We Are Family

He is the God who created out of chaos in the beginning, and He is still creating out of chaos right now.  The story of Scripture teaches us that God is driven by His willingness to love.

Jesus is the Son of God.  He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).  He is God in flesh: God who became man, God who became vulnerable, God who can be seen, touched, and experienced.  His obedience to the Father led him to the cross and a sacrificial death that has dealt a catastrophic blow to sin and slavery.  The cross is at the core of our story but is incomplete without the empty tomb.  We believe that on the third day Jesus was resurrected from death and that he is only the first.  Jesus’ bodily resurrection is our hope that death is not final for those who have faith in Him.  He is alive and so are those of us who have faith and so we will ever be.

The Holy Spirit is given to indwell the believer who by faith is baptized into Christ. The Holy Spirit is our counselor, our comforter, and the one who intercedes for us as we pray.  He provides the follower of Jesus power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance toward all that is God-honoring.

Every human is born as one who bears the image of God.  However, Scripture explains that when we make decisions to step outside the will of God, we disconnect ourselves from fellowship with God and His purposes.  Jesus became one of us to rescue and restore our relationship with God.  He came to rescue us from our brokenness and separation from God. 

The Bible is the story of God’s restoration.  The Holy Spirit worked through many different voices, generations, and types of writings to weave God’s story together.  The Bible is so much more than a book to be studied and memorized; it is a story to be imitated, lived out and obeyed.  God intends for Scripture to teach and motivate people to surrender to Him and His efforts.

Salvation is a gift from God.  We can never undo or make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works.  Salvation is offered to all who trust in Jesus Christ forgiveness as we, in faith and repentance surrender to be baptized in His name.  God isn’t only interested in us being saved from something; He’s just as interested in us being saved into something.  We have been saved from the powers of Hell and we have been saved into a life in which we get to passionately follow Jesus in the here and now. 

Baptism is not considered a work to earn ones salvation but rather a surrendering to God’s time and place for the forgiveness of sin and the reception of the Holy Spirit to indwell us (Acts 2:38). Baptism demonstrates that we are saved by grace through faith.  We believe in baptism by immersion which represents the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (Romans 6:1-5) and symbolizes the burial of the old self and the resurrection of a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).  Baptism is the event where we join the adventure of living as a disciple of Jesus in our everyday life. 

We call this celebration Communion or the Lord’s Supper.  The purpose of Communion is to remember the loving sacrifice of Jesus for our forgiveness and the victory of the resurrection over death. It is a time of personal reflection and renewal as we rekindle our spiritual focus of life. We take communion every week when gathered to worship on Sundays. The emblems are passed out and take when received. Anyone is welcomed to participate.

The Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20, gives the command to make disciples of all nations.  The word disciple is found frequently in the New Testament (269 times). To be a disciple is to be a follower; an imitator.  To honor and obey Jesus’ in all parts of life. We are not called to be His admirers but to be passionate imitators of Jesus.  The charge given to church leaders in the Bible is to present mature followers to Jesus (Ephesians 4:11-16; Colossians 1:28-29; Galatians 4:19).