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Our Beliefs
ACCEPTING GOD'S CALL TO JOURNEY IN LOVE WITH HIM
Paul's simple statement to the jailer in Philippi describes the essence of our eternal journey with God. Because all of us have sinned by choosing to distrust Him and separate ourselves from God, who gives us life, we are traveling on a dark road that ends in eternal death. We cannot save ourselves from this fate. The One True God - who created mankind perfect and sinless - deeply desires to regain our trust and enjoy eternity with us. So our Lord Jesus - the eternal, divine Son of God - stepped out of the holy fellowship of heaven to die in our place. If we are willing to accept His gift and trust in His guidance for our decisions, God erases our sinful, destructive past and lovingly embraces us to journey with Him into eternal life. Accepting these truths is the basis for Christian baptism.
When a person chooses to journey with Christ, he becomes part of a large body of travelers. Each one has come from a different place, and is on a slightly different journey. But all are walking together in the same light toward the same place, learning to know, love and trust the same Savior and are reflecting His light to those who do not yet know Him.
The beliefs described below are those we have learned on our journey with God. We believe they enhance our understanding of God and enrich the abundant life He desires for us from here through eternity.
It was written for us to understand our journey with Him. It is our primary source of truth and the final authority for our beliefs.
2. There is One True God .
"In the beginning" is inadequate to describe God. Human words cannot explain how He existed before existence and created all things from nothingness, simply by the power of His will. He has revealed that He exists as three fully divine persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and lives in such loving community that they refer to Themselves as One God working together to restore our life with them.
3. God Created All Things.
God made everything that exists as recorded in the creation story in Genesis 1-2. Since God made everything, He is owner and Lord over all.
4. The Origin of Sin .
God's greatest desire is for all created beings to love, trust and enjoy fellowship with Him. But true love requires the ability to choose to not love. One angelic being, now known as Satan, made that choice and rebelled against God. He persuaded many others in heaven to join him in this rebellion. God in His great love and mercy allowed Satan to come to earth with the opportunity to try to prove his charges against God. Satan attempts this by using slander against God in order to persuade us to distrust Him
God created the first man and woman with a perfect ability to love and a compelling desire to trust their Creator. But, tempted by Satan, they chose to distrust God, turn their back and embark on their own journey by trusting primarily themselves. This tendency to journey apart from God has affected all mankind resulting in our eventual and eternal death. Without help from God our death journey is irreversible.
5. The Incarnation and Cross .
Jesus, the Son of God, gave up His divine fellowship to become human and be born to Mary, a virgin. He lived a sinless life of constant trust in His Father and died on the cross to offer us the choice of life instead of the inevitable death that comes from sin. He was raised from death to life on the third day and is now doing everything necessary in heaven and earth to prepare us to spend eternity with Him.
6. Salvation by Grace through Faith .
There is absolutely nothing we can do to earn eternal life and prevent sin's eternal death. Life is provided as a gracious gift that anyone can choose to accept through faith in Jesus. It is God's desire that every human should hear and accept this good news of grace. The Bible teaches that baptism by immersion is a public testimony of our decision to accept Jesus' love and our desire to journey with Him into eternity.
There are many people who, for one reason or another, have not had the opportunity to hear the gospel as revealed in the Bible. Nevertheless, God declares that there is sufficient evidence through nature and their conscience for them to be convinced of His existence and their need to worship Him. If they respond to this revelation and seek to trust God, He embraces them, not holding them responsible for information they do not have.
7. The Christian Life .
One who is on a journey of trust and love with Jesus will naturally wish to honor Him and to better know how to experience the journey of the abundant life. This is accomplished as our character is transformed by the Holy Spirit to be more like Jesus, possessing the qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. This change is not achieved simply by trying hard to act differently, but is a gift of God. It develops as we focus on Jesus through Bible study, prayer, service and worship and by making lifestyle choices that enhance the health of mind, body and spirit.
A grateful believer will not wish to think or act in a manner that destroys life and love. Such behavior is an indication of a lingering tendency to trust in self rather than trust in God. While no one can force us to abandon our journey with God, we may choose to rebel by continuing to trust only ourselves, causing us to fall back into our old journey of death.
8. The Church .
God describes all those on the journey with Him as His "body," the Church, a loving community where it is safe to grow in love and communion with Him. He invites us to join together for fellowship, nurture, study, and worship.
Because of God's awesome love it will be natural for us to seek to serve God's community and invite others to join the journey by generously giving our time, talents and money.
Through the Holy Spirit, God provides each member of the body with gifts that allow us to honor Him by serving others. Each gift, whether simple or miraculous, is given as the Holy Spirit determines.
The church observes the Lord's Supper as a commemoration of Jesus' sacrificial love and as a celebration of the miracle of how He unites people of diverse backgrounds on a common journey. This rite is open to all who accept Jesus and choose to be on the journey with Him.
9. The Sabbath .
The Sabbath is God's scenic overlook in our love journey with Him. The first Sabbath was the last day of Creation week when God invited Adam and Eve to look upon His new creation and be refreshed with its beauty. Since then it has served as God's weekly gift to us when we can celebrate the beauty of His creation, the beauty of loving relationship with Him and others and the beauty of His saving grace. The Sabbath also helps us anticipate the joy of resting from our painful experiences of this present sin-laden journey and beginning our eternal journey of discovery and love with God in the recreated universe.
10. Silent Wait for the Final Things
The dead sleep peacefully in the grave, unaware, awaiting God's resurrection call to their new, unending life of discovery and love with God. Those who have turned away from trusting God, separating themselves from the Source of Life, will be raised at the final judgment to reflect upon their choice prior to their eternal death.
11. Final Things .
At the end of this earth's dramatic journey with sin, Jesus will return to be reunited with us, His Bride, the Church Community. We will then receive immortality.
Our eternal journey will not be marred again by sin because all will know from personal experience, contrary to Satan's slander, that God is love. Satan and sinners, those who have chosen to distrust God, will cease to exist. We can then continue this journey of love with Jesus and others, discovering and exploring the recreated sinless and perfect universe.
Scriptural references are available in the Scriptural Basis document.
Unity in Christ does not necessarily mean complete uniformity in all beliefs. Nor does the enumeration of a specific belief in this list necessarily make it correct. Its inclusion merely declares that we believe it based on our current best understanding of Scripture. Should a "better" understanding of Scripture be proposed by anyone, it is always acceptable to present it to the body for consideration.
Life is a journey from here through eternity. God calls each of us to travel with Him and each other, to be a part of a community, so that we can enjoy the abundant life that comes as we grow in love and service.
Traditional generic terms are utilized to simplify the document and are not intended to convey gender exclusivity.
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