What We Believe

Our goal, as the people of God, is to be followers of Yeshua the Messiah, to be holy unto God our Father, to live righteous and godly lives in this world, to be equally clean in our conscious inner man and in our walk, and to be full of love for one another.
“Give ear, O my people, to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children, that they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep (natsar) His commandments.” (Psalm 78: 1-7)
“Your people shall all be righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch (netser) of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified.” (Isaiah 60:21)
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

We believe that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – Creator of the heavens and the Earth and all that is in them (Genesis 1:1) – is One. We understand this “One” to be a composite unity as defined by the Hebrew word, אחד echad; and though he has chosen to reveal Himself to mankind, to both physically and spiritually interact with and even establish and develop a close personal relationship with His creation, we also understand that finite man cannot comprehend the infinite and Almighty God. 
“Hear O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is One!” (Deuteronomy 6:4)

We believe that all Scripture, both the Old Testament (Tanakh) and the Scriptures (B’rit Chadashah), is the divinely inspired, infallible and authoritative Word of God for all people and for all time. The Scripture is our highest authority in all matters of faith, life, and practice. 
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Yeshua said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40) 
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequately equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16)

We believe that Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth, as foretold by the Prophets, is the Messiah of Israel, the only begotten Son of the living God, the Savior of the world, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the Word of God manifested in the flesh. He was conceived by the Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, was crucified and died as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, rose from the dead on the third day, and ascended into the heavens. He is now alive and sits at the right hand of the Father as our Mediator. He will in the end of days physically return to Earth to establish His kingdom and to reign on the throne of David. 
Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16; John 1:1; John 1:14)

We believe that salvation comes through repentance and confession of sin. Everyone who repents of their sins and trusts that Yeshua is the Son of God and the Messiah of Israel is forgiven of their sins and enters into the renewed covenant with God through Yeshua’s sacrifice. We, therefore, become inheritors of all the promises and covenants of God (Romans 10:9-11; 1 Corinthians 5:7). Having been “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world,” we “who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah” and “are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:12, 13, 19). 
“But we also rejoice in God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, through whom we have now received the atonement.” (Romans 5:11)

We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12) as well as the infilling of the Holy Spirit for believers (Acts 2:38). We believe that the gifts of the Spirit are vital to the body of Messiah and should compliment the fruit of the Spirit evident in the life of the believer (Galatians 5:22-23). The Holy Spirit leads, counsels, teaches, comforts and empowers; and through the Holy Spirit, the commandments are written in our hearts and minds. The Holy Spirit enables us to live an obedient, Torah-observant life as the Word of God commands (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:26-27). 
“Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth).” (Ephesians 5:8-9)

We understand that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and need atonement and reconciliation to our Heavenly Father. Salvation is a free gift of God and cannot be earned by keeping the commandments. However, we believe that holiness and obedience to His Torah is God’s standard of living for His people that we might walk in His love and to be a light unto others. As the Holy Spirit writes the commandments on our hearts and minds, we strive in the Spirit to keep the Torah because we have been redeemed and desire to walk as Yeshua walked. We don’t keep the commandments in order to be saved or to earn or keep our forgiveness; rather we keep the loving commandments of our Heavenly Father because we are saved and because we love Him. 
Further, the Torah was given to Israel. When a person puts their trust in Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel, that person is grafted into Israel. Their faith in Israel’s Messiah makes them a part of Israel; and therefore Israel’s Torah is for him, because he is now a member of the commonwealth of Israel (Ephesians 2:12, 13, 19). 
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) 
“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.” (1 John 5:3)

We believe in the resurrection of both the believer and unbeliever: the redeemed to everlasting joy in the presence of God and the lost to eternal separation from God. 
“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth — those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” (John 5:28-29)

We believe the weekly Sabbath is the seventh day of the week. It was designed and created to be a day of rest, unique from the other six days of the week (Genesis 2:2-3). God gave this to His people as part of His Covenant serving as a sign between God and His people. 
“Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.’” (Exodus 31:13) 
We meet on the seventh day because we believe that “six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation” (Leviticus 23:3). It is incumbent upon us to acknowledge that the Creator sanctified and blessed this day and we are, therefore, called to distinguish it from all other days of the week. 
“Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy.” (Exodus 20:8) 
Likewise, we assemble and observe the other Biblical holy days, the commanded annual Feasts of God — Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of First Fruits, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day of Assembly. The Bible refers to these feasts as moedim, God’s “appointed times” and, as such, should not be regarded as “feasts of the Jews” so as to exclude others within the congregation of faith. We believe these holy days foretell of the Kingdom that we will one day share with the Messiah. In addition to these God-appointed times, we also observe the Biblical feasts of Purim and Hanukkah.

While acknowledging that this statement is not perfect because it is the product of imperfect people who are striving to mature in their knowledge of the Perfect One and in our understanding of His holy Word, this summarizes our core and fundamental beliefs but should not be considered as an exhaustive explanation of what we believe.