Essentials of Our Faith

THE BIBLE

The Bible is the final authority on all matters to which it speaks. It is God’s completely true story about who he is, what he has done, what he is doing and what He will do. It was given by God to human writers, and this is reflected through their backgrounds, styles and language.

GOD

There is one God, who exists as three persons living in perfect community – Father, Son and Spirit. God created everything and sustains everything with his life. He is holy, all-powerful, all-knowing, unchanging and full of mercy and grace.

JESUS CHRIST

Jesus Christ, God’s only son, was born to the Virgin Mary as fully human and fully God. He lived a perfect life in place of our imperfect ones, and died the death we deserved because of our sin as our substitute; his resurrection provided us full life. When Jesus Christ physically rose from the dead, He ascended into heaven. Today He serves as our representative, intercessor and advocate with God the Father.

THE HOLY SPIRIT

We experience the full life and presence of God in our relationship with God the Spirit, who convicts us of sin, points us to Christ and applies Christ’s work in our lives. He gives gifts and power to the church, creates biblical community within the church, reveals the truth and guides our lives, both individually and together.

REAL LIFE

There is only one way to connect with God – by choosing to accept the offer of forgiveness and reconciliation God offers to us through Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection. God will treat us like Christ, because He treated Christ like us – all we have to do is ask. God’s gift of grace makes us His adopted sons and daughters. There is nothing we do to deserve this life; it is all a gift from God. Our job is simply to receive the gift of life and when we do, God begins the process of changing our hearts and minds from the inside out to transform our character to be more like Jesus. Just as we have been reconciled to God, we also have hope in becoming fully reconciled to others.

CHRIST’S RETURN

In His own time and way, God will bring the world as we know it to an end. According to His promise, Christ will return personally and visibly to judge the living and the dead to begin the new era of God’s universally visible reign which will last forever, which the Bible calls “the new heavens and new earth.”

THE CHURCH

If we are in a relationship with Christ, we are part of the church. Although the church is universal, it is always expressed locally. The church is the visible and local demonstration of the new community Christ came to create. Our community life is led by the Spirit and is devoted to:

• Worshipping God

• Understanding and Applying The Bible to Our Lives

• Offering Connections to Others and Living Life Together

• Serving our Community and using our Spirit-given gifts to Serve Christ and Others

The church celebrates the Sacraments of Baptism and Communion, which are gifts from Christ that represent the experiences of His promise and presence with us. The church is made up of imperfect people who are responding day by day in all of their relationships to God’s stunning grace. The main responsibility of the church is to offer connections to people who do not have a relationship with Christ by offering Christ’s full life and helping those who respond to become whole-hearted Christ-followers.