What Do We Believe?
We are a Christian church and as such we believe the basics of Christianity that most Christians believe. Compared to most churches, our Statement of Faith is relatively short. We try to cover the basics but not get too much into the minute details. We try to make a place for each of us to have our own ideas, thoughts, and questions.
Statement of Faith
Christianity is the revelation of God in Jesus Christ and is the religion set forth in the Scriptures. Jesus Christ is foretold in the Old Testament, presented in the New Testament, and proclaimed by the Christian Church in every age and in every land.
Founded in the interest of offering a church home to all who confess and believe, Inclusive Community Church moves in the mainstream of Christianity.
Our faith is based upon the principles outlined in the historic creeds: Apostles and Nicene.
We believe:
1. In one triune God, omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, of one substance and of three persons: God, our Parent-Creator; Jesus Christ, the only begotten of God, God in flesh, human; and the Holy Spirit, God as our Sustainer.
2. That the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God, showing forth God to every person through the law and the prophets, and finally, completely and ultimately on earth in the being of Jesus Christ.
3. That Jesus...the Christ...historically recorded as living some 2,000 years before this writing, is God incarnate, of human birth, fully God and fully human, and that by being one with God, Jesus has demonstrated once and forever that all people are likewise Children of God, being spiritually made in God’s image.
4. That the Holy Spirit is God making known God’s love and interest to all people. The Holy Spirit is God, available to and working through all who are willing to place their welfare in God’s keeping.
5. Every person is justified by grace to God through faith in Jesus Christ.
6. We are saved from loneliness, despair and degradation through God’s gift of grace, as was declared by our Saviour. Such grace is not earned, but is a pure gift from a God of pure love. We further commend the community of the faithful to a life of prayer; to seek genuine forgiveness for unkind, thoughtless and unloving acts; and to a committed life of Christian service.
7. The Church serves to bring all people to God through Christ. To this end, it shall arrange for regular services of worship, prayer, interpretation of the Scriptures, and edification through the teaching and preaching of the Word.
Sacraments
Inclusive Community Church embraces two holy Sacraments:
1. BAPTISM by water and the Spirit, as recorded in the Scriptures, shall be a sign of the dedication of each life to God and God’s service. Through the words and acts of this Sacrament, the recipient is identified as God’s own Child.
2. HOLY COMMUNION is the partaking of blessed bread and fruit of the vine in accordance with the words of Jesus, our Sovereign: This is my body...this is my blood. (Matthew 26:26-28). All who believe, confess and repent and seek God’s love through Christ, after examining their consciences, may freely participate in the communal meal, signifying their desire to be received into community with Jesus Christ, to be saved by Jesus Christ's sacrifice, to participate in Jesus Christ's resurrection, and to commit their lives anew to the service of Jesus Christ.
|
|
|