What We Believe…
You – As an Individual
God loves you! No matter who you are. No matter what you believe. No matter your background, ethnicity, skin color, etc. God loves you and extends the offer of His grace to you.
God
God exists as one God in three persons – Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit. We call this mystery “The Trinity.” It is hard for us to wrap our minds around this idea of a “Trinity.” Full understanding of God is not possible to our finite minds. That He is Trinity is true. How He is Trinity is mysterious. God has created everything and sustains everything. There is more to God than we can put in a statement like this, but these are some essentials.
Human Beings
Human beings are created in the spiritual image of God to have relationship with Him and to be like Him in character. We have a rebellious attitude toward God. This leads us to resist what He wants for us. We call this attitude and the behaviors that come from it “sin.” Sin separates us from the relationship that God desires with us. This separation is not something that we can work our way through. We need help from God.
God’s Help To Us
God sent Jesus to earth as a baby born in a place called Bethlehem – we celebrate this each Christmas. Jesus is both fully human and fully God. He grew up, lived a sinless life, and was crucified. The Bible tells us that His death was “for us.” He rose from the dead. God extends His grace to us – through the Holy Spirit - so that if we will believe in Jesus and His work for us through His life, death, and resurrection we receive forgiveness for our sin. This forgiveness allows our relationship with God to be restored. Another way to say this is that our salvation comes by grace through faith in Jesus.
The Church – Jesus’ Body in The World
The Bible
We believe the Bible is God’s word to us. God inspired human writers to put in writing His plan and story for all of creation. We believe it (the Bible) is trustworthy and true. We use its teachings to lead us in our understanding of God, His purposes and His ways. While we use tradition, reason, and our experience to help us understand and interpret it, none of those gives us the authority to change what the Bible teaches. The Bible, accurately understood, is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice within the church.
God’s Help for Daily Living
We believe God gives constant help for our daily living through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us come to know God by His grace. When we come to believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit gifts us for spiritual growth and service to God and others.
The church consists of all the people around the world who believe in Jesus. The Holy Spirit binds us together into one body. Within the larger church, we gather in local fellowships doing all we can to love and serve God and our world. The task of the church is to fulfill the mission Jesus gave to His followers – to go into the world and make strong followers (disciples) of Jesus who reach out in love to make more followers (disciples) for Jesus.
