What We Believe
The Christian Faith
We believe that God created us to glorify him and to enjoy fellowship with him in his good creation, but our sin has twisted and distorted that created purpose. As a Christian church we proclaim the good news that God has acted in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to restore us to fellowship with him and each other and has sent the Holy Spirit to give us new life.
As a Reformed church, we trace our heritage as part of the one church of Jesus Christ through the 16th century Reformation, and we confess the Christian faith as it is summarized in the historic creeds and Reformed confessions of the church.
Ancient Faith
Our confession of faith in God’s Word is summarized first of all in the ancient creeds of the church. We confess, with the church throughout history and around the world – the words of the Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary; Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; The third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe a holy catholic Church, the communion of saints; The forgiveness of sins; The resurrection of the body; And the life everlasting. AMEN.
Reformed Faith
In addition to the ancient ecumenical creeds of the church, our confession of faith includes the Reformed confessions as fuller summaries of our faith in Christ and his Word. Our confession begins with the beautiful words of the first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism:
Q. 1 What is your only comfort life and in death? A. That I am not my own, but belong – body and soul, in life and in death –to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
