My Credo - Seven Core Beliefs
I Believe:
God: I confess my faith in the God who is defined by infinite presence, wondrous creativity and imagination, and most of all by a love that extends out to include all that exists, is our Creator. This God is holy, just, gracious, and merciful, and God's wondrous nature can be observed in the grandeur of the created order. I know this God to be revealed to us as the Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Christ: I confess my faith in that this God, who is Creator, has been made known to us in a unique way in the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. In him we know and experience, the full revelation of God's nature and purpose. In him, God seeks to reconcile a created order that has become alienated. He was born into this world in poverty and died upon an empire's cross, the victim of our greed and desire for power. It was in the resurrection of Jesus that God has overcome our attempts to grab power through violence.
Holy Spirit: I confess my faith in the Holy Spirit of God, the breath and wind that emanate from the heart of God, empowering us for service so that we might make God's love known in the world. It is through the Spirit that speaks to heart and mind, reminding us of our calling to stand before God in joy and thanksgiving.
Humanity: I confess that the infinite God has made room within God's self for the created order. Thus, within that which is infinite, there is room for the finite. Humanity, which is part of this created order, has been created in God's image, reflecting God's creativity and purpose, and called to be in relationship with this God and also to be good stewards of God's creation.
Sin and Salvation: I confess that as human beings who have been created in God's image to be in relationship with God - reflecting the relationship that exists within the Godhead - we have taken advantage of our divinely given freedom to walk away from God's loving guidance. Given the choice to be in relationship with God, we have chosen to go our own way, a decision that has affected our relationship with the rest of creation. Living in alienation from God and the creation, we hear the promise that God is at work, beginning with Abraham and culminating in the coming of Jesus, making a way for reconciliation, so that which is broken might be healed and made whole. In the mystery that is God, we confess that it is in and through the cross of Jesus that this healing takes place.
Church: I confess my belief that even as God exists in community (the Trinity), we who reflect God's nature, are called to live in community. The church exists as a community that reflects God's being, and more specifically, the church exists as the Body of Christ, the reflection of Christ's presence in the world. As the body of Christ, we gather together for prayer, to break bread, to hear the Apostles teaching, and for fellowship/community. Our life together is marked by baptism, which defines us as members of this mystical Body, washing us spiritually clean, and then at the Table, we gather to share in the presence of Christ, our Lord, so that we might be nourished by this fellowship for service in the world.
Future Hope: I confess my belief that the future, while open, lies in the hands of God. I take comfort in the promise of God that as heirs with Christ of the bounty that is God's, God will overcome the sin that separates us, and that we will dwell in the house of God in peace. Indeed, I confess faith in the God who is already present in the future, making a place for us, so that we might enjoy the fullness of grace. In this promise there is freedom from fear, and an offering of hope.
