What We Believe...

There is one God… who has revealed Himself to us as the Creator of all things, as a real man in the person of Jesus Christ, and in His Spirit which brings us to faith in Him… one God in three persons.

Our sin has separated us from God… we are all born sinful, and we continue to sin throughout our lives.  It is not simply a case of doing "bad" things or "breaking God's rules".  Sin demonstrates a lack of trust in God and a desire to love and serve ourselves more than Him.  The truth is, we can't live like that and expect to have a close relationship with God.  In fact, what we deserve is emptiness, suffering, and even death.

Jesus is God's antidote for our sin… who is God and human at the same time.  He always existed, but became like us so that He could experience the emptiness, suffering and death that we deserve.  He died on purpose, so that we could have our relationship with God restored.  But God also brought Him back to life three days later, so that whoever believes in Him even if they die they will live forever with Jesus (John 11:25).

Jesus described the Holy Spirit as the "Helper" and the "Spirit of Truth" who lives with and in those who believe in Jesus.  He is very much active in our lives today, creating faith in our hearts and motivating us to love and serve God and the people He has surrounded us with.

God never intended for us to go it alone.  He created us to have meaningful relationships with Him and each other.  The Church was never intended to be a place, a building or an organization.  It was Jesus' way of bringing His followers to experience life together and receive His gifts of love and forgiveness.  And it is still His desire today that we join together in His name where He promises to be among us as we hear His words and receive His sacraments.

In the first years of the Church, there were no written accounts of the Life of Jesus. The Apostles simply shared their firsthand accounts of what they had seen and heard. Eventually these first followers of Jesus began to put their experiences with Jesus in writing that future generations might know the truth about Him. These writings became the basis of what is commonly called the New Testament. All of these writings were created under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, as were the writings known as the Old Testament from the years before Jesus' birth. Together they form the Christian Bible - all of it valid, all of it true, all of it God's Word.

Since the earliest days of the Church, followers of Jesus of all ages have obeyed His command to be baptized with water in the name of "the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). This baptism is not a symbolic gesture, but truly gives us forgiveness of sins and a new life in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

On the night before He was crucified, Jesus shared a meal with His closest followers. During this meal the Bible tells us that He broke a piece of bread and gave it to them saying, "Take and eat it; this is my body." He then gave them a cup of wine saying, "Drink it, all of you, this is my blood… poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:26-28) When we share the Lord's Supper today (sometimes called Holy Communion or the Eucharist) we believe that we receive Jesus' body and blood along with the bread and the wine that we eat, and that because Jesus is present, we receive forgiveness of our sins just as He promised.