Our Beliefs

The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is a protestant Christian faith that is founded on the love of God. Seventh-day Adventists believe that Jesus is the one constant in a universe of constant change. His character is unchanging, and He is Creator, Sustainer, Savior, Friend, God's Son, and God Himself.

In fact, Jesus is one of three persons - the Trinity - that make up one God. The Bible describes Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit as being one in commitment to our growth as Christians and to our salvation.

God wants each of us to have the highest quality of life imaginable, both here on Earth and throughout eternity with Him. We can think of him as a loving father or protective big brother who is always looking out for our best interests.

For followers of Christ, death is nothing to fear. Seventh-day Adventists believe that Christians who die are in a, "peaceful pause before the resurrection." They will be awakened to join living Christians and spend eternity with their Savior. Because we look forward to Christ's return to earth, we include Advent in the denomination's name.

We also believe the seventh day of the week to be God's Sabbath, a special day of rest and spiritual nourishment. From Genesis through Revelation, the Bible describes the seventh day as the one-day God set aside for focused fellowship with His people.

Seventh-day Adventists celebrate Christ's victory over sin by participating in the commemoration of the Lord's Supper, which includes three activities. In the symbolic gesture of foot washing, we express humility and our desire to love others as Jesus loves us. The taking of bread or a communion wafer represents Christ's flesh, which He gave to save the world. The drinking of wine or grape juice is symbolic of the blood Christ shed to provide eternal life.

Adventists practice baptism by immersion. The act of being fully buried beneath the water symbolizes the way God's grace covers our past and fills us with new life for the future. Being brought out of the water represents our being born anew in our Savior.

We believe the Bible is God's written word that continues today to speak to us of His love by providing stories, instructions, laws, practical advice and encouragement. Although many different writers through thousands of years wrote it, it describes one God who loves each of us.

We believe that through reading the Bible and prayer, we can receive a complete understanding of God's character. Three events in particular reveal that character to us. First, at the time of the creation, God gave men and women the power of choice. Second, Jesus died on the cross as a perfect and innocent substitute for all of humankind, guaranteeing our forgiveness. Third, Jesus rose from the tomb, conquering sin and death and proclaiming His love and hope. He now lives and intercedes on our behalf in heaven.

In other words, God loves us enough to give us freedom. He loves us enough to die for us when we make the wrong choices. And He loves us enough to redeem us from the deadly consequences of sin.