Core Values

We Believe in God, the Creator of everything.
Value 1
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Psalm 19:1-3 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.

Acts 17:24-28 “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’”

We Believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and only Savior of man.
Value 2

• We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah.
  
• We believe that He is the virgin-born Son of God.
  
• We believe that He died as the sinless sacrifice for our sins.
  
• We believe that He was buried.o We believe that He rose from the dead.
  
• We believe that He is coming again.
  
• 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 “I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles.
  
• Other Scriptures – Philippians 2:5-7; John 14:9; John 8:58; John 1:1, 14; 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 

We Believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God and the final authority for all matters of faith.
Value 3
10 Reasons To Believe In The Bible (From RBC Ministries)

•  The Bible’s Honesty
  
• The Bible is painfully honest. It shows Jacob, the father of its “chosen people,” to be a deceiver. It describes Moses, the lawgiver, as an insecure, reluctant leader, who, in his first attempt to come to the aid of his own people, killed a man, and then ran for life to the desert. It portrays David not only as Israel’s most loved king, general, and spiritual leader, but as one who took another man’s wife and then, to cover his own sin, conspired to have her husband killed. At one point, the Scriptures accuse the people of God, the nation of Israel, as being so bad they made Sodom and Gomorrah look good by comparison (Ezekiel 16:46-52). The Bible represents human nature as hostile to God. It predicts a future full of trouble. It teaches that the road to heaven is narrow and the way to hell is wide. Scripture was clearly not written for those who want simple answers or an easy, optimistic view of religion and human nature.
  
• The Bible’s Preservation
  
•  Just as the modern state of Israel was emerging from thousands of years of dispersion, a Bedouin shepherd discovered one of the most important archeological treasures of our time. In a cave of the northwest rim of the Dead Sea, a broken jar yielded documents that had been hidden for two millennia. Additional finds produced manuscripts that predated previous oldest copies by 1,000 years. One of the most important was a copy of Isaiah. It revealed a document that is essentially the same as the book of Isaiah that appears in our own Bibles. The Dead Sea scrolls emerged from the dust like a symbolic handshake to a nation coming home. They discredited the claims of those who believed that the original Bible had been lost to time and tampering.
  
• The Bible’s Claims For Itself
  
• It’s important to know what the Bible says about itself. If the authors of Scripture had not claimed to speak for God, it would be presumptuous for us to make that claim for them. We would also have a different kind of problem. We would have a collection of unsolved mysteries, embodied in historical and ethical literature. But we would not have a book that has inspired the building of countless churches and synagogues all over the world. A Bible that did not claim to speak in behalf of God would not have become foundational to the faith of hundreds of millions of Christians and Jews (2 Peter 1:16-21). But with much supporting evidence and argument, the Bible’s authors did claim to be inspired by God. Because millions have staked their present and eternal well-being on those claims, the Bible cannot be a good book if its authors consistently lied about their source of information.
  
• The Bible’s Miracles
  
• Israel’s exodus from Egypt provided a historical basis for believing that God revealed Himself to Israel. If the Red Sea did not part as Moses said it did, the Old Testament loses its authority to speak in behalf of God. The New Testament is just as dependent upon miracles. If Jesus did not rise bodily from the dead, the apostle Paul admits that the Christian faith is built on a lie (1 Corinthians 15:14-17). To show its credibility, the New Testament names its witnesses, and did so within a time-frame that enabled those claims to be tested (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). Many of the witnesses ended up as martyrs, not for abstract moral or spiritual convictions but for their claim that Jesus had risen from the dead. While martyrdom is not unusual, the basis on which these people gave their lives is what’s important. Many have died for what they believed to be the truth. But people do not die for what they know to be a lie.  
  

  The Bible’s Unity 
  

• Forty different authors writing over a period of 1,600 years penned the 66 books of the Bible. Four hundred silent years separated the 39 books of the Old Testament from the 27 of the New Testament. Yet, from Genesis to Revelation, they tell one unfolding story. Together they give consistent answers to the most important questions we can ask: Why are we here? How can we come to terms with our fears? How can we get along? How can we rise above our circumstances and keep hope alive? How can we make peace with our Maker? The Bible’s consistent answers to these questions show that the Scriptures are not many books but one.
  
• The Bible’s Historical And Geographical Accuracy 
  
  
• Down through the ages, many have doubted the historical and geographical accuracy of the Bible. Yet modern archeologists have repeatedly unearthed evidence of the people, places, and cultures described in the Scriptures. Time after time, the descriptions in the biblical record have been shown to be more reliable than the speculations of scholars. The modern visitor to the museums and lands of the Bible cannot help but come away impressed with the real geographical and historical backdrop of the biblical text.
  
  
• The Bible’s Endorsement By Christ 
  
  
• Many have spoken well of the Bible, but no endorsement is as compelling as that of Jesus of Nazareth. He recommended the Bible not only by His words but by His life. In times of personal temptation, public teaching, and personal suffering, He made it clear that He believed the Old Testament Scriptures were more than a national tradition (Matthew 4:1-11; 5:17-19). He believed the Bible was a book about Himself. To His countrymen He said, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40).
  
  
• The Bible’s Prophetic Accuracy 
  
  
• From the days of Moses, the Bible predicted events no one wanted to believe. Before Israel went into the Promised Land, Moses predicted that Israel would be unfaithful, that she would lose the land God was giving her, and that she would be dispersed throughout all the world, regathered, and then re-established (Deuteronomy 28-31). Central to Old Testament prophecy was the promise of a Messiah who would save God’s people from their sins and eventually bring judgment and peace.
  
  
• The Bible’s Survival 
  
  
• The books of Moses were written 500 years before the earliest Hindu Scriptures. Moses wrote Genesis 2,000 years before Muhammad penned the Koran. During that long history, no other book has been as loved or as hated as the Bible. No other book has been so consistently bought, studied, and quoted as this book. While millions of other titles come and go, the Bible is still the book by which all other books are measured. While often ignored by those who are uncomfortable with its teachings, it is still the central book of Western civilization.
  
  
• The Bible’s Power To Change Lives 
  
  
• Unbelievers often point to those who claim to believe in the Bible without being changed by it. But history is also marked by those who have been bettered by this book. The Ten Commandments have been a source of moral direction to countless numbers of people. The Psalms of David have offered comfort in times of trouble and loss. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount has given millions an antidote for stubborn pride and proud legalism. Paul’s description of love in 1 Corinthians 13 has softened angry hearts. The changed lives of people like the apostle Paul along with the countless others have been transformed by the Word of God and the unprecedented life and significance of Jesus Christ.
  
  
• If you do see the evidence for the God who revealed Himself to us through His Son, then keep in mind that the Bible says Christ died to pay the price for our sins, and that all who believe in Him will receive the gifts of forgiveness and everlasting life. The salvation Christ offers is not a reward for effort but a gift to all who in light of the evidence put their trust in Him (John 5:24; Romans 4:5; Ephesians 2:8-10).
  
  
• From RBC Ministries – Used with permission. 
  
   2 Peter 1:20-21 “Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, 21 or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.”
  
   2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

We Believe that every person has worth as a creation of God, but that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 
Value 4

• Genesis 1:27 “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
  
  
• Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
  
  
• Genesis 3 – Man rejects God (“The Fall”) and is banished from the Garden (lost relationship with Him)
• Romans 3:23 “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
  
  
• Psalm 8:3-4 “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what are mere mortals that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”

We Believe salvation (the forgiveness of sins) comes by grace through the blood of Jesus Christ (His death on the cross).
Value 5

• Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
  
• Romans 5:6-8 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
  
• Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God

We Believe that those putting their trust in Christ should repent of their sins, confess their faith, and be baptized into Him. 
Value 6
A, B, C, D

• ADMIT that you are a sinner in need of a Savior.
  § Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.”
  § Romans 3:20 “No one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”
  
• BELIEVE in Jesus Christ as the one and only Savior you need.
  § John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
  
• CONFESS that Jesus Christ is not only the Savior you need, but He also the Lord of your life.
  § Romans 10:9-10 “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
  
• DEMONSTRATE your allegiance to Christ by repenting of sin and being baptized into Christ and receiving the forgiveness of sins.
  § Acts 2:38 “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
  § Romans 6:3-5 “…don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.”

We Believe that God lives in those who are saved and adds them to His Church which exists to carry out the Great Commission while living out the Great Commandment. 
Value 7

• Christians are Never Alone – God is with us.
  
  
• Acts 2:38-39 “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
  
  
• Other Scriptures – Romans 8 
  
  
• Christians are Never Lone Rangers – God adds us to His church.
  
  
• Acts 2:47 “…the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
  
  
• The Great Commission
  
• Mathew 28:19-20 “Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”
  
  
• The Great Commandment
  
• Mark 12:30-31 “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”