Christianity and the Church are almost 2000 years old, tracing their roots to the resurrection of Christ and the Day of Pentecost in AD33. This means Christianity and the global, historic Church are about to turn 2000 years old in 2033! So we stand in a long line, stretching back almost two millennia, embracing and stewarding the Faith, founded upon Jesus and the Apostles, and passed down from generation to generation of those who have been faithful to Christ and His teachings.
And so we believe what we have received…
From the earliest days of the church, Christians formulated short, simple summaries of the faith, and these became known as creeds. Two creeds in particular were formed in the early centuries of the Christian church and they have remained important articulations of the Christian Faith to this day. These two creeds are known as the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed. When we say that our beliefs are orthodox, what we mean is that we affirm the Apostles Creed and Nicene Creeds, which articulate the essential, historic Christian beliefs and set the guardrails of the Christian faith.
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins ,the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Amen.
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
This word Evangelical gets thrown around a lot today. Sometimes it’s used in ways that are positive and other times it’s used in more negative ways. We’re only concerned with what this word actually means. When we say that we are Evangelical, we simply mean that we affirm the four pillars of evangelicalism as described by British historian David Bebington:
1. We are devoted to the Bible as God’s inspired and authoritative word
2. We are determined to keep Jesus and His sacrifice on the Cross central in our teaching and preaching
3. We express faithfulness to the Great Command (Matthew 22:38-39) through charitable generosity and good works and we express faithfulness to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) through evangelism and disciple-making.
4. We remain convinced that each person must turn from their sin, trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, and commit themselves to following Christ whole-heartedly.
This means that we believe that all of the gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit are available to the church today and this belief shapes how we as a church pursue God’s presence through praise and worship, and how we practice the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our community.
We believe that the Bible, which consists of 66 books, was written by people as they were led by God. As originally written, the Bible is entirely trustworthy and as such is our main source of guidance regarding what we believe and how we are to live as Christians. We don't consider any other authority to be as important as the Bible when it comes to matters of life and faith.
Key Scriptures: 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Psalms 19:7-9; Deuteronomy 6:6-7, Proverbs 2:1-5
We believe in One God existing in Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is called the Trinity. We affirm the historic and traditional teaching of the Trinity as described in the Athanasian Creed: “That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence. For the person of the Father is a distinct person, the person of the Son is another, and that of the Holy Spirit still another. But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.”
We believe that God has shown Himself through everything He has created. He is holy, good, loving and faithful. He is above everything, and yet He is close to us. God lacks nothing, needs nothing and is Himself a perfect community of self-giving love.
Key Scriptures: John 1:1-5, Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 57:15, John 20:21-22, Ephesians 4:4-6, Galatians 4:4-6, 1 Peter 1:1-2
God created humans in His image to know Him and enjoy His presence. Being created in God’s image means that every person, from conception to end of life, possesses inherent dignity and worth. God’s purpose in creating humans was that we would fill the earth through families and participate with Him in taking care of the world He created. But the humans God created sinned when they disobeyed God resulting in the corruption that now plagues humanity and all of creation. All humans sin and this separates us from God and leads to both physical and spiritual death.
Key Scriptures: Genesis 1:26-28, Psalms 8:3-6, Genesis 3, Romans 3:10-12, 23-24, Romans 5:12-14, 1 John 1:8
we believe in the lord jesus christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is the divine and incarnate Son of God and that He is the promised Messiah and Lord of all creation. As God-in-flesh, Jesus is fully divine and fully human. We believe in His virgin birth, His sinless life, His atoning death, His bodily resurrection, and His ascension into Heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father and where He continues His mediating work.
Key Scriptures: John 1:1-5, 14, Colossians 1:15-20, John 10:30, John 20:28, John 8:58, 1 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 1:3
Through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus has defeated the power of sin and death making forgiveness of sins and eternal life available to all mankind. Forgiveness and eternal life is offered as a gift of God’s grace alone and is received by faith alone and not by any good works of our own. Genuine faith is evidenced by the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.
Key Scriptures: Romans 5:8-10, Romans 10:9, Ephesians 2:8,9, Titus 3:5, John 3:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 John 3:9
The Church is the global and local, past and present, community of people who are united by a shared allegiance to Jesus Christ and commitment to one another and to His mission, both locally and globally. We believe that a local church should be an autonomous yet connected body of believers directed by a team of biblically qualified elders which is led by a lead pastor.
Key Scriptures: Ephesians 2:14, 19, Ephesians 4, Colossians 1:18, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Acts 20:28, 1 Timothy 3:1-13
We believe the Holy Spirit is God just like the Father and the Son, who indwells, transforms and empowers all believers for a life of faith and mission. The Holy Spirit is at work in Jesus’ followers, to shape and form Christlikeness in us, to illuminate truth to us, to produce His fruit in us and to release His gifts in and through us. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every Christian at the moment of conversion and also that Christians are to be continually filled with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
Key Scriptures: John 14:16-18, Acts 1:8, Acts 2:2-4, Acts 19:1-6, Romans 8:9-10, John 16:8-11, Galatians 5:22-23, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
We believe in the personal, visible return of Jesus Christ, the bodily resurrection of all humanity, the final judgment, the eternal life of the righteous and the eternal punishment of the unrighteous. We believe in the consummation of God’s Kingdom fully arriving with the New Heavens and the New Earth when the redeemed will live in resurrected bodies in a new transformed creation, and God Himself will dwell with us.
Key Scriptures: Isaiah 26:19, 65:17, Ecclesiastes 12:14, Romans 8:19-21, Matthew 25:46, Revelation 21:1-4, 1 Corinthians 15:12-22, 52, 2 Peter 3:13, Hebrews 9:27-28, Acts 1:9-11
This word Evangelical gets thrown around a lot today. Sometimes it’s used in ways that are positive and other times it’s used in more negative ways. We’re only concerned with what this word actually means. When we say that we are Evangelical, we simply mean that we affirm the four pillars of evangelicalism as described by British historian David Bebington:
1. We are devoted to the Bible as God’s inspired and authoritative word
2. We are determined to keep Jesus and His sacrifice on the Cross central in our teaching and preaching
3. We express faithfulness to the Great Command (Matthew 22:38-39) through charitable generosity and good works and we express faithfulness to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) through evangelism and disciple-making.
4. We remain convinced that each person must turn from their sin, trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, and commit themselves to following Christ whole-heartedly.
This means that we believe that all of the gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit are available to the church today and this belief shapes how we as a church pursue God’s presence through praise and worship, and how we practice the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our community.
We believe that the Bible, which consists of 66 books, was written by people as they were led by God. As originally written, the Bible is entirely trustworthy and as such is our main source of guidance regarding what we believe and how we are to live as Christians. We don't consider any other authority to be as important as the Bible when it comes to matters of life and faith.
Key Scriptures:
2 Timothy 3:16-17; Psalms 19:7-9; Deuteronomy 6:6-7, Proverbs 2:1-5
We believe in One God existing in Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is called the Trinity. We affirm the historic and traditional teaching of the Trinity as described in the Athanasian Creed: “That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence. For the person of the Father is a distinct person, the person of the Son is another, and that of the Holy Spirit still another. But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.”
We believe that God has shown Himself through everything He has created. He is holy, good, loving and faithful. He is above everything, and yet He is close to us. God lacks nothing, needs nothing and is Himself a perfect community of self-giving love.
Key Scriptures:
John 1:1-5, Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 57:15, John 20:21-22, Ephesians 4:4-6, Galatians 4:4-6, 1 Peter 1:1-2
God created humans in His image to know Him and enjoy His presence. Being created in God’s image means that every person, from conception to end of life, possesses inherent dignity and worth. God’s purpose in creating humans was that we would fill the earth through families and participate with Him in taking care of the world He created. But the humans God created sinned when they disobeyed God resulting in the corruption that now plagues humanity and all of creation. All humans sin and this separates us from God and leads to both physical and spiritual death.
Key Scriptures:
Genesis 1:26-28, Psalms 8:3-6, Genesis 3, Romans 3:10-12, 23-24, Romans 5:12-14, 1 John 1:8
We believe that Jesus Christ is the divine and incarnate Son of God and that He is the promised Messiah and Lord of all creation. As God-in-flesh, Jesus is fully divine and fully human. We believe in His virgin birth, His sinless life, His atoning death, His bodily resurrection, and His ascension into Heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father and where He continues His mediating work.
Key Scriptures:
John 1:1-5, 14, Colossians 1:15-20, John 10:30, John 20:28, John 8:58, 1 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 1:3
Through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus has defeated the power of sin and death making forgiveness of sins and eternal life available to all mankind. Forgiveness and eternal life is offered as a gift of God’s grace alone and is received by faith alone and not by any good works of our own. Genuine faith is evidenced by the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.
Key Scriptures:
Romans 5:8-10, Romans 10:9, Ephesians 2:8,9, Titus 3:5, John 3:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 John 3:9
The Church is the global and local, past and present, community of people who are united by a shared allegiance to Jesus Christ and commitment to one another and to His mission, both locally and globally. We believe that a local church should be an autonomous yet connected body of believers directed by a team of biblically qualified elders which is led by a lead pastor.
Key Scriptures:
Ephesians 2:14, 19, Ephesians 4, Colossians 1:18, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Acts 20:28, 1 Timothy 3:1-13
We believe the Holy Spirit is God just like the Father and the Son, who indwells, transforms and empowers all believers for a life of faith and mission. The Holy Spirit is at work in Jesus’ followers, to shape and form Christlikeness in us, to illuminate truth to us, to produce His fruit in us and to release His gifts in and through us. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every Christian at the moment of conversion and also that Christians are to be continually filled with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
Key Scriptures:
John 14:16-18, Acts 1:8, Acts 2:2-4, Acts 19:1-6, Romans 8:9-10, John 16:8-11, Galatians 5:22-23, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
We believe in the personal, visible return of Jesus Christ, the bodily resurrection of all humanity, the final judgment, the eternal life of the righteous and the eternal punishment of the unrighteous. We believe in the consummation of God’s Kingdom fully arriving with the New Heavens and the New Earth when the redeemed will live in resurrected bodies in a new transformed creation, and God Himself will dwell with us.
Key Scriptures:
Isaiah 26:19, 65:17, Ecclesiastes 12:14, Romans 8:19-21, Matthew 25:46, Revelation 21:1-4, 1 Corinthians 15:12-22, 52, 2 Peter 3:13, Hebrews 9:27-28, Acts 1:9-11