Our Beliefs

Statement of Faith

God

We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three distinct but equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, He sustains and governs all things according to His will and for His own glory.

The Bible

We believe God has revealed himself in the Bible, comprising the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments alone. Every word was verbally inspired by God through human authors, to ensure that the Bible in the original writings is without error and is in its entirety the Word of God, fully reliable in fact and doctrine. It is the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate and sufficient authority by which all human conduct, creeds, opinions and beliefs should be judged and tested. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.

The Human Race

We believe that God created all men and women in His image, with inherent and equal dignity and worth. Their greatest purpose is to obey, worship, and love God, and to enjoy a relationship of fellowship with Him. When tempted by Satan, Adam and Eve chose to voluntarily disobey God, and as a result every aspect of human nature has been corrupted and all people are positively inclined to do evil, and incapable of regaining or attaining a right relationship with God by their own efforts. Every person is therefore under the just condemnation and judgement of God, hostile towards Him, and alienated from Him. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled, and renewed.

Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ, as He is truly revealed in the Bible, is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one person in two natures. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and lived a perfect, righteous, sinless life in obedience to the Father and as recorded in the Gospels of the New Testament. He taught with authority and all His words are true. He was crucified and died in the place of sinners, bearing God’s wrath and punishment for their sin. On the third day He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sits exalted at the right hand of God the Father, as our High Priest, and Advocate, interceding for His people.

Salvation

We believe that men and women are saved wholly by God through grace which cannot be earned or deserved. Such salvation is made possible only through the mediatorial work of Jesus as our representative, and substitute. By means of His death upon the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice, Jesus Christ made a full atonement for our sins, becoming sin for us, thereby taking upon himself the just judgement of God which we deserve. By virtue of His death, all who believe in Christ are justified by faith alone, and receive forgiveness of their sins, freedom from condemnation, adoption into the family of God as sons and heirs, and a new spiritual life which will continue for eternity.

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ and applies His work of salvation. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptised into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He indwells, illuminates scripture, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service. He builds up the Church and empowers its members for worship, service and mission.

The Church

We believe that the Universal Church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the head. The Universal Church is made visible in local churches, which are congregations of believers, organised in unity under a suitably qualified leadership, who meet together to join in corporate worship, fellowship, prayer, teaching, instruction, to encourage one another to persevere in faith and good works, and to exercise such discipline as may become necessary against believers who fall into apostasy or who remain unrepentant of established sin. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.

Christian Living

We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. While christians will never be entirely free from sin before being raised to new resurrection life in the age to come, in this present life they will experience a progressive growth in righteousness and godliness. With God’s Word, the Holy Spirit’s power and fervent prayer in Christ’s name we put to death sinful desires, exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and will be brought to increasingly Christ-like character. Whilst salvation is not earned by the performance of works of righteousness, it is always evidenced by godly conduct and the performance of good works pleasing to God.

Christ's Return

We believe that, at a time unknown to any but God himself, the Lord Jesus will return, personally and bodily in glory. He will raise the dead and all men and women shall be judged by Him in righteousness. Those who are not regenerate and justified shall be condemned to eternal punishment in Hell. Those who are regenerate and justified shall be welcomed into a life of eternal joy in fellowship with, and in the presence of God, reigning with Christ in his kingdom. God will make all things new and be glorified forever.

Doctrinal Distinctives

The Sufficiency of the Scriptures

We believe that God speaks to men and women today through the Scriptures. When the Scriptures are read or explained, whether publicly or privately, God speaks by His Spirit. The Scriptures contain everything which it is necessary for God to say to enable men and women to come to salvation through Christ, and to grow to maturity in Christ so that they might know how to live and please Him. Since the Scriptures are entirely sufficient in this regard, no additional word or revelation from God is required to enable a person to know God, or to know His will. Where anyone claims that God is speaking a word by means other than through the Scriptures, such a word shall not be accepted unless it is first tested to determine whether it is consistent with the Scriptures. In accordance with the teaching of the New Testament. The Elders of the church are the persons within the congregation who bear the responsibility for assessing whether any such word is genuinely from God.

Baptism

We believe that Baptism into the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is an outward sign which marks a person’s regeneration and baptism by the Holy Spirit into membership of the Church of Jesus Christ. As such it should only be administered to a person who publicly professes faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism should, wherever possible and practicable, be administered by immersion in water, symbolising that the person baptised has been united with Christ in His death and resurrection, and is the possessor of the benefits thereof.

The Lord’s Supper

We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a remembrance meal at which Christian believers share bread and wine together to remind themselves of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, of the new covenant of salvation which He inaugurated, and to proclaim that He will return. Jesus Christ is no more present at a celebration of the Lord’s Supper than at any other gathering of the members of a local church. The Lord’s Supper should be celebrated on a regular basis by the members of the church demonstrating their unity in the body of Christ.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

We believe that every genuine believer is baptised by the Holy Spirit at the moment at which they are regenerated and brought to true faith in Jesus Christ. Every genuine believer is always in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit, but it does not follow that every believer is necessarily filled with the Spirit at all times. All believers are urged by Scripture to ensure that they are increasingly yielded to the power, influence and control of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them.

Leadership of the Local Church

We believe that a local church congregation should be led by two or more suitably qualified Elders. Whilst God created men and women in absolute equality, He also ordained that leadership in the family, within the context of marriage, and in the church, should be the functional responsibility of men. For this reason the Elders of the church are required to be men. The duly appointed Elders of the church are the under-shepherds of Christ, and they must exercise their leadership of the local church in accordance with the character of Christ’s own leadership of the Universal Church. They are to love the members of the church and to give themselves in their service, working to present them to Christ as holy and blameless. In turn the members of the church are required to submit themselves to the leadership of the Elders, inso far as such leadership is exercised in accordance with the Scriptures. Members of the church with appropriate gifts and character, both men and women, may be set apart as Deacons to serve particular needs arising in the life of the church.

Every Member Ministry

We believe that every member of the church is called by God to utilise their gifts by ministering to other members of the church. The provision of teaching and pastoral care within the life of the church is not the sole responsibility of the Elders and Deacons. We believe that every believer is a priest who enjoys direct access to God and is able to minister to others. The Elders and Deacons of the church are believers who have been appointed by the members of the church to provide pastoral leadership of the congregation, in recognition that they are suitable in character, qualification, gifts to undertake such responsibilities.