What we believe
As an evangelical church, we believe in the historically-held core truths of the Christian faith, as found in the Bible. We have summarised these core beliefs into our 'Statement of Faith' below.
Statement of Faith
1. There is only one God. He lives eternally in three distinct but equal persons – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God never changes and is forever holy, loving, gracious, just, wise and powerful. He reigns over His creation – sustaining, redeeming and judging it for the sake of His glory and according to His sovereign plan.
2. God reveals Himself to us through Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Every word of it is inspired by Him but written by real historical people. It is fully reliable, without error, and speaks with supreme authority over all matters of belief and practice. We believe that only an evangelical understanding makes full sense of it.
3. All people of all ages, races and genders are created by God in His image and are of equal worth. We were made to love and worship Him, but have always rejected God’s authority over us. This is called sin, justly leading to guilt and death and ultimately resulting in God’s wrath and our condemnation. Yet God still loves us.
4. Out of His love, the Father sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified and buried, and rose bodily from the dead. He appeared to His followers before returning to heaven, where He reigns forever still fully God and fully human.
5. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ redeems us from the guilt, penalty and power of our sin. His willing sacrifice was made once for all people for all time. He endured God’s wrath toward our sin, taking the punishment we deserve. He is our only substitute and representative, able to mediate between us and God, and so save us.
6. We are saved entirely by God’s grace, through faith in what the Lord Jesus Christ has already done for us. We do not deserve this salvation, cannot earn it and cannot repay it. God forgives us our sin and accepts us entirely on the basis of Christ’s righteousness, which is given to us as a gift. Our salvation is secure forever.
7. The Holy Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son to bring them glory by leading us to faith in Christ. He convicts us of sin, enables us to repent, brings us to new birth, gives us eternal life and marks us as God’s children. He lives in all true believers, helping us understand the Bible, pray and become us more like Jesus in character.
8. There is one universal Church made up of all true believers. It is empowered by the Holy Spirit to witness to Christ through worship, fellowship, and mission. Every local church shares in its calling to make, baptise and teach new disciples, unite around the Lord’s Supper, seek justice for the poor, and love one other.
9. Christ has established an unshakable Kingdom to which all believers belong. He will return visibly to judge all people, raising believers to eternal life and condemning unbelievers to eternal punishment. God will remake His creation, and reign with His redeemed people forever in a sinless, deathless, suffering-free, and joy-filled world.
April 2011
Statement of Faith
1. There is only one God. He lives eternally in three distinct but equal persons – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God never changes and is forever holy, loving, gracious, just, wise and powerful. He reigns over His creation – sustaining, redeeming and judging it for the sake of His glory and according to His sovereign plan.
2. God reveals Himself to us through Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Every word of it is inspired by Him but written by real historical people. It is fully reliable, without error, and speaks with supreme authority over all matters of belief and practice. We believe that only an evangelical understanding makes full sense of it.
3. All people of all ages, races and genders are created by God in His image and are of equal worth. We were made to love and worship Him, but have always rejected God’s authority over us. This is called sin, justly leading to guilt and death and ultimately resulting in God’s wrath and our condemnation. Yet God still loves us.
4. Out of His love, the Father sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified and buried, and rose bodily from the dead. He appeared to His followers before returning to heaven, where He reigns forever still fully God and fully human.
5. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ redeems us from the guilt, penalty and power of our sin. His willing sacrifice was made once for all people for all time. He endured God’s wrath toward our sin, taking the punishment we deserve. He is our only substitute and representative, able to mediate between us and God, and so save us.
6. We are saved entirely by God’s grace, through faith in what the Lord Jesus Christ has already done for us. We do not deserve this salvation, cannot earn it and cannot repay it. God forgives us our sin and accepts us entirely on the basis of Christ’s righteousness, which is given to us as a gift. Our salvation is secure forever.
7. The Holy Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son to bring them glory by leading us to faith in Christ. He convicts us of sin, enables us to repent, brings us to new birth, gives us eternal life and marks us as God’s children. He lives in all true believers, helping us understand the Bible, pray and become us more like Jesus in character.
8. There is one universal Church made up of all true believers. It is empowered by the Holy Spirit to witness to Christ through worship, fellowship, and mission. Every local church shares in its calling to make, baptise and teach new disciples, unite around the Lord’s Supper, seek justice for the poor, and love one other.
9. Christ has established an unshakable Kingdom to which all believers belong. He will return visibly to judge all people, raising believers to eternal life and condemning unbelievers to eternal punishment. God will remake His creation, and reign with His redeemed people forever in a sinless, deathless, suffering-free, and joy-filled world.
April 2011
