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Doctrinal Affirmations

Over the past 2000 years followers of Jesus Christ have expressed the central claims of their faith in various ways.  We stand in this tradition alongside those who have gone before us and those who will continue after us.  We confess historic, orthodox Christian belief as expressed in the Nicene Creed (381 A.D.) and the Apostles’ Creed (6th century A.D.)*.  It is important to note that doctrinal statements and affirmations are never a substitute for the Word of God.  Our doctrinal expressions are simply a tool inviting us to go deeper into God’s Word.  We believe the best way to come to understand and be transformed by God’s redemptive story is to delve deep into the Holy Scriptures with a community of people seeking to live out the way of Jesus.  

The Bible

We believe the Bible to be God’s revealed and true story of the world.  The Bible is the Word of God—inspired by the Holy Spirit and written by numerous faithful people over many years.  Our community submits to the authority of God entrusted through these scriptures which are preserved in the 66 canonical books of the Old and New Testaments.  We believe God calls us to immerse ourselves individually and corporately in these scriptures in order to faithfully live out God’s story here and now by the power and leading of the Holy Spirit

We have found it helpful to frame the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in six major chapters: Creation, Curse, Covenant, Christ, Church, and Consummation.

[verses: Scripture inspired by God:  2 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 4:12; 1 Cor. 2:13; 2 Pet. 1:20-21;  Jesus the incarnate Word of God:  Gen. 1:3; John 1; Col. 1:15-20; Heb 1:1-3]

Creation

God, revealed as YHWH (Yahweh) in the Holy Scriptures, created all things good.  God exists eternally as one God in three Persons:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit, expressed historically as the Trinity.  YHWH created human beings in His own image.  He created them to live in fellowship with Him, themselves, others, and creation.  Therefore, we are fundamentally relational beings created by God to live in shalom.  The Hebrew word shalom means wholeness and peace.  God entrusted humankind as his image bearers to steward and lovingly rule over His good creation.  God’s vocation for humanity then and now is to reflect what He is like to each other and the world.

[verses:  Nature of God:  Gen. 1:1; Psa. 90:2; Psa. 96:5; Psa. 118:29; Isa. 6:3; Isa. 46:9; John 1:18; 1 Tim. 1:17; 1 John 1:5; 1 John 4:8;  God as Triune:  Gen. 1:1,26; Deut. 6:4; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1,2; John 4:24; Acts 5:3,4; Romans 1:20; Ephesians 4:5-6; 1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Pet. 1:2;  Creation is created good:  Gen. 1:31;  Humans created in God’s image:  Gen. 1:26-27; Gen. 2:7; Psa. 8;  Humans given authority to steward God’s creation:  Gen. 1:28-29; Gen. 2:15; Psa. 115:16]

Curse

However, believing equality with God was something to be grasped, the first man and woman, tempted by evil, rebelled against God.  By this they brought sin into the world and handed their God given authority over to the accuser, Satan.  The law of death, rather than God’s rule of life, enslaved all of creation.  The resulting curse of death’s rule manifests itself in distorted and broken relationships with God, ourselves, others, and creation.  Each of us has been born into a world mastered by death and pitted against the will of the good Creator God.  Shalom has been lost and we continue to rebel against God.

[verses:  Human rebellion against God:  Gen. 3-11; Isa. 64:6; Rom. 1: Rom. 3:23-25; Rom. 5:12-21; Rom. 6:23;  All creation is enslaved to death:  Rom. 8:19-22; 1 Cor. 15:22; Heb 9:27] 


Covenant

We believe that God did not abandon His creation to death and sin.  He promised and is working to restore this broken world.  God’s redemptive plan began by choosing a people to represent Him and His restoring vision to the rest of the world.  This people started with Abraham and his descendants.  God promised to make them into a great nation through whom all nations would be blessed.  They became enslaved in Egypt, but God responded to their slavery with His saving justice.  He brought them out of slavery and formed a covenant with them.  This covenant established a new identity for them as His treasured possession, a holy people, and a kingdom of priests to the world.

God brought His people into the Promised Land.  This land represented God’s future intention for the whole earth.  His people were blessed to be a blessing to the entire world and called to put YHWH on display to the nations.  They made movement toward this vocation, yet they disobeyed and fell short of their calling, putting their own interests, rather than God’s will on display.  The scriptures reveal that YHWH refused to give up on His people in spite of their frequent acts of disobedience.  Although Israel’s failure led to exile from the land, a remnant and their prophets looked forward to God’s renewal of their covenant and the restoration of all things.  They looked forward to a day when heaven and earth would be joined together perfectly with justice and shalom.  They longed for the day when all people and nations would come to worship YHWH as the true LORD of the world.

 

[verses:  Genesis 12 – Malachi; Gen. 12:1-5; Gen. 15  Exod. 19:5-6; Exod. 20; Exod. 33-34; Deut. 5-6; Deut. 28-30; Covenant renewal and restoration of all things:  Is. 51-56; Is. 60-66; Jer. 30-33.]

 

Christ

We believe that the hope of the prophets found its fulfillment in Jesus from Nazareth, who was born of a virgin and is mysteriously and fully God and man.  Jesus came to announce and embody the appearing of God’s kingdom among us.  He gave witness to His mission in word and deed through the power of the Holy Spirit.  He preached good news to the poor, healed the sick, and brought freedom to the oppressed and enslaved.  He lived a perfect life in communion with God and faithfully fulfilled the covenant on behalf of Israel.  God’s restoring plan for the world was unveiled and actualized through the covenant faithfulness of Jesus.  

Jesus was rejected by many, crucified, and buried, but rose from the dead.  His death and resurrection revealed God’s mysterious plan to defeat death and judge evil, thus bringing hope to all creation.  Through Jesus, human sin is atoned for and forgiven, death is defeated, and all things in heaven and on earth are being reconciled to God.  God’s anointed Messiah, Jesus Christ, has been given authority over all things.  He ascended to heaven, is seated with power, and rules as Lord over all.  Therefore, our relationship with God, ourselves, others, and creation is being and will one day be fully healed through the governing work of Jesus.  This is God’s good announcement, His gospel, for the world.

 

[verses: Jesus as God’s revealed Word:  John 1; Col. 1:15-23, 2 Tim. 1:9-10; 1 Pet. 1:20; 2 Pet. 2:5; Heb. 1:1-3;  Jesus Christ—God and man:  Matt. 1:18-25; Matt 26:63-64; John 1:14; John 8:58; Phil. 2:5; Col. 2:9; 1 Cor. 8:6; Heb 1:1-3; Heb. 2:14; Heb. 2:18; Heb. 4:15; 1 John 4:2; 1 John 5:20;  Jesus as the way of God’s salvation:  John 6:44; John 12:32; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Rom. 5:8; Rom. 5:10; Rom. 5:15; Eph 2:1-10; Eph 2:12-22; Col. 1:15-23; 1 John 4:10;  Jesus puts the kingdom of God on display: Matt. 4:17;  Mark 1:14-15; Luke 4:18-21; Luke 19:10;  Jesus defeats death and Satan:  Rom. 6:4; Heb. 2:14; Gal. 5:1; Col. 2:15; 2 Tim. 1:9-10;  Jesus as Israel’s representative and covenant fulfillment:  Rom. 10:4; Rom 15:8; 1 Cor. 5:7; Col 2:16-17; Gal 3:7-29; Gal. 4:1-7; 1 Pet. 2:21;; Heb. 9:22; 1 John 2:2; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; Heb. 9:15; Heb 10:1-10;  Jesus announces God’s forgiveness of sins and the end of exile:  Matt. 1:17; Matt. 9:2; Matt. 26:28; Mark2:9; Luke 7:48; Luke 24:46-48; Acts 5:31; Acts 10:43; Acts 13:38; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; 1 Tim. 1:15; Heb. 9:26-28; 1 John 1:9; 1 John 2:12;  Jesus is the true Lord of the world: Matt. 28:18; Acts 10:36; Rev. 1:5]

 

Church

The Church is the embodiment of Jesus on earth and is called to put the resurrected life of Christ on display to a broken world.  This is what the scriptures refer to as being the body of Christ.  Members of Jesus’ body are His disciples, empowered and gifted by the Holy Spirit to be God’s agents of reconciliation in this world.  Although the Church exists in a diversity of local expressions, there is only one Church—one body of Christ.  We believe that followers of Jesus are called to give witness to this local and global unity.  

Baptism is the practice of the Church that testifies to the one universal community formed by the rule and reign of Jesus.  We are a people immersed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  It is out of this new life in Christ that we both experience and partner with God in restoring relationships between God, ourselves, others, and creation.  

The Church remembers Jesus’ saving work and its corresponding mission through the practice of Communion—the meal Jesus gave.  This meal signals a new Passover and exodus.  Whereas the first Passover meal was a sign of God’s salvation in bringing the Hebrew people out of slavery, this meal gives witness to God’s salvation for the entire human family.  It proclaims God’s saving exodus for the whole world from bondage.  Our practice of communion reminds us that the way of God’s rescue came through the broken and poured out body and blood of Jesus.  Sharing in this meal reminds us of our new identity as partners with God in his restoring cause.  We are the living body of Christ called to be broken and poured out in selfless service on behalf of the world.  We are God’s agents of reconciliation empowered by the Holy Spirit to put the reality of God’s new creation on display.  We do this by living out the way of Jesus.

God’s full and ultimate expression of grace was revealed the day Jesus rose from the dead.  We believe that Jesus’ resurrection is the turning point of world history and the first day of God’s new creation.  Therefore, it is possible for all people everywhere to participate now in God’s saving work through faith in Jesus Christ.  Anyone who repents of his or her sin, declaring allegiance to Jesus as Lord, is given the Holy Spirit who leads and transforms the person from the old life into the new—from slavery to freedom.  The Church is the collective community of those who follow Jesus as Lord.   We believe that the Church is a sign of new creation, is evidence that God’s reign has already come, and the living promise to the world that God’s kingdom will one day be fully consummated.

[verses: Baptism and unity of the international community of God—the body of Christ:  Matt. 28:19, Acts 8:12; Rom 6:3-10;  Rom. 12:4-6; 1 Cor. 12:27; 1 Cor. 13:13; Eph. 1:22-23;  Eph. 2:19-22; Eph. 4:4-6;  Eph. 4:13, Gal. 3:26-29; Hebrews 10:24-25;  Communion:  Matt. 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-46; Luke 24:28-35; John 13-17; 1 Cor. 5:7; 1 Cor. 10:16; 1 Cor. 11:17-34; Eph. 5:1; 1 Peter 2:21;  Inclusive invitation to the world:  Is. 56:1-8; John 3:16-17; Acts 16:26-28; Acts 26:17-19; 1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 2:9; 1 John 2:2; Rev. 22:17;  Partners with God:  1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 5:17-21; 2 Cor. 6:1;  Work of the indwelling Holy Spirit:  John 14:16-17; John 14:26; John 16:5-15; Acts 4:8; Acts 4:31; Rom. 8:9-26; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 3:16-19; Eph. 4:30; Eph. 5:18; Phil. 2:12-13; Gal. 5:22-25;  Gifts of the Spirit and the priesthood of all believers:  Rom. 12:7-13; 1 Cor. 12:14-19; Eph. 4:7-13; 1 Pet. 2:9;  Practices of the Church:  Acts 2:42-47;  Salvation by faith in Jesus as Lord:  John 1:12-13; John 5:24; John 10:9-10; Acts 2:38; Rom. 10:9-13; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 2:20; Gal. 3:11;  Church as sign of new creation: John 20:19-22; Acts 2; Rom. 8:11; 2 Cor. 3:18; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:10]

Consummation

We believe that the day is coming when Jesus will return in personal, embodied life to fully reclaim this world.  On this day death and evil will be completely destroyed, and both the living and the dead will be resurrected to new bodily life.  Jesus will righteously judge all people thus putting to right all injustice and corruption for all eternity.  The earth's groaning will cease and God will dwell with us in a new and restored creation.  Heaven and earth will be made one.  There will no longer be any curse because all things will be made new.  Our relationship with God, ourselves, others, and creation will finally be completely whole.  God will reign forever in shalom.  

As a church this is what we pray for, hope for, and work for today.  We are giving our lives to bring the reality of God’s future into the present.  We are becoming today what we will one day fully be.  “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).  Come Lord Jesus, come.

 

[verses:  Jesus bodily return:  Matt 24:30-31; Acts 1:11; Heb 9:28; Titus 2:13;  Resurrection of all—the living and the dead:  Is. 26:19; Ezekiel 37:12-14; Daniel 12:2; Matt. 22:29-32; John 5:28-29; Rom. 14:9; Rom. 14:11;  Rev. 20:12-13; 1 Cor. 15; 1 Thes. 4:13-18;  Everyone will be Judged by Jesus:  Matt. 25:31-46; Luke 12:47-48; John 5:27; Rom. 14:12; 1 Cor. 3:12-15; 1 Peter 1:7; 1 Peter 4:5;  2 Peter 3:10-13; Rev. 6:10; Rev. 20:4;  Reconciliation of all things:  Isa. 65; Matt. 19:28; John 12:32; Rom. 8:19-22; 1 Cor. 13:12; Col. 1:20; Col. 3:4; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21-22. 

 

Appendix

Apostles’ Creed (6th Century A.D.)
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth.  And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.  He descended into hell.  The third day He rose again from the dead.  He ascended into Heaven, and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Nicene Creed (A.D. 381)
I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth.  And of all things visible and invisible.  And in one Lord Jesus Christ the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds: God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God; begotten, not made; being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made.  Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made Man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried.  The third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into Heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father, and He shall come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead; whose Kingdom shall have no end.  I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son], who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe one holy, catholic, apostolic Church.  I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins.  And I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life in the world to come.  Amen.