As an evangelistic ministry, we ask all who participate in our events and opportunities to share the gospel message to affirm the following basic statement of faith.
Bible: The 66 books of the Bible are the written Word of God. The Bible is divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, through the apostles and prophets. The Bible is infallible and inerrant in all it communicates. Its assertions are factually true in all the original writings and language. It is the supreme authority in everything it teaches and carries the full weight of God's authority as His Word. Its authority is not limited to spiritual, religious, or redemptive themes. It is the Christian’s basis for what we believe about all things.
God: There is no God but one, as revealed in the Bible. God is the Creator of all things visible and invisible and is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. He sovereignly rules over all things and is providentially at work upholding and redeeming His fallen creation. He is worthy to receive all glory and adoration. While we cannot know everything about God, we can affirm what He has revealed about Himself in the Bible.
Trinity: God has revealed Himself in the Bible as one God in being yet three distinct fully divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. These three are simultaneously one true, eternal God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. There is only one God, not three gods, and not one person who took three modes, offices, or forms. We worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence. For the person of the Father is a distinct person, the person of the Son is another, and that of the Holy Spirit still another. But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.
Jesus: Jesus Christ is God's only Son, our Lord. Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man, having two natures inseparably united in one divine person without confusion, mixture, separation, or division. Each nature retains its own attributes. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He was crucified, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead. Jesus will return again in physical form to this earth, in the same way He ascended. There is no other name beside Jesus, God's only Son, by which we are saved; not instead of or in addition to Jesus Christ alone. He is the only Mediator between God and man.
Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is of one substance with the Father and the Son. He eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son, and He dwells in the hearts of believers. The Holy Spirit has revealed God's Word to the authors of the books of the Bible, He also reminds believers of God's Word as He did to Jesus' disciples. The Holy Spirit enables the sinner to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit works in each believer to produce the fruits of righteousness, enabling the believer to live a godly life. This process of sanctification is the result of salvation, not a cause or contributing factor to it. The Holy Spirit guides, instructs, equips, revives, and empowers believers for Christ-like service to God.
Salvation: 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 defines what the gospel is: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”
God has revealed His moral law in the Bible. The law of God reveals our sin and disobedience to God in contrast to His eternal holiness. All mankind are sinners, inherently from Adam and individually by our own choice, and are therefore subject to God’s wrath and condemnation. Freedom from the penalty and power of sin is available to man only through the sacrificial death and shed blood of Jesus Christ and His complete and bodily resurrection from the dead. Jesus is the only person to perfectly uphold the moral law of God without sin and is the only one worthy to pay the penalty on our behalf.
Salvation is a gift of God’s grace received by faith alone in Christ alone, not by our works. It is expressed in the individual’s repentance, recognition of the death of Christ as full payment for sin, and acceptance of the risen Christ as Savior, Lord, and God. In God’s gift of grace, He declares us legally righteous, removing our sin through the lawful penalty of physical death paid by Jesus. Our motivation for personal and public obedience includes our love for God, love for others, and our gratitude for His justification on our behalf.
Great Commission: As believers, we are disciples of Jesus. Before He ascended into heaven He gave His disciples the Great Commission to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” As disciples, we too all have the responsibility to make disciples and preach the gospel, yet there are many ways to do this.
It is an important ministry of the church, the body of Christ, to participate in publicly sharing the gospel and making disciples. We are to be used by God to tell of His wonderful works, to draw people to Him and into fellowship with other believers through a biblically grounded local church. The local church further disciples God's people into deeper fellowship, further development of their faith and practice through the act of worship, the ministry of God’s Word, baptism and Lord's Supper, and mutual care for His people. There is great joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.
The public ministry of the Great Commission should be carried out biblically, in a way similar to the commands and examples provided in the writings of the New Testament. For example, Paul and other apostles reasoned with unbelievers in the synagogues and the marketplace. Philip the Evangelist began with the Scripture read and told the good news of Jesus.
If you do not affirm these statements or act in a way inconsistent with these statements, we reserve the right to exclude your participation in these opportunities.