We believe that what you believe is important. In 1 Timothy 4:16 Paul tells Timothy, "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers." What we believe and teach and sing about is important. So before you consider allowing us to speak into your life and/or the life of your congregation and community, we thought it would be good for you to know what we believe.
About God -
God is eternal, He has always been and will always be. As creator, He can do whatever He sees fit with us, His creation. We believe that He chooses to love and forgive us for our purpose and His pleasure.
About Jesus -
Jesus is the human picture of God. Because our sin seperates us from the ability to have a relationship with God, our need to be reconnected to Him is desperate. So God, out of His intense love and grace, chose to come and make that relationship possible. Born of a virgin, He lived a sinless life always pointing us toward God. Jesus' death on the cross and His resurrection from that death make forgiveness for our sin possible. So now, because of Jesus, we can once again live in relationship with our creator.
About Salvation -
We are reconciled to God by His grace. Ephesians 2:8 says "For by grace you have been saved through faith...it is the gift of God." God has given us what we need (forgiveness) instead of what we deserve (death). That is what grace is; the opportunity to be made right even though we've done wrong. Ephesians says that God uses faith as the means to apply His grace to our lives. We believe the Bible teaches that we demonstrate our faith in Christ's ability to save us in a number of ways; Belief (Acts 16:31), Repentance (Acts 17:30), Obedience in Baptism (Romans 6:4) and living a transformed life (Romans 12:2).
About the Holy Spirit -
As difficult as it is to understand, God exists in three persons; Father, Son and Spirit. When we place our faith in Him, He forgives our sin and comes to exist in us in the form of His Spirit. We believe that the Spirit that existed in Jesus while He was on earth is available to all who are obedient to trust Christ. We understand God's Spirit to function as our helper, guiding us into truth (John 16:7&13) so that we can be powerful witnesses of the Father (Acts 1:8).
About Eternal Life -
We believe that we came from God and that His purpose is to return for us someday. The realtionship that He intended at creation and has made possible through Jesus begins when we trust Him. Our relationship with God is then redefined at death and will last forever in heaven. It is God's desire that all come to trust Him (2 Peter 3:9), but we also understand the Bible to be very clear about the fact that not all will choose to do so. And that is why we sing.
