Tuesday, September 2, 2008

We believe . . .

We believe in God the Father Almighty, 

     who created the heavens and the earth,
        ordering chaos and forming humanity in his image;
     who lovingly suffered humanity’s grasp for independence,
        subjecting creation to corruption and decay;
     who promised to reclaim the world through one family,
        becoming the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;
     who saved Israel from slavery to Pharaoh in Egypt,
        establishing her as a priestly kingdom, a holy nation;
     who revealed his sacred name to his servant Moses:
        Yahweh, who is faithful, compassionate, jealous, and just
     who rules over the nations and humbles the powerful,
        aligning all things with his sovereign mission;
     who abandoned his people into exile for their sin,
        yet promised their forgiveness and restoration.
                                ...God is sovereign

We believe in Jesus the Messiah, his only Son, our Lord,
     who is the incarnation and revelation of the one true God,
        conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary;
     who announced the gospel of God’s coming reign,
        enacting its arrival in meals, signs, exorcisms & healings;
     who gathered a renewed community of repentant faith,
        calling his followers to trust God and take up the cross;
     who lovingly suffered crucifixion under Pontius Pilate,
        dying to defeat evil and save us from sin;
     who on the third day was raised from the dead
        and victoriously ascended to the Father’s right hand;
     who presently reigns as the head of his body, the church,
        the ongoing embodiment of his life and ministry;
     who will come again to judge the living and the dead
        at the resurrection of the body, the healing of creation.
                                ...God is love

We believe in the Holy Spirit, God’s personal presence,
     who hovered over the surface of earth’s waters,
        bringing and sustaining life in all creation;
     who constitutes us as the people of God’s new creation,
        sign and foretaste of God's coming reign;
     who unifies us as the one international body of Christ,
        liberated from the powers of sin and death;
     who transforms our identity and character
        into the cruciform likeness of Jesus’ faith, hope, and love;
     who inspired and illuminates the Scriptures
        that we might hear and learn God’s word afresh;
     who intercedes for us and cries out to God in our behalf,
        testifying with our spirit that we are God’s children;
     who empowers our care, service, and proclamation,
        that we might faithfully witness to the truth.
                                ...God is here