We believe that the doctrine of a church is the most important thing to consider. Preaching styles, music, even facilities can change but if the doctrine is not sound, none of those things matter much. At a church like ABC, we have people from many different backgrounds and denominations. While we respect that some in our congregation hold to some different beliefs, below are the core beliefs that we hold to as a church. For any other doctrinal matters not discussed, we default to the position outlined in the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message.
GOD - THE FATHER
Many people have differing ideas about the nature of God. Most of those ideas have one thing in common - they are the product of human intellect. However, regarding our Creator, it matters very little who we think God is. The Bible is the only trustworthy source for understanding who God is, both His character and His nature. The Bible teaches that God created everything we can see, and even everything we cannot see, “ex nihilo”, out of nothing. Although it might be difficult for the human mind to comprehend, the Bible teaches that God is one that has existed since the beginning of time as three distinct and equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7.
THE SON – JESUS
Jesus Christ is God’s Son, fully equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, eternally existing of the exact substance as the Father and the Spirit. Though He has existed from the beginning of time, He lived in bodily form on earth, choosing to take on the form of a man. Throughout His earthly life, He was completely God and completely human at the same time. After living a perfect and sinless life, Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sin of every human being who has ever lived by dying on a cross. After three days in the grave, He defeated sin and death by rising from the grave. He then ascended to Heaven where He sits at the right hand of God the father until His eminent return to earth to reign as King.
Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14; 53; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18,29; 10:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16,28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5,20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is a full and equal part of the Trinity. He works in the world to make humanity understand their need for salvation through Jesus Christ alone. The Holy Spirit lives inside every follower of Jesus from the moment they decide to follow Him. The Spirit is our helper in life, ministry, and spiritual growth. To receive help and power from the Holy Spirit, we must continually yield our lives to the Holy Spirit.
Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.
THE BIBLE
The Holy Spirit inspired human authors to write each of the 66 books within the Bible. God himself chose every word of the scripture. The Bible is God’s letter to all of humanity and is the final authority in every issue of life. It is complete truth, without any error in its original writings. We can trust it for all matters in this life and eternity.
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.
HUMANITY
People are the pinnacle of God’s creation and the only beings on the earth made in God’s own spiritual image, with the moral ability to choose right from wrong. Every person, although endowed with the image of God, inherited a disobedient heart from Adam, the very first man. This attitude of disobedience is called sin in the Bible. Unless remedied by salvation in Jesus the Christ alone, each person will be forever separated from a loving relationship with God. This attitude also keeps us from being the kind of person God created us to be.
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 SALVATION
Our disobedient nature has eternally separated us from God. No matter how hard we try, we can never earn our way back into God’s presence. Our only hope is, by faith, to trust Jesus as God’s gracious provision for our salvation from sin and self. Whenever you make that decision to trust Jesus as your Lord and God, you step into the real, eternal, and abundant life Jesus promises for all believers.
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; 10:9-10, 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.
THE CHURCH
The Bible tells us that the Church is the Body of Christ in the world today. The New Testament tells us the Church is two parts:
The Church is the collective of every believer in Jesus - past, present, and future.
The Church is a local body of baptized believers, a part of the Church.
The head of the Church is Jesus Christ and the Church’s guide in all matters is the Holy Spirit, through the direction of the Bible. The Biblical purpose of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus among all people of the world. Additionally, we are called to worship, evangelize, fellowship, and minister to others - both Christian and non-Christian. The local church is autonomously governed, receiving advice but not instruction from external persons or authorities.
Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3; 21:2-3.
Click here to see our position on issues such as marriage and family, homosexuality and same sex marriage, abortion, human trafficking, prostitution, pornography, and worker's rights.
Questions about one of the above or about something not covered above? Send us an email from our contact page, we will be happy to explain or discuss.
GOD - THE FATHER
Many people have differing ideas about the nature of God. Most of those ideas have one thing in common - they are the product of human intellect. However, regarding our Creator, it matters very little who we think God is. The Bible is the only trustworthy source for understanding who God is, both His character and His nature. The Bible teaches that God created everything we can see, and even everything we cannot see, “ex nihilo”, out of nothing. Although it might be difficult for the human mind to comprehend, the Bible teaches that God is one that has existed since the beginning of time as three distinct and equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7.
THE SON – JESUS
Jesus Christ is God’s Son, fully equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, eternally existing of the exact substance as the Father and the Spirit. Though He has existed from the beginning of time, He lived in bodily form on earth, choosing to take on the form of a man. Throughout His earthly life, He was completely God and completely human at the same time. After living a perfect and sinless life, Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sin of every human being who has ever lived by dying on a cross. After three days in the grave, He defeated sin and death by rising from the grave. He then ascended to Heaven where He sits at the right hand of God the father until His eminent return to earth to reign as King.
Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14; 53; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18,29; 10:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16,28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5,20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is a full and equal part of the Trinity. He works in the world to make humanity understand their need for salvation through Jesus Christ alone. The Holy Spirit lives inside every follower of Jesus from the moment they decide to follow Him. The Spirit is our helper in life, ministry, and spiritual growth. To receive help and power from the Holy Spirit, we must continually yield our lives to the Holy Spirit.
Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.
THE BIBLE
The Holy Spirit inspired human authors to write each of the 66 books within the Bible. God himself chose every word of the scripture. The Bible is God’s letter to all of humanity and is the final authority in every issue of life. It is complete truth, without any error in its original writings. We can trust it for all matters in this life and eternity.
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.
HUMANITY
People are the pinnacle of God’s creation and the only beings on the earth made in God’s own spiritual image, with the moral ability to choose right from wrong. Every person, although endowed with the image of God, inherited a disobedient heart from Adam, the very first man. This attitude of disobedience is called sin in the Bible. Unless remedied by salvation in Jesus the Christ alone, each person will be forever separated from a loving relationship with God. This attitude also keeps us from being the kind of person God created us to be.
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 SALVATION
Our disobedient nature has eternally separated us from God. No matter how hard we try, we can never earn our way back into God’s presence. Our only hope is, by faith, to trust Jesus as God’s gracious provision for our salvation from sin and self. Whenever you make that decision to trust Jesus as your Lord and God, you step into the real, eternal, and abundant life Jesus promises for all believers.
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; 10:9-10, 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.
THE CHURCH
The Bible tells us that the Church is the Body of Christ in the world today. The New Testament tells us the Church is two parts:
The Church is the collective of every believer in Jesus - past, present, and future.
The Church is a local body of baptized believers, a part of the Church.
The head of the Church is Jesus Christ and the Church’s guide in all matters is the Holy Spirit, through the direction of the Bible. The Biblical purpose of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus among all people of the world. Additionally, we are called to worship, evangelize, fellowship, and minister to others - both Christian and non-Christian. The local church is autonomously governed, receiving advice but not instruction from external persons or authorities.
Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3; 21:2-3.
Click here to see our position on issues such as marriage and family, homosexuality and same sex marriage, abortion, human trafficking, prostitution, pornography, and worker's rights.
Questions about one of the above or about something not covered above? Send us an email from our contact page, we will be happy to explain or discuss.