### About Man

Human beings are the supreme part of God’s creation, and are designed to be in relationship with Him. However, the first humans willingly chose to listen to Satan and were deceived. At that point, sin entered the world and our relationship with God was severed. Every human being since that time has suffered the consequences of alienation from God. We are open to Satan’s influence, unable to please God, and are hopelessly condemned to spend an eternity without Him. Our greatest need as humans is to have our relationship with God restored. Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11.

### About the Bible

Over an approximate period of four thousand years, God inspired human authors to reveal his truth to us – which is the Bible. It comes in the form of sixty-six books of the various writing styles and languages of that time that all point to the same truth –that God is actively working to redeem the world. Every word of Scripture is accurate, trustworthy, and without error. Therefore, we can look to the Bible as the complete and final source of authority for how God wants us to live. Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11,89,105,140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff.; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21.

### About Salvation

Because there is no way for humans to achieve reconciliation with God, we must totally depend on his grace and mercy. Salvation is by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ. Through faith in what Jesus did for us by offering himself as a sacrifice on the cross to atone for our sins, we can be restored, and have peace with God again. When we make the decision to accept Jesus Christ as Savior, our sins are forgiven, and we receive the Holy Spirit into our lives. We belong to Christ and are destined for eternity. Our commitment is both private and public. We demonstrate this privately by faith and repentance (turning from our former way of life), and publicly through confession of Jesus as Lord, and submitting to Christian baptism. Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11- 14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24; 10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18,30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1- 12:8,14; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6-2:11; Revelation 3:20; 21:1-22:5.

### About the Church

The church is the community of believers who represents Jesus Christ to the world. The Bible refers to the church as the body of Christ, with Christ at the Head of the church. God divinely arranges each part of the body (individual believers) in such a way that the church can carry out its mission (Matthew 28:18-20). To remain healthy, each part of the body must contribute and function together in harmony –one part supporting the others. Everyone in the church works toward the growth and maturity of the body as a whole. In that way, the church will be in the best shape to work with God in reconciling the world to himself. The church is instructed to gather regularly for the purposes of worship, teaching, fellowship, communion, encouraging, and equipping for ministry. The church is an autonomous local congregation of immersed believers, associated by covenant membership. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, lead by the Holy Spirit of God to follow the Word of God (the Bible). Each member is responsible and accountable to Jesus Christ as Lord. The biblical offices are elders and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of elder is limited to men as qualified by the Bible. The