Statement of Faith

 This doctrinal statement reflects the broad, mainstream, conservative evangelical tradition which is consistent with the teachings of the Bible and which has stood the test of history and experience. We specifically affirm the following doctrinal truths: 

1.   The Scriptures: We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, inerrant authoritative Word of God revealing the love of God to the world. God has supernaturally preserved the Bible and it is the sole and final authority for faith and life providing encouragement, guidance, comfort and instruction for training in righteousness (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy. 3:16-17; 2 Peter. 1:20-21). 

2.   The Godhead (Trinity): We believe in one true God eternally existing in three distinct persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) each of Whom is fully and equally God; possesses all of the divine nature and attributes, and is totally worthy of our worship and service (Deuteronomy. 6:4; Matthew. 28:19; John 1:14; 10:30; 2 Corinthians. 13:14, Ephesians 4:4-6)).  

3.   God the Father: We believe that God the Father is the first person of the Trinity and is the eternal, unchanging, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise, all-loving, completely just and perfectly holy, sovereign Ruler and Sustainer of the universe. He is the Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the Father of all true believers (Genesis 1:1; Ephesians 4:6; John 1:12-13; 5:19-21; 17:1-5; Isaiah 40: 21-28; 43:10- 13; 46:8- 11; Romans 8:14-16). 

4.   God the Son: We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood on the cross, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory. (Matthew 1:23; John 1:1- 4 and 1:29; Acts 1:11 and 2:22-24; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 1:1-4 and 4:15). 

5.   God the Holy Spirit:We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who together with the Father and Son is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets and inspired the Scriptures, who indwells and empowers the Church, and who convicts the world. [Genesis 1:1-2; Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2; John 14-16; Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 12-14; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Galatians 5:16-26]  

6.   Man:  We believe that man was created in the image of God by direct act of God and did not come into being as the result of evolution. Man was created to glorify God, worship and serve Him, and have fellowship with Him. Man fell through sin by disobeying God, thus incurring both physical and spiritual death, which alienated him from God. Mankind is lost and faces the judgment of God. Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation of the lost and sinful man, repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ results in regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, we believe that God will reward the righteous with eternal life in heaven, and that He will banish the unrighteous to everlasting punishment in hell. (Genesis 1:26; 2:6,17; 3:17-24; Isaiah 59:1-2; Luke 24:46-47; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:23; 2 Corinthians 5:10-11; Ephesians 1:7 and 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-7). 

7.   Human sexuality:We believe God’s plan for human sexuality is to be expressed only within the context of marriage, that God created man and woman as unique biological persons made to complete each other. God instituted monogamous marriage between male and female as the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society. For this reason, we believe that marriage is exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female. (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5- 6; Mark 10:6-9; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9).  

8.   Satan: We believe that Satan (Lucifer) is the instigator of evil and a real spirit being, not simply the personification of evil. He is a fallen angel who, under the sovereign permission of God, has been given temporary rulership of the earth. He was utterly defeated at the cross, but the execution of his judgment has been postponed by God until after the Millennial Kingdom when he will be cast into the eternal lake of fire. In the meantime, he deceives the world and seeks to establish his counterfeit kingdom on earth to discredit and blaspheme God and to tempt, accuse, attack and destroy believers. He can be resisted by the believer through faith and reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit (Genesis 3: 1-5; Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Job 1- 2; 1 John 5:19; 2 Co. 11:14; 1 Timothy 3:6; 1 Peter 5:8-9; James 4:7; Revelation. 12:9; 20:1-3, 7-10). 

9.   Salvation:We believe that the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross provides the sole basis for forgiveness of sins and salvation, which is the free gift of God’s grace. Salvation is effected by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit and cannot be secured by man’s works or personal merit. A person placing his faith in the finished work of Christ only, receives salvation. Repentance is a turning toward God and away from sin and is a part of but not separate from believing faith. “The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” and those who receive Jesus Christ by faith are born again, have their sins forgiven, become children of God, are a new creation in Christ, and “are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption”, being kept by the power of God (Ephesians 1:7, 13-14; John 1:12- 13; 3:1-7, 14-16; 2  Corinthians  5:17; Romans  1:16; 10:9-10; Ephesians  2:8- 10; Romans 8:14-17, 31-39; John. 10:27-29; 14:6; Acts 26:20; 1 Peter 1:3-5). 

10.  The Sacraments: We believe that the only two sacraments of the church recognized by Scripture are water baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Water baptism by immersion for anyone old enough, is an act of obedience following salvation, which symbolically pictures the believer’s death to sin, burial of the old life, and resurrection to new life. The Lord’s Supper celebrates fellowship and communion with Christ, symbolically commemorates His death, and anticipates His second coming (Matthew 28: 19; Acts 10:47-48; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28; Romans 6:3-4).

11.  Baby Dedication:We believe in baby dedication, Baby dedication is a wonderful moment in which parents make a public statement of faith to raise their child under God's grace and wisdom. The parents come forward to first rededicate themselves to God. Parents promise to live Godly lives in order to teach their children by example what it is to be a Christian so that at a mature age the child will make a decision of baptism. The pastor blesses the child and leads the congregation in a prayer of committing the child into the presence of God.(Isaiah 44:22, Jeremiah 1:5, 29:11, Luke 2:22, Mark 18:10, Proverbs 22:6, Psalm 8:2, 127:3-5)  

12.  The Christian Life:We believe that every Christian should live for Christ and not for himself and should, by the power of the indwelling Spirit, allow Christ to manifest His life through him to God’s glory. By ever increasing obedience to the Word of God, each believer should mature and progressively become more like Jesus. In the power of the Spirit, each believer should live a holy life; not fulfil the lusts of the flesh; exercise his spiritual gifts to build up the body of Christ; witness for Christ; be personally involved in making disciples to fulfil the Great Commission; perform good works and bear fruit to the glory of God (Galatians 2:20; 1 Peter 1:15- 16; 2:11; 2  Corinthians  5:14-15; Romans  6:11-13; Ephesians  2:10; 4:11-12; 4:22- 24; 1 Peter 4:10-11; Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:18-20; Colossians 1:10; John 15:8, 16).  

13.  The Church and Mission: We believe that the church is the body of Christ, spiritually united in the Lord Jesus Christ and that all true believers are members of His body, the Church. (1 Corinthians 12:12, 27; Ephesians 1:22-23). We believe that the mission of the church flows from the mission of God to redeem and restore his creation: we are called to make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching disciples to obey Jesus in all things. [Genesis 12:1-3; Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-20; Luke 24:36-49; John 20:19-23; Acts 1:1-8; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21]  

14.  Eternal Destiny of Men:We believe that at death every believer consciously and immediately enters into the presence and fellowship of the Lord to wait for the physical resurrection and glorification of his body at Christ’s return. The believer will thus enjoy life eternal with God – fellowshipping, serving and worshipping Him forever (2 Corinthians 5:6; 1 Corinthians 15: 12-58; Luke 23:39-43; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; John. 3: 16; Revelation 21-22). We believe that at death every unbeliever consciously and immediately enters into separation from the Lord to wait for the physical resurrection of his body to everlasting condemnation, judgment and punishment (Luke 16:19-31; John 3:18, 36; Revelation 20:5, 11-15; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10). 

15.  Divine Healing:We believe that the healing of sickness and disease is provided for God’s people in the atonement. The Church is, however, not opposed to soliciting the help of qualified medical practitioners (2 Kings 20:7; Mathew 9:12; Luke 10:34; Colossians 4:14). 

16. Marriage and Family:We believe in the institution of marriage as a union established and ordained by God for the lifelong, intimate relationship between a man as husband and a woman as wife as biologically defined at birth. We believe that God
instituted marriage primarily for mutual help, fellowship and comfort that one ought to have for the other and for honourable procreation of children, and their training in love, obedience to the Lord and responsible citizenship. (Genesis 2:18, 21-25; Matthew 19:4-6; 1 Corinthians 7:1-2).  

17.  Feasts of the Lord: We believe in the celebrations of the feasts of the Lord, These are holy gatherings, which must be observed in their season. Observed in their season means that God Almighty has designated a specific time for these feasts to be held and observed. The feasts of the Lord are the public calling of God for anyone to come to these holy celebrations that God Himself has ordained. At these celebrations there are specific “signs” and “signals” that were appointed before the foundation of the world and represent His desire for all of mankind. They include: 
1.Passover: (Leviticus 23:4-8),  
2.  Unleavened  Bread:  (Leviticus  23:6), 
3.  First  Fruits: (Leviticus 23:10), 
4. Feast of Weeks or Pentecost (Leviticus 23:16), 
5. Feast ofTrumpets: (Leviticus 23:24), 
6. Day of Atonement: (Leviticus 16, 23:26-32), 
7. Feast of Tabernacles or Booths: (Leviticus 23:34).  

18.  Festival of the New Moon, Full Moon, Sabbath and Seasons:We believe in the observation/watching of this festivals as gates of prophetic prayer aimed at helping the body of Christ to engage/dress up properly for spiritual warfare.( Ephesians 6:10- 16) We do not worship the elements but use the gate in prayer and petition as wise priest who are alert and ready to guide in the interpretations of things all times as mandated by scriptures. (Ecclesiastes 8:1-2, Psalms 81: 1-6, 1 Corinthians 15:41, Psalm 121:6, Psalm 104:19, Psalm 89:37).