What we believe

 

At the heart of what we believe is the good news about Jesus Christ:

The good news is that the God who created the world loved us enough to send his Son, Jesus Christ, to live, die and rise again in order to save us both from our sin and from death. It is, then, through faith in Jesus that we are brought into a right relationship with God and so receive the peace and joy of eternal life.

Our statement of faith outlines what we believe more detail: 

We are committed to these truths of historic, biblical Christianity:  

God

We believe in the unity of the Godhead and in the sovereignty and grace of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in creation, providence, revelation, redemption and final judgement. 

The Bible 

We believe in the divine inspiration of Holy Scripture and its consequent entire trustworthiness and supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. 

Humanity 

We believe in the universal sinfulness and guilt of fallen man, making him subject to God’s wrath and condemnation. 

The Lord Jesus Christ

We believe in the true and proper deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, his virgin birth, his real and perfect manhood, the authority of his teaching and the infallibility of all his utterances. 

We believe in the substitutionary sacrifice of the incarnate Son of God as the sole and all sufficient ground of redemption from the guilt and power of sin, and from its eternal consequence. 

Salvation 

We believe in the justification of the sinner by the grace of God through faith in Christ crucified and risen from the dead. 

The Holy Spirit 

We believe in the illuminating, regenerating, indwelling and sanctifying work of God the Holy Spirit and his inspiration in witness and worship. 

The Church 

We believe in the priesthood of all believers, who form the universal Church, the body of which Christ is the head and which is committed by his command to the proclamation of the gospel throughout the world. 

Baptism and Lord’s Supper 

We believe in the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper as being instituted by our Lord, but not in baptism as conveying regenerating grace, nor in the Lord’s Supper as being a sacrifice for sin nor involving any change in the substance of the bread and wine. 

The Future 

We believe in the expectation of the personal, visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ in power and glory. 

We believe in the resurrection of the body, the judgement of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, with the eternal blessedness of the saved and the eternal punishment of the unsaved.