HOPE
FOLLOWING JESUS
COMMUNITIES
GATHERINGS
CHILDREN
BELIEFS
CONTACT
GIVE
VISION IN THE CITY
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FEBRUARY 2011
02.05 Church Wide Gathering
02.12 Neighborhood Gatherings
02.19 Neighborhood Gatherings
02.26 Neighborhood Gatherings
THE GOSPEL God has revealed the good news in Jesus through his unfolding narrative through the whole of Scripture (Luke 24:25-27; Hebrews 1:1-3). We desire to glorify God as we live our stories daily within his grand story as gospel-centered followers of Jesus. It is through His redemptive work on the cross, not our own efforts, that we are reconciled with God and saved from our sin. As we do this, we stand together with believers down through the centuries who loved God and confessed the faith set forth in the historic creeds of orthodox Christianity such as the Apostles Creed. We also stand united today with Gods global church.
APOSTLES CREED I believe in God, the Father almighty,creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, Gods only Son, our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again;he ascended into heaven,he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again 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.
*universal (Modern English Version: From the English Language Liturgical Commission, 1988.)
GLOBAL CHURCH We not only align with the orthodox beliefs of the historic church, we also affirm our unity with the global churchs Lausanne Movement. The Lausanne Covenant and the Manilla Manifesto was affirmed by a large gathering of global Christian leaders from some 150 countries and we affirm this as well. The Lausanne Covenant and the Manilla Manifesto can be read at http://www.lausanne.org/about/statement-of-faith.html
Jesus disciples who wrote the New Testament Scripture exhort us to be faithful to proclaim, practice, and protect sound doctrine with the help of the Holy Spirit (I Timothy 6:20-21; 2 Timothy 1:13-14; 2:14-15; 4:1-4; Titus 1:9; 2:1; I John 4:1-6; Jude 3). Every generation needs to do this given their cultures unique challenges. The church ought to keep her belief as simple as Jesus is Lord, while contextualizing the good news in Jesus in the grand story of God and teaching sound doctrine. It is foolish to do this as an island. We stand gratefully with believers who have gone before us and those who live for Jesus in other cultures as well!