WHAT WE BELIEVE

God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He is love. His creation is good- very good. There is one God who exists forever in perfect community as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the Son of God – fully human and fully God. Jesus was tempted just as we are and yet lived a sinless human life and died on a Roman cross as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people everywhere. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead to show He had conquered sin and death. Jesus ascended to the Father and will return again to earth as the Savior of the world.

The Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son of God. He is present in the world to make people aware of their need of Jesus. The Holy Spirit lives in every follower of Jesus. The Holy Spirit provides all followers of Jesus with power to live a life of love, understanding, spiritual truth, and boldness in sharing God’s message with others. The Gifts of the Spirit enable Christ-followers to propel the gospel and honor God with their lives.

We are made in God’s image – to be like Him in character, but because humans rebelled against God (remember Adam & Eve?) everyone is born with a selfish nature that “misses the mark.” Although every person has tremendous potential for good, all of us are marred by an attitude of disobedience toward God called “sin.” Somehow we all think we are smarter than God in some part of our life!

God, through Jesus’ life and death, offers us the gift of undeserved forgiveness. This gift is freely offered, but we must accept it. We begin this journey of faith by saying “yes” to letting Jesus lead. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or trying to be really good people. Salvation is offered in grace and received by faith in Jesus Christ alone.

The Bible is God’s message to all of us. Written by human authors, over thousands of years, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit (inspired by God), the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and the New Testament are the supreme source of Truth for living on the mission and knowing who God really is.

When people choose to follow Jesus, God plants inside of them all that is needed to go, make disciples, baptize, and teach their friends, family, neighbors and co-workers how to love God. As people go on the mission with Jesus, churches emerge and God changes the world heart-first.

We have choices. We can either let Jesus lead us and live forever with God (Heaven) or choose to not let Jesus be the director of our lives and be separated from God (Hell).