What We Believe
Statement of Faith

We believe that the Bible is God's speech to mankind.  In ages past God led his apostles, prophets, and leaders to write down what would become our Bible (2 Peter 1:21).  These authors wrote their documents in their own cultures, with their own respective audiences in mind, but God was through them writing them for our benefit.  The Bible was "breathed out" by God and is therefore without error (2 Timothy 3:16).  The Bible most clearly reveals to us our Savior (Luke 24:27), and is sufficient to teach us to live in ways that our honoring to God (2 Timothy 3:16).

We believe in God the Father, who existed from all eternity past as a tri-unity of three persons, but one God. He is the creator of the Heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 1:1)
We believe in Jesus Christ, God's own son (John 3:16).  He is King and ruler over all the earth (Revelation 19:16).

We believe Jesus was born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:27).  Jesus lived a sinless life and honored God in all things (Hebrews 4:15).

We believe that Jesus suffered under the Roman ruler Pontius Pilate, that he was crucified, mocked, beaten, and buried. While from a human standpoint man killed God, Jesus went willingly to the cross as part of God's predetermined plan (Acts 4:27-28) to pay the penalty that our sins deserved (Romans 5:8).  On the cross Jesus experienced the wrath of God, so that those who believe in Him wouldn't have to (Romans 5:9-10).

We believe that Jesus rose again on the third day, proving his divinity and declaring victory over the powers of darkness (Act 2:24)

We believe that Jesus is alive today (Romans 6:9); that he sits at the right hand of the Father (Acts 2:33), interceding on the behalf of all believers (Romans 8:34).

We believe that Jesus will come back to judge those who are living and those who are already dead (1 Peter 4:5; 2 Timothy 4:1).   We believe in the Holy Spirit; that he is a person; the third member of the God-head.  The Holy Spirit's work is vast but his work includes convicting and transforming hell-bound sinners and transforming them into saints (Titus 3:5; John 16:8; John 3:5).

We believe that the church consists of all believers throughout the world who believe in Jesus as savior and Lord (1 Corinthians 3:1-15).

Those who trust in Jesus will be given eternal life with God forever and those who live apart from Jesus will experience eternal death in hell (John 3:36; Romans 10:9; John 3:16).

We believe that Jesus offers forgiveness of sins and full acceptance before God for all who trust in Him (1 John 1:9; Romans 10:9). This is a free gift, which we could never earn by our own efforts or works.  We believe that good works will follow as a result of trusting Jesus, but these good works can never make God love us or more or less (Ephesians 2:8-9).  They are a response to His work in our lives (Ephesians 2:10).  These works will be evident in the believer (1 John 2:4).

Marriage is a remarkable institution which is a picture of Christ's love for His bride the church (Ephesians 5:21-32). We believe that marriage was instituted for procreation (Genesis 1:22), companionship (Genesis 2:18), to reflect the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and for mutual joy (Song of Solomon). We believe that marriage as instituted by God is between one man and one woman.

iHope is in partnership with the Southern Baptist Convention for the purpose of sharing resources to spread God's love.