What We Believe:

 “What” we believe is first “who” we believe:

  1. Jesus. He said, “You search the Scripture because you think that in them you have life, and it is they that bear witness to me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40). We believe in and through Jesus. Jesus is the Word of God for us, to us and even in and through us. (John 1:1-18; 1Cor. 1:30; Gal. 4:6). We believe in Him
  2. The Bible. Jesus said, “Scripture cannot be broken.” We believe the Bible is the ‘authoritative witness on all matters to which it speaks.’” The Bible is “self-attesting.” In it we hear Jesus; God’s Word; “The Way, The Truth and The Life.”
  3. Love. Scripture tells us that, “God is Love.” (1 John 4:8,16) and that, Jesus has “made Him known.” (John 1:18). God is not part Love and part Justice. God is one (Deut. 6:4). He is Love and his love is Justice.
  4. The Death and Resurrection of Jesus. The most terrifying passages in the Bible and Love seem contradictory until our hearts see “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:6) “For in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Col. 1:19-20) “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” is the revelation of God’s heart, the meaning of all things and The Prince of Peace.
  5. The Church and the Gospel. The Church is the community of those people that have received the life of Jesus through faith, and as faith; that have come to believe “the Gospel” – the Good News that God has reconciled us to himself in Christ. The Church is called to bear witness to Christ through word and action and thus join God’s work of redemption. We have been blessed to be a blessing to “all the families of the earth.” (Gen. 12:1-3)

The Creeds: Historically, the Church has felt the need to confess her faith through “creeds.” Creeds are never meant to replace Scripture, but to summarize and clarify Scripture. The two oldest creeds are the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed. At the Sanctuary, we agree with both.

The Nicene Creed was the first “official” doctrinal statement of the whole Christian Church. It is the only creed accepted and used by all three major branches of Christendom: Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant. It was formulated at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Apostle’s Creed appears to have first taken the form of a baptismal confession in the early church, which then grew into the creedal statement that we profess today. It is the most widely used confessional statement in the western Christian Church.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.

Amen.

On our relentless-love.org team, most of us come from Protestant traditions—in particular, the Reformed tradition and Presbyterian church. Even so, we believe that all Christian traditions bear witness to the Truth—each from a unique and valuable perspective. The Bride of Christ; the Body of Christ; the Church is most beautiful, powerful, and obedient when her great diversity finds unity in Jesus; the Bridegroom; the Head.