What We Believe

Foundational Beliefs of This Fellowship

You won't find just one kind of person in our fellowship. You will find conservatives, liberals, traditionalists, progressives, lifelong churchgoers and new believers. You will encounter happy people and hurting people, friendly people and quiet people, people who are learning, and people who think they know everything. Like any family, we are diversely populated by imperfect people, and as such we disagree with each other on many things.

In spite of our differences, however, there are some core beliefs that unite us. We recognize, for instance, that we are all sinners, and that we need Jesus Christ. As long as our focus is on Him, we know we can stick together, worship together, love each other, and with God's help, accomplish some things that make will make a difference in our community and our world.

Here are some of the beliefs that form the foundation of this Christian fellowship:

We believe that God is the creator of all things. God exists eternally, in the form of the Trinity, in three persons, yet one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is good and just, all knowing, and all powerful. God desires a relationship with us, and this is the purpose of our existence.

We believe all God created is good and loved. People are created in the image of God to exist in a vital relationship with God. We are also created, however, with a free will, and a consequence of free will is that we have a weakness for selfishness. Our selfish desires lead us to sin (failing to live by God's moral standards), which breaks our intended relationship with God. Every person who has lived has sinned, except one.

We believe that God took human form in the person of Jesus Christ. He was the Son of God, born of the virgin Mary to live a sinless life and show us the way to restore our intended relationship with God. Though he was sinless, he was crucified to pay the penalty of our sinfulness. He died and was buried, but rose from the dead and ascended into heaven with the promise He would return.

We believe the Holy Spirit is sent from God to live inside all who believe in and follow Jesus Christ, as Jesus himself promised His followers during His earthly ministry. The Spirit teaches, comforts, guides and empowers us, reshaping our hearts and minds to make us more like Christ, and granting each follower unique gifts to be used to build up the community of believers.

We believe that loving God and loving each other are the most important tasks God has given humanity. Just as God lives as three persons united as one God, we strive to live as a diversity of people united as one in fellowship under God's authority. When followers are empowered by the Spirit to love as God loves, we foster a community of faith that reflects the relationships God has always wanted for and from us.

We believe the Bible is inspired by God and written by faithful followers to be filled with a true and relevant message from God to humanity. It is our privilege to seek to understand how God speaks to us through the Bible, and to apply that message faithfully to our lives. The Bible is our standard in all that we say and do.

Though we may differ over our understanding of specific Bible passages or doctrines, we are called to resist arguments and divisions over our differences. Instead, we strive to search the Bible earnestly, seeking mutual understanding with humility. When differences persist in spite of sincere study, each believer must honor their personal convictions in regard to the matter, and continue to demonstrate love to those who disagree.

We believe the world as God would have it (the Kingdom of God) is to be the top priority of all believers, and this priority will reflect itself in how we use our time, money and other resources to serve God. We do not highly value sacrifices of time or resources given out of duty or for the sake of personal glory, but celebrate these gifts when they are given freely to God out of love and gratitude.