Our core biblical beliefs.

God exists and is the creator of all things (Genesis 1:1; 2:4).

Jesus Christ is the son of God and is the instrument through whom all things were made (John 1:1-1:4).

Jesus came to earth and lived as a historical person to show God’s character up close (John 1:14; Philippians 2:5-8).

Jesus died on a cross for the sins of all people, was resurrected to life again by God the Father, and lives as the only way of salvation for the whole world (John 1:29, John 14:6, Act 4:12, Hebrews 9:28, 1 Corinthians 15:17, Matthew 12:40, 1 Corinthians 15:16-20, John 14:3, Acts 1:11, Hebrews 12:2).

The Bible is God’s Word, given to us as a testament to His work in history and as a faith and character guide for every follower (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Love is ultimately important to God. The entire Bible can be viewed as a picture of what real, other-oriented love looks like (Galatians 5:14, 1 Corinthians 13).

God’s love apexes in a creator who loved us enough to sacrifice His own son for us even while we were living in ways that disrespected him (Romans 5:8).

A “Christ follower” or Christian is NOT a person who never displeases God. Rather, it is a person whose heart has been transformed to love God and, out of that love, wants to please Him (Romans 12:2-3).

The first step in becoming a Christ follower is knowing that we each have dishonored God in some ways (Romans 3:23-25).

The moment a person trusts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior by believing His redemptive work on the cross and subsequent resurrection, this person is saved and assured of eternal life with God in heaven. He or she has also been “born again” spiritually and given a new heart that wants to follow Jesus (John 1:12, 3:3-5, 16-17).

This second step is called Salvation.

Salvation is the moment of being saved!

It makes no difference what the person did in their life prior to this moment (Isaiah 43:18, Romans 5:8).

“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

Some say “That’s not fair”.

That’s true. It’s more than any of us deserves. That’s why it’s called Salvation. Here is more about it.

God is fully just, so he must judge sin. In His great love and mercy, God allowed His own Son to take this judgment on behalf of anyone who accepts this free gift. This person becomes instantly clean in God’s eyes and is adopted by God as one of his children. This instant transformation of status is called salvation (Romans 6:23, John 1:12, 1 Peter 1:3).

This is great news, but there is even better news! Jesus doesn’t stop there. Next comes Sanctification!

Sanctification — A journey of character growth.

After a person accepts Christ as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit begins to live inside that person and helps him or her start walking in a new life of good purposes.

This does not mean the person will never be tempted to dishonor God. It does mean, however, that the person has God actively helping them resist (Acts 2:38, John 14:23).

When we still miss now and then, Jesus never views us as failures or lost causes.

Jesus always sees us as who we can be. Better still, He walks beside us, helping us become that exemplary person (Romans 8:35-39).

Over time, Jesus’ followers grow in many ways: trust in God, resistance to pride and fear, desire to love others, and willingness to behave unselfishly. This journey of character growth is called sanctification. (John 13:35, Philippians 3:13-14).

More reference passages: Genesis 2:4; Matthew 12:40; John 1:1-29, 14:3-6;Acts 1:11, 4:12; Romans 3:10, 3:23; 8:26, 12: 1-2; 1 Corinthians 13; Galatians 5:22-23;Philippians 2:5-8; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 9:28, 12:2

We all start in different places, so our journeys look different.

God alone judges each person by his or her growing inward faith, manifested in growing outward character that aligns ever closer to the commands Jesus gave and the example He set.

To be clear, you don’t need to “have it all together” to be part of our community. All you need is an earnest desire to grow in Jesus. This is the sanctification journey we are all on.