What We Believe

 

 

We believe the Bible to be holy, set apart, and inspired. We believe that God used the writers of Scripture, in their culture and age, to communicate to all generations of humanity. In the Scriptures, we believe God calls out to His people to drench themselves in this divinely inspired narrative, to faithfully and diligently interpret and transpose that story into the world where they live today, as they are compelled by the Spirit.

 

We believe God was and always will exist as the Triune Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Out of this perfect expression of community within Himself, His divine spark of authority and power originally created all things good. As image bearers of God, we are compelled to serve, care for, and cultivate His creation. We were created to live in community with creation, with each other, with ourselves, and with God.  

 

In Genesis we are given a picture of God’s adversary. This adversary tempted Adam and Eve, the by-product of which was sin. Sin made way for darkness and evil to become a pervasive part of the world ever since. This catastrophic event fractured our ability to connect and relate to ourselves, each other, creation, and ultimately God. The only solution to this rupture is redemption.

 

We believe there exists a promise from God to restore all that was broken through the choices of Adam and Eve. We trust that God has not abandoned us, but longs for us to realize our calling, purpose, and significance as His people.  The Scriptures tell us that God’s plan of redemption started with a people. Through Abraham and ultimately Israel, God’s plan was to use the descendants of Abraham as ambassadors to the rest of the world. His vision was to bless Israel as a nation so that through this blessing, they could, in turn, be a blessing to the rest of the world -- His mouthpiece to the humanity He longed to heal and save. 

 

In spite of Israel’s repetitive sin, there always remained a hopeful people who believed in God’s promise for themselves and the world. This group longed for a revived reign of God, where His promise of peace and justice would ultimately win the day with humanity and creation. We believe that Jesus Christ arriving was the fulfillment of these longings. 

 

We believe that Jesus was the Messiah that the prophets of Israel had foretold, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and was mysteriously God incarnate. Jesus, we believe, came as a Liberator for all mankind for all times. 

 

We believe He was here to a proclaim and announce God’s kingdom amidst any and all competing kingdoms on this earth -- a kingdom that was love, mercy, grace, reconciliation, hope, and a heavenly and holy sense of justice.

 

We believe that in His struggle, suffering, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection, we have been atoned for, forgiven, and brought into right relationship with our Heavenly Father. In Jesus, we believe we can trust that God is now reconciling us to each other, ourselves, and all creation. We believe that God’s Spirit affirms all those who entrust themselves to Jesus.  

 

We believe that the Spirit of God dwells amidst us and in us. We are people who were breathed into existence by this same Spirit. This Spirit, we believe, empowers us with gifts, convicts our hearts, guides our life, comforts our hearts, counsels our decisions, inspires our imagination and will, and leads us into truth through a communal life of worship and a missional expression of faith.

 

We believe the church, when it is healthy and alive, is centered, embedded, and secured in Jesus Christ, practicing spiritual disciplines, celebrating baptism and communion, and is missional in all its endeavors. 

 

We believe the church is both a local and global expression of living out the way of Jesus through faith, love, peace, sacrifice, action, and healing as we embody together the resurrected Jesus, who lives in and through us, to a broken, wounded, and lost world.

 

We believe that Jesus will return and judge the world and restore all things to God’s original intent. On that day the creation will groan no more. On that day death will be eradicated, the tears of heartbreak and hopelessness will be wiped away, and our relationships with God, ourselves, others, and creation will be made whole. We believe that on this day, God will reclaim this world and reign forever and that humanity and creation will thrive as God has always intended it to. This is what we hope for. This is what we long for. This is what we give our very lives for: living out this future reality here today, in our world, and in our life.