| About God |
|
We believe that there is one true God. This God is our Creator. We believe that
the Creator God is our Father who loves us and cares for us. The Creator God is
eternal. He has always been God and will always be God. We believe that this
God is everywhere present. No matter where you are in the world or in the
universe, God will be there. Christians believe that God is Almighty. Not only
is He the Creator but also the Upholder and the sovereign Ruler of heaven and
earth. Nothing in the world happens apart from the will and purpose of God. |
|
| About the Trinity |
|
We believe that there is one true God but that in this one true God there are
three persons whom we call God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Each of these persons is distinct from the other and each is fully God. Yet
there is but one God. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have
an eternal love for each other and work together in creation and in salvation. |
|
| About knowing God |
|
We believe that we can know God in two ways. First, we can know Him through His
creation itself. The universe in which we live shows us that there is a God of
astounding intelligence and power and glory. Second, we can know God more fully
and clearly through the Bible. |
|
| About the Bible |
|
We believe that the Bible is the Word of God which has been given by God's
Spirit through the service of human beings. Because God is the ultimate author
of the Bible, it is trustworthy in all that it teaches. Because the Bible comes
from God, those who read it can expect to be challenged and changed. The God
whom we encounter in the Bible calls us to respond to the message with faith
and repentance. |
|
| About the message of the Bible |
|
The Bible contains a record of the amazing works of God, which He has done for
us and for salvation. We can see the Bible as a true story with four major
components: 1) our creation, 2) our fall into sin, 3) our salvation, and 4) the
future restoration of all things. The Bible often describes its own message as
"the gospel." The word "gospel" means "good news." At the heart of what the
church believes is the good news of what God has done for His fallen creatures
to save them from sin, from the devil and from death. |
|
| About creation |
|
The Bible tells us that God made all things out of nothing by the power of His
Word. The earth, the moon, the sun and the stars in the most remote places of
the universe were called into existence by the Word of God. All creatures great
and small have been formed and fashioned by the creative wisdom of God. We also
believe that human beings were created by God to be His image. To be God's
image means that we were made to reflect God. As God is holy and righteous and
good, He made human beings in such a way that they would reflect these divine
qualities. As His image, God also called human beings to rule over and care for
His creation. Human beings were made to find their true purpose and fulfillment
in loving and serving the awesome Creator who made them. |
|
| About sin |
|
The Bible tells us that the first human beings, Adam and Eve, made a conscious
choice against the Word of God. They rebelled against His law and so brought
ruin and death upon themselves. Not only so, they also brought ruin and death
upon all their descendants. Ever since Adam and Eve rebelled against God, every
human being has entered the world with a rebellious attitude against God. The
image of God has been shattered. We no longer reflect God's holiness and
righteousness and goodness. Instead, we are all born as members of a sinful
race that is subject to death and deserves to be punished by God. |
|
| About salvation |
|
The Bible tells us that God did not turn His back on the human beings who
rebelled against Him. Instead, He reached out to save us from sin and from all
the consequences of sin. When God confronted Adam and Eve after their fall into
sin, He spoke words of grace to them. He told them that although they had
rebelled, He would rescue them from the consequences of their rebellion. God
said that He would send a Saviour to the world to overcome sin, the devil and
death itself. As the story of salvation unfolds in the Bible, we see how God's
promise of salvation is worked out in growing detail and is finally fulfilled
in the birth of Jesus Christ. |
|
| About Jesus Christ |
|
We believe that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour of the world. The Bible
teaches that all who come to know and put their trust in Him will be saved from
sin and its consequences. We believe that Jesus Christ is both true God and
truly human. He left His heavenly glory and was born of the virgin Mary, taking
upon Himself our human nature. He is like us in every respect except that He
committed no sin. As a real human being, Jesus Christ has done everything we
should have done. He loved God from the heart. He showed Himself to be the true
image of God. Not for a moment did He ever drift from doing the will of God.
From the beginning to the end of His life on earth, He had one great passion:
to do the will of God the Father. We also believe that Jesus Christ endured in
our place the aweful penalty for sin. When He died a terrible death on the
cross, it was not because of His own sins, but because of our sins. His
suffering and death on the cross was the response of God to our sin. |
|
| About faith |
|
We believe that we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. As we believe in Christ
Jesus, God forgives our sins and considers us to be righteous and fully
acceptable in His sight. When we believe, God looks upon us as though we
ourselves had done what Jesus did. He sees us as if we ourselves had lived a
righteous and good life and as if we ourselves had paid the penalty for our
sins. We believe that we become acceptable to God not by anything we do but
only by faith in what Christ has done. We are saved not by our own works but by
the work of Christ. |
|
| About repentance |
|
The Bible often links faith in Christ to repentance. Christians are called to
"repent and believe." Repentance means turning away from your sin to God. It
includes being sorry for your sin and being determined to flee from sin in the
future. In addition, repentance means loving God's commandments and having a
sincere intention to live according to all of them. No one can be saved without
repentance. We need to repent when we become Christians and we need to repent
each and every day. |
|
| About the Holy Spirit |
|
Faith and repentance are worked in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Through the
presence and power of the Holy Spirit, God's children are given the ability to
believe in Christ. The Holy Spirit gives us a new heart and a new mind. As we
are filled with the Holy Spirit, we receive power from God to live a pure and
good life. We gain the power to struggle against sin, to resist temptation and
to think and speak and act in ways that please God. |
|
| About Baptism |
|
Baptism is a ritual in which water is sprinkled upon believers. It is to be
done only once. When someone is baptized, God is giving that person a visible
sign and seal of the promise of the gospel. Just as surely as water washes away
dirt from the body, so surely are believing sinners cleansed in the blood of
Jesus Christ. We believe that God ordains baptism not only for all believers
but also for their children. Children of believers share in the privileges of
cleansing in Christ. |
|
| About the Lord's Supper |
|
The Lord's Supper is a regular ritual of the church in which believers eat
bread and drink wine. Just as with baptism, the Lord's Supper is a sign and
seal of the promises of the gospel. Just as surely as the bread and wine of the
Lord's Supper nourish and refresh our bodies, so surely does Christ's broken
body and shed blood give us life that never ends. As believers eat the bread
and drink the cup of the Lord's Supper, Jesus confirms their faith and gives
them strength to continue serving Him. |
|
| About the church |
|
Christ calls Christian believers together into congregations. Within these
congregations, believers live together as fellow members of Christ's body. As
members of the church, they make themselves accountable to each other and to
the elders of the congregation. They rely on each other for encouragement and
exhortation. Every believer is duty bound to use his or her talents and gifts
in a loving way for building up the rest of the membership. Prime among the
activities of the church is the weekly gathering of believers on the first day
of the week. In the worship services, we meet with Christ. He ministers to us
through the Word and the sacraments and we respond through our songs of praise,
our prayers and our gifts. We believe that every Christian is called by the
Lord to be a living and active member of a faithful Christian church. |
|
| About finding the church |
|
We believe that the church of God can be recognized primarily by the way in
which it upholds and reveres the Word of God. Faithful churches proclaim the
good news of Jesus Christ as the only Saviour of the world and call people
everywhere to turn away from their sins, to trust in Jesus and so to be saved.
We can also recognize a faithful church by the way in which it uphold the
sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Finally, faithful churches expect
their members to live holy and pure lives of love and discipline them when they
fail to do so. Every Christian is obligated to join a faithful congregation of
Christian believers. |
|
| About the future |
|
We believe that Christ was raised on the third day after he suffered and died
on the cross. Forty days after He was raised, He ascended into heaven. From
there He rules the world and gathers His church. As Christians we believe that
the world is heading towards the amazing day when Jesus Christ will return from
heaven to judge the living and the dead. At that time, every human being will
stand before Jesus Christ as the Judge. Those who have put their trust in Him
will enter into the joy of resurrection life. They will live with Christ
forever in a world that has been purged of all sin. All grief and sorrow will
be taken away. God Himself will wipe every tear from our eyes. However, those
who have not put their trust in Christ will be sentenced to eternal death. They
will be eternally excluded from the joy of the new creation. |
|