What Do We Believe?

Many Christians find it helpful to summarize and express their basic beliefs about God. Here are some basic statements of beliefs common among members of our church.

1. We believe in one God, who has revealed Himself to humanity as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God has created the universe and the earth for His purposes.
2. God has made humans in His image, to help Him care for Creation. Humans have rebelled in selfishness and have sinned against God's purposes.
3. God has acted to reconcile humans from their sin and rebellion. He established a covenant with Abraham and His descendants, Israel, to reflect God-centered living in a sinful world, to bless all nations, and to bring all people back into right relationship with their Creator. Israel repeatedly struggled in its faithfulness to God, and so received repeated judgment and looked for a time of better faithfulness and loyalty to God.
4. God entered the world as a human, given the name "Jesus." Jesus, Himself an Israelite, demonstrated faithfulness to God and called people to follow Him. His unpopular and threatening lifestyle had Him executed, and His crucifixion served as a sacrifice on behalf of humanity's sin. Jesus then resurrected and returned to the Father, leaving His work in the hands of His followers while still serving in heaven as a high priest interceding for humanity.
5. The Holy Spirit was the presence of God for Jesus' followers. They continued demonstrating faithfulness to God and calling other people to commit themselves to the Creator and His purposes. Against opposition of all kinds, Christians converted people through their level of commitment to the lifestyle they had learned from Jesus. They were the presence of Jesus, the presence of God, in a sinful, dying world. Their mission has continued for over 1,900 years, and Christians continue in their work until Jesus returns.
6. Jesus will return at an unknown time to gather His followers together and to rid the earth of all sin once and for all. Heaven and earth will be renewed, and humans will live in complete peace with and commitment to their God and Creator. They will serve God in caring for the earth He creates for them. All negative experiences of life in this age will pass away and be forgotten. All humans will live in harmony and will live forever, without any fear or thought of death. All will be new.
7. The Bible is the authority for these proclaimed beliefs, written and handed down by and for the covenant people of God.
8. Those who wish to follow Jesus enter into covenant with Jesus by faith in His work and commit themselves to Him through baptism, a washing that surrenders one's life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and to the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit.
9. Those who have committed themselves to following Jesus organize into churches (Greek ekklesiai, "assemblies"). These gatherings of Jesus' followers enable them to respond to God in worship; they also have the opportunity to encourage each other and to coordinate in their efforts to share the message of Jesus with other people.
10. A central part of Christian gatherings is the Lord's Supper, or Communion ("Eucharist" in some traditions). This small meal of bread and wine/grape juice allows Jesus' followers to remember Jesus' body and blood; this remembrance shapes their lifestyle--in thankfulness for God's grace, in greater love for each other and all humanity, and in constant hope for and anticipation of the time when Jesus' followers will eat this renewed Passover with Jesus Himself.