Statement of Faith

For folks who want to understand our heart, it helps to understand what we believe. Essentially, our view of God, the nature and work of Christ and the person and work of the Holy Spirit, as well as our take on the Church can most be summed up in the ancient creeds, specifically The Apostle’s Creed and its expansion, The Nicene Creed. 

 

 

The Apostle’s Creed

In its earliest form, The Apostle’s Creed was used by the early Church father Hippolytus (c. 215 A.D.) as a series of questions and responses used to prepare new converts for water baptism.

 

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's 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,

from where he will come again 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. 

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The Nicene Creed

Originally written at the First Ecumenical Council at Nicene (325 A.D.) and expanded and clarified at the Council of Carthage (381 A.D.)

 

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. 

 

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end. 

 

 And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. 

 

 

The Holy Scripture

 

Beyond these two Creeds, some folks may want to know about our view of the Bible, which we consider to be the Holy Scriptures. Our acceptance of the Creeds is based on their biblical genesis and are simply a way to make some definitive statements about God and His working in the affairs of humanity. We have a very high regard for Scripture, and we think that the Lausanne Covenant expressed it well when they stated: 

 

We affirm the divine inspiration, truthfulness and authority of both Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety as the only written word of God, without error in all that it affirms, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice. 

 

We know that there are MANY other creeds and statement of faith out there with which we would find ourselves in agreement, however, for the purpose of simplicity and clarification we offer these statements here. Remember, our heart is for the Great Commandments (Matthew 22:34-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) to be lived out in the Great Community of the Church (Acts 2:42-47), seeing the Kingdom of God extended throughout the Earth. All that we believe must lead us to a way of life in which we love God as we have been loved by Him first, loving others as we love ourselves and making disciples as we go through life.