WHAT WE BELIEVE

GOD
There is one God, who exists as three persons living in perfect community – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

FATHER
God the Father created everything and keeps everything going by His strength and goodness. He is holy, all-powerful,
all-knowing, totally consistent and reliable, and is full of mercy and grace.

JESUS CHRIST, THE SON
Jesus Christ, God’s son, became fully human when He was born to the Virgin Mary. He was fully human and fully God,
which is a great mystery. He lived a perfect life in place of our imperfect lives; died, as our substitute, the death we
deserved to die because of our selfishness; and rose physically from the dead. He offers us full life by the promise
of His resurrection. He ascended into heaven and today is our representative and advocate with God the Father.

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

REAL LIFE
We are connected to God in only one way – by choosing to accept the offer of forgiveness and reconciliation God offers
us by Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. This gift of new life is eternal – it never ends.  If we ask Him to, God treats us
as if we were Christ, because He treated Christ as if he were us. God’s gift of grace makes us His adopted sons and daughters.
There is nothing we can do to deserve this life – it is all a gift of God and our job is simply to receive it. When we do, God
begins the process of changing our hearts and minds from the inside out and making our character more and more like Jesus’ character.  And as we have been reconciled to God, we also have hope for being more fully reconciled to other people. 

THE BIBLE 
The Bible 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 so reflects their backgrounds, style, and use of language. The Bible is the final authority
on all matters to which it speaks.

CHRIST'S RETURN
In his own time and in his own 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, bring justice, and to begin the new era of God’s visible reign,
which will last forever.

THE CHURCH
If we are in relationship with Christ, we are part of the church. The church is always expressed locally, and is the visible demonstration of the new community Christ came to create. The primary purpose of the church is to please God by
worshipping him well in extending his offer of love and grace to all people, especially those who are not yet in relationship
with him.

The church celebrates Baptism and Communion, which are gifts given by Christ and are experiences of his promise and
presence with us. The church is made up of imperfect people who are responding day by day in our work and home lives,
and in all our relationships, to God’s stunning grace.