I believe in one God, Creator, Son and Holy Spirit. God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, the creator of all things seen and unseen, created all things from nothing and continues to exert power and control in all of creation. I believe that God has been revealed to humanity through Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God. I believe that Jesus is fully human and fully divine and that it is through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ that the sins of the world are atoned. In Christ we are reconciled with God the Father and it is through Jesus that we can all be adopted sons and daughters of God. I believe in the Holy Spirit who is God present with us for comfort and guidance. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that continues my sanctification by helping me to grow in the faith. The Holy Spirit is the unifying connection between all believers that unites us as one body in the church universal.
I believe in the church universal, that from the beginning there has been, now is, and shall be one church. The church universal contains the chosen of all ages, from all nations and races. We are united in our worship of one God sharing one baptism. The church is invisible and known only by God who alone knows all who are chosen. The church contains not only those who live today, but also people of the past (Church triumphant) and people yet to come. I believe that the church particular is a body of local believers that are united in worship and service, sharing God’s love to part of a hurting world.
I believe the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper to be signs of God’s grace bestowed upon humanity. We are welcomed into the community of faith through one Baptism and we are nourished, body and spirit, through the breaking of bread and the sharing of the cup as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. By sharing in these Sacraments we are united in the Love of God with all believers in every time and place by the Holy Spirit of God.
I believe in the Holy Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be God’s living and inspired word, revealed to individuals and passed down to believers through generations. I am guided by the historic confessions of the church, by the community of faith, and by God’s Holy Spirit as I struggle to interpret the scriptures for others and myself. God’s word is alive for us today through the hearing of the word proclaimed, the reading of scripture, and the celebration of the sacraments.
I believe that as a human I am a finite being and that because of my finitude it is natural for me to choose my will over the will of God. By choosing my own will I sin. I believe that it is through Jesus Christ that I am justified and my sins are forgiven. This is God’s gift of grace to me and there is nothing that I can do to deserve or earn this gift. I can only love God because God first loved me. I believe in the resurrection of the body. Because Christ conquered death we all find new life in him and share in his resurrection.
Finally my only comfort is that in body and soul, in life and in death, I belong to my faithful savior Jesus Christ.
Jim Barker
I believe in the church universal, that from the beginning there has been, now is, and shall be one church. The church universal contains the chosen of all ages, from all nations and races. We are united in our worship of one God sharing one baptism. The church is invisible and known only by God who alone knows all who are chosen. The church contains not only those who live today, but also people of the past (Church triumphant) and people yet to come. I believe that the church particular is a body of local believers that are united in worship and service, sharing God’s love to part of a hurting world.
I believe the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper to be signs of God’s grace bestowed upon humanity. We are welcomed into the community of faith through one Baptism and we are nourished, body and spirit, through the breaking of bread and the sharing of the cup as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. By sharing in these Sacraments we are united in the Love of God with all believers in every time and place by the Holy Spirit of God.
I believe in the Holy Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be God’s living and inspired word, revealed to individuals and passed down to believers through generations. I am guided by the historic confessions of the church, by the community of faith, and by God’s Holy Spirit as I struggle to interpret the scriptures for others and myself. God’s word is alive for us today through the hearing of the word proclaimed, the reading of scripture, and the celebration of the sacraments.
I believe that as a human I am a finite being and that because of my finitude it is natural for me to choose my will over the will of God. By choosing my own will I sin. I believe that it is through Jesus Christ that I am justified and my sins are forgiven. This is God’s gift of grace to me and there is nothing that I can do to deserve or earn this gift. I can only love God because God first loved me. I believe in the resurrection of the body. Because Christ conquered death we all find new life in him and share in his resurrection.
Finally my only comfort is that in body and soul, in life and in death, I belong to my faithful savior Jesus Christ.
Jim Barker
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