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Our Beliefs As A Church 1. 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, styles, and use of language. The Bible is the final authority on all matters of which it speaks. 2. God There is one God, who exists as three persons living in perfect community-Father, Son, and Spirit (The Trinity). God created everything and sustains everything by his life. He is holy, all-powerful, all-knowing, unchanging, and full of mercy and grace. 3. Jesus Christ Jesus Christ, God's Son, became fully human when he was born to the Virgin Mary. He was fully human and fully God. 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 physically rose from the dead. He offers us full life by the promise of his own resurrection. He then ascended into heaven and today is our representative, intercessor, and advocate with God the Father. 4. Holy Spirit We experience the full life and presence of God through the Holy Spirit who comes to live in all believers when they become Christians. He 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 local church. 5. The human condition We have all lived life in a way that has put God second in our thoughts. Although He created us and sustains us, we live as if he were not there. Because of that we have become enemies of God. 6. Becoming a Christ follower We are made right with God in only one way-by choosing to accept the forgiveness and reconciliation that God offers to us by Christ's life, death, and resurrection. 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 characters more and more like Jesus'. And as we have been reconciled to God, we also have hope for being more fully reconciled to other people. 7. 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. Those who have received God's grace will spend eternity in Heaven, whilst those who have not will receive their just punishment in Hell. 8. The Church If we are in relationship with Christ, we are part of the Church. The Church is universal, but is always expressed locally. The local church is the visible and local demonstration of the new community Christ came to create. We are devoted to worshiping God, understanding and applying the Bible to our lives, offering connection to others, living life together, serving our community, and using our Spirit-given gifts to serve Christ and others. The church celebrates the Sacraments (Baptism and Communion), which are gifts given by Christ. The church is made up of imperfect people who are responding day by day in all their relationships to God's stunning grace. The main responsibility of the church is to present people the free offer of a relationship with Christ and helping those who respond to become people who follow Christ with their whole hearts (Please see History and Vision). |
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