CONGREGATIONAL CONFESSION OF FAITH

I. THE WORD OF GOD

We believe that the Holy Bible is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. We teach that while there may be several applications of any given passage there is only one true interpretation that is why we diligently study and seek enlightenment by the Holy Spirit.

2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; Mark 13:31; John 8:31, 32; John 20:31; Acts 20:32; 1 Corinthians 2:7-15; 1 John 2:20

II. THE TRINITY

We believe that there is one living and true God. He is one in essence, eternally existing in three distinct persons; the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and that these are equal in every divine perfection, and that they execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence and redemption. They each are equally deserving of worship and obedience.

Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; Genesis 1:1, 26; John 1:1, 3; Matthew 28:19; John 4:24; Romans 1:19, 20; Ephesians 4:5, 6

III. GOD THE FATHER

We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. We believe that He infallibly foreknows because He is sovereign over all that shall come to pass, that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.

Luke 10:21,22; Matthew 23:9; John 1:12-13; 3:16; 6:27; Romans 1:7; I Timothy 1:1,2; 2:5,6; I Peter 1:3; Revelation 1:6

IV. JESUS CHRIST

We believe in Jesus Christ, the Father’s only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe that He is coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. We believe that He is perfectly God and perfectly man in indivisible oneness. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death for believers, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and personal visible return to earth.

Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1; 10:30; 14:9; 20:28; Romans 9:5; 8:46; 2 Corinthians 5:21; I Peter 2:21-23; John 20:30, 31; Matthew 20:28; Ephesians 1:4; Acts 1:11; Romans 5:6-8; 6:9,10; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:28; I Timothy 3:16

vI. MAN AND SALVATION

We believe that man was created by God in His own image to glorify and enjoy Him through fellowship. We believe that man sinned and thereby incurred physical, spiritual and eternal death, which is separation from God; that as a consequence, all human beings are born with a sinful nature and also are sinners by choice and therefore under condemnation. This condemnation is such that man is utterly incapable of or desiring to do that which is acceptable to God apart from His divine grace. We believe that those who repent and forsake sin and trust Jesus Christ as Savior are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and become new creatures, delivered from condemnation and receive eternal life. We believe that repentance and faith are gifts given sovereignly by God.

Genesis 1:26; 5:2; Genesis 3:1-24; Genesis 2:17; 3:19; Eccl. 2:11; John 3:14; 5:24; John 5:30; 7:13; 8:12; 10:26; Romans 9:22; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Rev. 19:3,20; 20:10;14,15; 21:18; Psalm 51:7; Jeremiah 17:9; James 1:14; Romans 3:19,23; 5:19; 6:23; Proverbs 28:13; I John 1:9; John 3:16; John 1:13; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:1; Philippians 1:29; 2 Timothy 2:25-26

v. The HOLY SPIRIT

We believe in the Holy Spirit who is coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father and Jesus Christ. We believe that He came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He also came to baptize into the body of Christ, to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells and gifts every believer in Christ for ministry, and that He is an abiding helper, teacher and guide.

John 14:16,17,26; 15:26,27; John 16:9-14; Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 12:13; Galatians 5:22-26

VIII. CHRISTIAN CONDUCT

We believe that every believer is sanctified unto God and that this sanctification is progressive in that the state of the believer becomes more and more like Jesus Christ through obedience to the Word of God and through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. We believe that a Christian should live for the glory of God and the well-being of his fellow men; that his conduct should be blameless before the world; that he should be a faithful steward of his possessions; and that he should seek to realize for himself and others the full stature of maturity in Christ.

Romans 6:1-22; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4; 5:23; I Corinthians 10:31; Romans 12:1-3; Hebrews 12:1-2; John 14:15,23-24; I John 2:3-6; 2 Corinthians 9:6-9; I Corinthians 4:2; Col. 1:9-10

VII. THE CHURCH

We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members. We believe in the local church, consisting of a company of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible profession of faith, and associated for worship, work, and fellowship. We believe in the biblically designated leaders within this assembly as elders (or pastors), and deacons made up of men who fulfill the requirements found in the New Testament. We believe that God has laid upon the members of the local church the primary task of giving the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world.

Ephesians 2:19-22; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 5:19-21; Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:23-25; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-5

X. THE LAST THINGS

We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of His kingdom. We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal felicity of the righteous and the endless suffering of the wicked.

Matthew 16:27; Mark 14:62; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; Phil. 3:20; I Thessalonians 4:15; II Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; I Corinthians 4:5; I Corinthians 15:1-58; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 20:4-6, 11-15

IX. THE ORDINANCES

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of the believer in water into the name of the triune God. We believe that the Lord’s Supper was instituted by Christ for commemoration of His death. We believe that these two ordinances should be observed and administered until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; I Corinthians 11:23-26

CHURCH COVENANT

Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and, on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God, angels and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.

We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love, to strive for the advancement of Sovereign Joy Christian Fellowship in knowledge, holiness and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the Church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel through all nations.

We also engage to maintain family and personal devotions; to educate our children in the Christian faith; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment, to avoid all tattling and gossip, backbiting and excessive anger; to seek God’s help in abstaining from practices which bring unwarranted bodily harm or jeopardize our own or another’s faith.

We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember one another in prayer; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.

We moreover engage that when we remove from this place, we will, if possible, unite with a church where we can carry out the articles of this confession and the spirit of this covenant.