God
We believe that there is one God who is the loving Creator of all that exists, both seen and unseen. God is eternal and completely good, knowing all things, having all power and majesty. We believe God exists in perfect relationship as three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all equally God.
Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus is God’s Son. He is God in the flesh, the perfect reflection of God’s heart, character, beauty and love for people. Jesus came to preach good news to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted and set captives free, proclaiming a new expression of the kingdom of God, and restoring our fractured world. He and his message were rejected by many, yet his path of suffering, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection has brought hope to all creation. Jesus is our only hope for bringing peace and reconciliation between God and humans. Through Jesus, we have been forgiven and brought into right relationship with God. God is now reconciling us to each other, ourselves, and creation and one day will return to bring an end to injustice as he restores all things.
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is sent from God to live in all who put faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit comforts, convicts and empowers us, giving each person spiritual gifts for service to others in the church and the world. We believe that it is through the Holy Spirit that we have the power to progressively change and develop a holy life and character becoming more like Jesus.
The Bible
We believe the Bible is God’s Word to us. It is our sole statement of belief and plays a central role in everything we do. God inspired the human authors by his Spirit to speak to all generations of believers, including us today. God calls us to immerse ourselves in his story, as a community and individually, to faithfully interpret and live out that story today as we are led by the Spirit of God.
Salvation
We believe that all people are created with dignity and great value, in the image of God, so that we can live in a thriving relationship with God. Through our sin, we broke our relationship with God and we experience the sad consequences of that broken relationship, both spiritually and socially. However, because of God’s love for us, he sent his Son, Jesus, to rescue us from those consequences. Our broken relationship with God is restored through Jesus’ death on the cross, a perfect act of redemption for each of us. We receive the free gift of forgiveness and are spiritually reborn through repenting (changing our mind and heart) and placing faith in Jesus alone.
Eternity
We believe that life continues after physical death and that we will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. 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. On that day, there will be no more death, and God will wipe away all our tears. Our relationships with God, others, ourselves, and creation will be made whole.
The Church
We believe that the church has a special place in the heart of God. It is made up of every person, anywhere in the world who puts faith in Jesus. The church is one global community, but has smaller, local expressions, such as our church community. Each local church expression has a unique personality and we see beauty in that diversity. We believe that the church does not exist for itself but exists as a community of worshippers who are equipped and empowered by God’s Spirit to share in Christ’s mission to bring the light, love, compassion, kindness and hope of Jesus to the world around us.
Communion
We believe that taking part in communion is a symbolic way to remember what it cost Jesus for our salvation. As a church community we share in communion together each week, eating bread which symbolises Christ’s body that was given for us, and drinking from a cup which symbolises his blood that was shed for us. The invitation is open to all to participate.
Baptism
We believe that baptism is a natural step of faith and obedience when a person trusts Jesus Christ for their salvation. Baptism is our public declaration of what has already occurred in our hearts. We follow Jesus’ example by going through the waters of baptism and we practise the same method of the early Christians, through complete immersion into water.
