Beliefs

‘What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.’ A. W. Tozer

There are many Christian denominations and nondenominational networks and single expressions of Christianity. We come from many different backgrounds that sometimes are reflected in our understanding of God and how to live a life that honors Him. So what is written below isn’t comprehensive – but a simple group of thoughts about God and the church.

• We are a church who accept each person as they are, believing that as the Bible states, we all have fallen short; we all have sinned and to deal with our human sinfulness, we teach conversion as essential to new life through faith in Jesus Christ and practice baptism as a public sign of personal commitment to Jesus as Savior and Lord. 
• We are Bible-centered: we accept the Bible as the inspired and authoritative word of God, seeking to obey its teaching, as illumined by the Holy Spirit and interpreted in the Christian community. We recognize that the Bible was written many years ago in a very different context than we live in today. At the same time, we recognize the priority of Jesus’ teaching.  When we read the Bible, we use Christ’s teachings as the first “lens” for reading other scriptures.  We want to know what Jesus said or taught about something, believing that, as God in human form, we should look to Him first for a correct understanding of Scripture.  Our progression is to read the Gospels through the lens of the Sermon on the Mount, the rest of the New Testament through the lens of the Gospels, and the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament.
• We emphasize discipleship: we seek to live as authentic followers of Jesus in our daily lives, orienting our lives around Jesus’ teaching and model.
• We value Christian fellowship: we believe the church is a biblical and mutually loyal community that expresses itself in worship, fellowship, accountability and witness.
• We are mission-minded: we share our faith by telling others about the Good News of Jesus and serving others in our neighborhoods and around the world, in obedience to Jesus’ Great Commandment and to the Great Commission.
• We seek peace: we believe the Bible invites us to be at peace with God and with others, even our enemies.
• We cultivate healthy relationships: we are committed to choices that produce wholeness, healing, joy and peace in all relationships