What We Believe

Though penned by human authors seeking to record their experiences of God at work in their lives and community, and though written with specific audiences and agendas in mind - we believe that the writing and collating of the Bible was inspired by God.  We believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God that points towards the one who is the Word of God – Jesus Christ.  We believe that the Bible speaks to all generations of believers including us today.  God's will is for us to immerse ourselves in Scripture as an authoritative narrative and to faithfully interpret the Bible and live our lives in fidelity to Scripture as we are led by the Holy Spirit.

We believe that the entire cosmos is an overflow of God’s love and will to create.  Unique within creation is humankind, created as image bearing icons of God.  Humankind is to steward creation as representatives of God who reflect the love of God in all things and who offer faithful worship to God alone.  For a time all was as God intended, however humankind fell short of what they were created to be – missing the mark as faithful representatives of God and faithful worshippers of God.  Tempted into disobedience, humankind's relationship with God, others, ourselves and creation was broken and in desperate need of salvation.  Humankind was left alienated, condemned before God, enslaved and in bondage to sin; powerless to overcome or deal with sin and its effects.  However, there was and is hope!

God did not abandon creation to destruction and decay, instead God promised to restore this broken world.  God chose Abraham and his decedents (Israel) as a special people to dwell in covenant relationship with.  God promised to bless them as a nation so that through them all the nations of the world might be blessed.  At times Israel lived as the people that God had called them to be, excelling in their missional calling and embodiment of the nature of God.  However Israel allowed foreign gods into the land, overlooked the poor and oppressed, and mistreated the foreigner.  They failed to represent God faithfully and to in all things live in fidelity to God.  In disobedience they became indifferent to the purposes to which God had called them.  For a time they were sent into exile and yet always a hopeful remnant continued to look ahead with longing and hope that a renewed reign of God would come and that peace and justice would prevail.

We believe that these longings were fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah.  Jesus came as the incarnate Word of God in the flesh, both fully divine and fully human.  Jesus came to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the broken hearted and to set captives free.  Jesus proclaimed and established the Kingdom of God.  A kingdom which is now and today, yet at the same time it is still to be fully realised.  A kingdom which begins with the rule and reign of Christ in our hearts and from there impacts every area of society and every facet of life.  A kingdom with principles that are often upside-down and back-to-front to the ways of this broken world.  All are invited to entrust their lives to Jesus and to turn from self-centered ways of being and instead live the Way of Jesus - embracing Jesus as Lord and Saviour. 

Not everyone accepted Jesus and his message.  He was rejected by many as he confronted the oppressive nature of the religious elite, the Roman Empire, and the self-focusing and self-governing nature of sin.  Eventually Jesus was crucified.  However his teaching, path of suffering, death, burial and resurrection ultimately brought hope to all of creation; Jesus dealt with humanity's sin problem once and for all. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross ransomed humanity from the power and hopelessness of sin.  He rose from the dead, victorious over sin and death and made new life possible.  Through faith (belief, embodied fidelity, existential trust, allegiance to Jesus) and repentance (a turning away from a previous way of life), and because of God's love and grace, all may find forgiveness, reconciliation, restoration, hope, and freedom from sin.  Jesus has made it possible to be reconciled to God, to be reconciled to each other, to ourselves and to creation.

The church is the local and global expression of Christ followers living out the way of Jesus through love, peace, sacrifice and care for one another.  It is a community that gathers and scatters as followers of Jesus in order to encourage, equip and help each other in the active living out of God’s will and in order to bear witness in both word and deed to the truth and love of God.  Governed by God's word and led by the Holy Spirit, the church is those whose lives are grounded in the Jesus story, missional living, community, baptism and the Lord's Supper.

We believe the day is coming when Jesus will return to judge the world, bringing an end to injustice and restoring all things to God's original intent.  God will reclaim this world and rule forever.  For those who choose to live according to their own ways and reject Jesus as Lord and Savior, they will inherit eternal death.  For those whose faith and trust is in Jesus Christ they will inherit eternal life.  The earth's groaning will cease and God will dwell for eternity with his children in a restored and transformed creation.  Heaven and earth will be one again!  Our relationships with God, others, ourselves, and creation will be whole. All will flourish as God intends.  We live today in light of this story and God's promise regarding the future. This is what we long for. This is what we hope for. We give our lives to living out that future reality today.