Statement of Faith

While we are a family defined by relationship, we are also anchored by truth. These core beliefs provide the foundation for everything we teach and how we live out our faith together.

1. Scripture as the inspired Word of God

   2 Timothy 3:16–17; 2 Peter 1:20–21

   We believe in the Scripture of the Old and New Testaments as the fully inspired and inerrant Word of God and accept them as the supreme and final authority for faith and life.

2. One God in three persons

   Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14

   We believe in one God eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

3. Jesus Christ: true God and true man

   John 1:14; Matthew 1:23

   We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true man.

4. Creation, sin, and human nature

   Genesis 1:1; Romans 3:23

   We believe that God created man in His image; that man sinned and thereby incurred the penalty of death, physically and spiritually. All human beings inherit a sinful nature, which leads to actual transgressions and personal guilt once they reach moral responsibility.

5. Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice

   1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21

   We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins in a substitutionary sacrifice, according to the Scriptures, and that all who believe in Him are justified on the grounds of His shed blood.

6. Bodily resurrection and ascension of Jesus

   1 Corinthians 15:3–4; Acts 1:9–11

   We believe in the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, His ascension into Heaven, and His present life as our High Priest and Advocate.

7. Personal return of Jesus Christ

   John 14:3; Revelation 22:12

   We believe in the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

8. Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ

   Ephesians 2:8–9; Acts 16:31

   We believe that all who receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith are born of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God.

9. Baptism of the Holy Spirit & fivefold ministry

   Acts 1:5; Acts 2:4; Ephesians 4

   We believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, empowering and equipping believers for service with the accompanying gifts of the Spirit and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. We also believe in the God-given fivefold ministries of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers.

10. Empowerment by the Holy Spirit

    Acts 2:38; Matthew 28:19

    We believe that as believers, we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to live out lives reflecting the nature of Jesus Christ here on Earth.

11. Final judgement

    Revelation 20:11–12; Matthew 25:31–32

    We believe in the resurrection of both the just and the unjust, the eternal blessedness of the redeemed, and the separation of those who have rejected the offer of salvation.

12. The one true Church

    1 Corinthians 12:12–27; Ephesians 1:22–23

    We believe that the one true Church is the whole company of those who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. The local Church on Earth should take its character from this conception, and therefore, the new birth of personal confession of Christ is essential for Church membership.

13. The Lord’s Supper & believer’s baptism

    1 Corinthians 11:23–26; Acts 2:38; Matthew 28:19

    We believe that the Lord’s Supper and Believer’s Baptism are ordinances appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ to be observed as acts of obedience. Baptism is the immersion of the believer in water, signifying their identification with Christ in His burial and resurrection. The Lord’s Supper involves partaking of the bread and wine as symbols of the Saviour’s broken body and shed blood in remembrance of His death until He comes.

14. Church governance

    Titus 1:5; 1 Timothy 3:1–7

    We believe that a New Testament Church accepts the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ and is overseen by Eldership and Deacons. The local Church relates to others through apostolic networks.

15. Delegated authority to elders

    1 Peter 5:1–3; Hebrews 13:17

    We believe in a delegated authority, in which the elders govern the local Church with regard to doctrine, direction, and biblical discipline.

These beliefs form the bedrock of our faith and practice. If you’d like to dig into any of them, ask us — or just grab one of the elders after a Sunday service.

Why grace?

Every doctrine on this page rests on one conviction: we are saved by what Jesus has done, not by what we manage to do. That conviction is why we are a grace church rather than a law church, and it is worth saying plainly why.

Steve Wheeler, in his book Highway to Grace, put it as a contrast between two covenants. The old covenant was a schoolmaster — it demanded perfection and could never give it. The new covenant does not demand; it provides. One hands us a standard we can never reach. The other hands us the life we could never produce. Grace is not God lowering the bar so we can reach it. It is God reaching us where we are.

The same contrast runs through our identity. We inherit from the first Adam, but we are made new in the last Adam — Jesus. So the question is never “have you been good enough?” but “do you believe what He has already done?”. That is why we can be told to rest, and why we can be told to walk.

Grace never leads to carelessness. It leads to freedom — and freedom is what lets a person love, serve and change. Read Steve’s account of his own journey in Highway to Grace.