What we
believe
We believe in:
Jesus
He said, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have life; and it is they that bear witness to me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40). We believe in and through Jesus. Jesus is the Word of God for us, to us, and even in and through us (John 1:1-18; 1Cor. 1:30; Gal. 4:6). We believe in him.
The Bible
Jesus said, “Scripture cannot be broken.” We believe the Bible is the authoritative witness on all matters to which it speaks. The Bible is “self attesting.” In it we hear Jesus; God’s Word; “The Way, The Truth, and The Life.”
Love
Scripture tells us that, “God is Love.” (1 John 4:8,16) and that, Jesus has “made Him known.” (John 1:18). God is not part Love and part Justice. God is one (Deut. 6:4). He is Love and his love is Justice.
The death and resurrection of Jesus
The most terrifying passages in the Bible seem contradictory to Love—until our hearts see “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:19-20). “Jesus Christ and him crucified” is the revelation of God’s heart, the meaning of all things and The Prince of Peace.
The Church and the Gospel
The Church is the community of those people that have received the life of Jesus through faith, and as faith; that have come to believe “the Gospel” – the Good News that God has reconciled us to himself in Christ. The Church is called to bear witness to Christ through word and action and thus join God’s work of redemption. We have been blessed to be a blessing to “all the families of the earth” (Gen. 12:1-3).
The creeds
Historically, the Church has felt the need to confess her faith through “creeds.” Creeds are never meant to replace Scripture, but to summarize and clarify Scripture. The two oldest creeds are the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed. At the Sanctuary, we agree with both.
