I have had the feeling that our beliefs might not be best demonstrated in ten bullet points. Yes, of course, we must stand somewhere, and yes, we will stand in the historic position of the Church on issues related to salvation. However, to say that still requires further distinction. And this is where we draw lines so that we may make involved declarations of what we do not believe more than living what we do believe.
We endeavor to place higher emphasis on embodying the teaching of Jesus, to the best of our understanding (which we believe is increasing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit).
We endeavor, as apprentices of Jesus Christ, to place our lives increasingly under the ruling and reigning of God, so that God might use us to further His ruling and reigning in the rest of humanity.
We endeavor, as students of Jesus, to grow in our understanding of God’s great story as we are swept up into the plan He has been accomplishing since the Creation.
We understand the universe to be created by the God who reveals Himself most specifically in the Scriptures.
We hold firmly to the historic position of Jesus’ apprentices that God is one, and yet mysteriously God exists in three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.
We understand that the current condition of human beings has altered from its designed course and purpose, which was to live in a loving relationship with our Creator and with one another.
The alternate course that all human beings now choose leads us away from living freely under the ruling and reigning of our Creator God. This alternate way of life leads human beings to consistently choose to put themselves in the place of God, which, naturally, leads them away from God. We call this “living in the wrong story,” and it ultimately leads people to a ruined life—a life apart from God.
We understand that God has not abandoned his creation to this course of self-destruction, but has been working all along for its redemption—He has been working to save us from our self-destructive “alternate story.”
We understand that his plan reached its fulfillment in the Teaching and Miracles, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah. We believe that Jesus the Messiah is the unique Son of God, and shared fully in our humanity in every way, except that he always lived completely in God’s story—he was without sin.
We believe that Jesus the Messiah exists in the form of God—he is in his very nature God.
We believe that Jesus the Messiah is the singular hope and path for human beings to be rescued from their alternate story (and their ruined condition and destiny), and rescued into God’s Story (back into their intended condition and destiny).
We understand that salvation is more than “getting into heaven.” We believe that salvation means that we are saved into a life of abundant, creative goodness that is available here and now, and will continue into eternity—this is the eternal life. This abundantly good life is realized as we live increasingly under the ruling and reigning of God.
We understand that this life of abundant, creative goodness begins in a person when the Holy Spirit of God takes up residence in the life of a human being. Jesus spoke of this being a spiritual “rebirth” in which we are made alive to God. The Holy Spirit empowers people to live increasingly in God’s story as they cooperate with God’s action in their lives.
We understand that the collective group of Jesus’ apprentices (the Church) is called to be a touch point between heaven and earth. The Church is to be a community where the healing of the Cross and the Resurrection can save those living in alternate stories, and grow those who have been rescued back into God’s story into the fullness of human beings in Christ.(1) That is why we say we are a missional community helping people become passionate followers (or apprentices) of Jesus Christ.
(1) See Dallas Willard's, "Renovation of the Heart," p.11.
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