What We Believe

Our core beliefs can be summed up by the Apostles’ Creed:

We believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

 

We believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended to the dead.
On the third day He rose again;
He ascended to heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.

 

We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy universal church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

These are the beliefs we hold to that unite us as a community, both locally and globally as the people of God, according to the biblical truths that have been upheld for millennia.

Below is an expansion on these foundational beliefs. By holding to these we seek to bring glory to God by shaping our lives according to the way Christ Jesus calls us to.

There is one God, who exists eternally in three distinct but equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is unchangeable in His holiness, justice, wisdom and love. He is the almighty creator, saviour and judge who sustains and governs all things according to His sovereign will for His own glory.

We believe the Bible alone speaks with final authority on all matters of ethics, belief and how we ought to live. In order to shape our lives according to what the Bible teaches, we need to take the following things into consideration. The Bible is an ancient collection of writings that tells one whole story. Through historical events, poetic and lyrical reflections, letters, wise sayings and prophetic insights, we can see how God is true to His nature and character as He sets out to restore the broken relationship between Him and us. We aim to engage with studying the Bible in the following ways:

 

Human and Divine Literature: The Bible is the result of a creative collaboration between humans and God’s Spirit. By exploring its humanity, we discover its divinity. By confessing its divinity, it transforms our humanity.

 

Ancient Literature: The Bible was written in another time and culture, and we need to honour that ancient historical context as we come to understand it better.

 

Unified Literature: The Bible has many authors, literary styles, and themes, but it tells one story about God’s creation and His rescue of humanity to become his partners in overseeing the world.

 

Messianic Literature: The story of the Bible and all of its main themes come to their fulfilment in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and the gift of the Spirit.

 

Wisdom Literature: The Bible invites its readers to not simply learn new ideas, but to go on a journey of character transformation that leads to wise living.

 

Meditation Literature: As ancient Jewish literature, the Bible is artistically designed to reveal its meaning over a lifetime of re-reading and reflection.

 

Communal Literature: The Bible was designed to be read and studied within a community that is learning to live within its story.

 

All men and women, being collectively created in the image of God, have inherent and equal dignity and worth. Our greatest purpose is to bring glory to God through representing God’s character in creation, to all of creation. Due to our first parents (Adam & Eve) choosing to follow their own will rather than God’s way for life, every aspect of human nature has been corrupted. This corruption of humanity is referred to as sin. As a consequence, humanity has been separated from God, the author and sustainer of life, and it left us in spiritual darkness (chaos and death), unable to restore our connection with God in our own power and strength. Although this has happened through our own doing, and we therefore deserve to be condemned by God, God’s love for humanity is so great that He became human to redeem us and reconcile us to Him so that His image is restored in us and return us to life.

The historical Jesus is God in the flesh; He is both fully God and fully human. He is identified as the Christ, the title given to the One who would restore humanity’s connection with God as anticipated in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and lived the perfect life in love and obedience to the Father. He displayed His godly authority through His teachings and actions, which His apprentices/disciples passed on, and continues to transform humanity today. Jesus willingly entered into our suffering by coming into creation and dying a cruel and horrible death on a cross. However, after three days He rose from the dead, beating humanity’s greatest enemy – death, and in His resurrection body ascended into heaven where He is crowned as the King above all kings. He sits at the right hand of the Father where He represents all who choose to believe in Him and submit themselves to His rule and way of life.

Through Christ Jesus’ death and resurrection, God has made a way for humanity to be saved from the chaotic and deadly consequences of our ‘natural’ desire, which is to live our own way. This act of grace (a gift we do not deserve) frees us from what we do deserve – eternal separation from God. It is the promise of a restored relationship with God which brings eternal life, and is offered to all of humanity. We can receive this gift by entrusting our lives to Christ Jesus and committing ourselves to His teaching. It is by faith we are saved and restored into the family of God.

It is through the Spirit of God that the reality of Christ Jesus and the gift of salvation is revealed to us. The Holy Spirit guides us to discover the wisdom of the Bible and apply it to our lives. The Holy Spirit exposes our sin and assures us in our pursuit to live life according to the way of God. The Holy Spirit is also given to us as a guarantee for our redemption and leads us in becoming spiritually mature people of God. This is evident through the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control we show as we interact with one another.

All who profess Christ Jesus as their Lord and commit their lives to follow His way are the People of God, or Christians. There is a global and universal body of Jesus followers, with varying expressions of faith due to a difference in culture and challenges communities face. 

 

Being united as followers of Christ Jesus is a core value and working together with other Christian communities locally, nationally and globally is of vital importance to bring about life where there is chaos and destruction. 

Two practices that were commanded by Christ Jesus for his followers to do are baptism and communion. Neither of these are necessary for salvation, but are essential acts of obedience in expressing our faithfulness and commitment to Christ and His followers, the People of God. These rituals have both deep symbolic meaning and spiritual significance when participating in them, which is why they are referred to as Sacraments. It is an integral part of both our personal and collective expressions of our commitment to submit to living the life Christ has called us to.

Baptism is a public declaration of a person’s personal trust in, and commitment to Christ Jesus, as well as declaring their faithfulness to being a member of the body of the local and global community of followers. For an individual, the process of being fully submerged under water symbolises their old sinful self being buried with Christ in death. They are then raised up in Christ as a new person, not living for themselves but resurrected with a new life and identity in Christ. They are dead to their old life of sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ. Baptism is also a sign that a person is a committed to being a member of the People of God, whose aim is to live according to the teachings of Christ Jesus as part of a collective identity as a new humanity.

Communion, also known as the Lord’s Supper, is the symbolic expression of Christ’s commitment to humanity. The bread, which is broken apart, is a sign of Christ’s body that was broken for us during his crucifixion. The wine (or grape juice) poured out is a symbol of Christ’s blood and life poured out for us, so that we can have new life in Him. By sharing together in this we remember Christ’s sacrifice that has brought salvation for humanity, and it encourages us to uphold our commitment to Him.

Christ Jesus declared that He would return one day to fully restore creation and establish His rule and reign over it. His return will come as a surprise since no one knows the date or time when this will take place. On His return humanity will be judged. All who committed themselves to following His way will receive their inheritance of eternal life with God. Those who chose to continue life according to their own will, will inherit eternal separation from God. God is just and will give to all what they deserve.

While we wait for Christ to return, as the People of God our purpose is to bring about life as a new humanity in Christ. Jesus commanded his first followers, and us, to live out His teachings and share the good news of what He has achieved through His death and resurrection in word and deed. In this way we carry on the mission of God whilst we wait for full restoration to come.