians 4:15-16; Matthew 28:18-20; I John 3:16-18

The Sacraments

  • In accord with the teaching of the Reformed tradition of the Christian Faith, we affirm the two sacraments given by our Lord in the New Testament which are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These sacraments are signs and seals of the New Covenant, which sensibly represent the benefits of Christ’s work to believers.1
  • We believe that the sacrament of Baptism is rightly applied to all who profess faith in Jesus Christ, together with their children, whom God is pleased to count as members of the visible covenant community from birth on account of their parent’s faith.2
  • We believe that the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is a true spiritual feast which nourishes the faith of God’s people; it is more than a mere memorial. The Lord’s Supper is to be observed frequently, by all who profess faith in Jesus Christ and are of age to undertake spiritual self-examination of their heart in relation to Christ, prior to participation in order to discern if they are resting in the grace of God alone, living in repentance of all known sin, and walking in Christian love toward their brethren.3
  1. Matthew 28:19, 26:26-29
  2. Genesis 17:9-14; Acts 2:38-39; Acts 16:15, 33
  3. I Corinthians 10:16; Acts 2:42; I Corinthians 11:23-32

The Christian Life

  • We believe that the unmerited grace of God which has saved us in the very midst of our rebellion, brokenness, and sin, is the same grace which is now at work within us to renew our minds and transform our hearts to more and more reflect the image of Christ in our lives. As God’s people, we are not called to manufacture our spiritual progress out of our own wisdom or strength; neither do we need to put together a good religious performance in order to attempt to earn our Father’s love. By God’s grace, every spiritual blessing is already ours in Christ! God’s love has already been set upon us from all eternity, and it will never be revoked.1
  • We believe that God’s children are called to live out their faith by walking in submission to their Father’s perfect Word, being led by the power of his Spirit who dwells within them, and by abiding in utter dependence upon the True Vine, Jesus Christ, to nourish and sustain their faith. It is our Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who has set his love upon us and promised to provide to us all that we need to walk in a manner worthy of the calling we have received.2
  • We believe that Christians are called to strive, to make every effort, and to work out their salvation with great reverence, yet they are called to do so knowing that it is God who works in them, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Our Savior has promised that he will lose nothing of all that the Father has given him; and we are to walk in the confidence that God will persevere us to the end by his grace and strength, not ours.3
  1. I Corinthians 15:49; Ephesians 4:23; Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 1:3-5, 5:1;
  2. Matthew 7:24-27; Galatians 5:16, 25; John 15:1-5; Ephesians 4:1; I Peter 1:5
  3. I Timothy 4:10; II Timothy 2:19; II Peter 1:5; Philippians 2:13; I Thessalonians 5:23-24

The Christian's Hope

  • We believe that just as our Savior ascended to the right hand of the Father on high, so he will descend in glory at the last day to judge both the living and the dead, and to bring his Church into the blessedness of his presence in the New Heaven and the New Earth forevermore.1
  • The return of Christ/final state of all believers is universally referred to as the Christian’s hope throughout the Scriptures. We believe we are to eagerly anticipate our Savior’s second coming and to be spiritually encouraged and motivated by reminding ourselves of the incomparable joy of our future.2
  • We affirm the following expectations of all believers at the return of Christ:
    • Resurrection and Reunification of Believers (I Thess. 4:16-17)
    • Full Redemption From Sin (Heb. 7:25; I Corinthians 15:49)
    • Reception of Glorious Eternal Bodies (Philippians 3:21)
    • Eternal Rewards (I Cor. 4:5)
    • Restoration of the World (Rev. 7:15-17; 21:5)
    • Blessed Eternal Communion With God (Rev. 21:3-4; I Cor. 12:13)

  1. Acts 1:11; 10:42; Philippians 1:21; I Thessalonians 4:17; Revelation 21:3-4
  2. Colossians 3:4; Romans 8:18; II Corinthians 4:17; Titus 2:13; I Peter 1:13
 

 
 

Confessional Documents We Affirm:

Primary

  1. The Westminster Confession of Faith

  2. The Westminster Larger Catechism | Part 1 | Part 2 |

  3. The Westminster Shorter Catechism

Secondary

  1. The Apostle’s Creed (Date unknown)

  2. The Nicene Creed (325 A.D.)

  3. The Symbol of Chalcedon (451 A.D.)

  4. The Heidelberg Catechism (1563 A.D.)

  5. The Canons of Dort (1618 A.D.)

  6. The Chicago Statement On Biblical Inerrancy (1978 A.D.)

  7. The Nashville Statement (2017 A.D.)