Our Faith

From the beginning of the Christian faith, believers have been encouraged to "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" (1 Peter 3:15). At the heart of a church's life is its stated faith. Although our church does not subscribe to a written creed, the following statements characterize our people and our beliefs.

Christ the Center

Our Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord stands at the center of our belief and actions. He is truly God and fully human. By faith in him, we are saved. In him we are forgiven and granted the gift of eternal life. In his incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and second coming, he is our hope. He is our model in service, our pattern for living, and our motivation for mission.

God the Trinity

God is revealed in the Bible as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is eternally present as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is revealed to us as each and we experience God as all three. Our faith in the Triune God is expressed in many ways but the most dramatic is when we baptize "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

The Bible

The Bible is our primary textbook for faith and practice. We trust it to introduce us to Christ, to teach us, and to guide us in Christian living and service. Through the power of the Bible, we are shaped into the likeness of Christ and grow as faithful disciples.

The Priesthood of the Believer

As believers, we are given the privilege of communicating directly with God through prayer. With the Lord Jesus Christ as our guide, example, and interpreter of Scripture, we need no emissary between us and God.

Church Membership

We believe God calls people into the life of the church when they become his followers. The church is the soil in which faith grows best and the first avenue through which Christian service takes place. We believe the mission of the church may be summarized in three phrases: helping people follow Christ, bringing good news of God's love and grace, and caring for the needs of people through ministry and service. We believe that God gives spiritual gifts to believers for life in and through the church.

The Local Congregation

We believe Jesus has chosen local churches such as ours to fulfill his work on earth. Thus, we are accountable to Christ and not to a denominational organization or religious hierarchy. God gives us wisdom to discern what cooperative efforts will allow us to fulfill our calling in Sun City West and in the world.

The Ordinances

Two rites symbolize the Christian experience: baptism and the Lord's Supper. Both are symbols of salvation and not means. Baptism celebrates in symbol the new life we experience in Christ and stands at the beginning of one's spiritual journey and church membership.

The Lord's Supper, sometimes called the Memorial Meal or Communion, pictures the broken body and sacrifice of our Lord in our behalf. All who have confessed Christ as Savior and Lord and have been baptized into one of his churches are welcome at the Table of the Lord as we celebrate the Lord's Supper.

Our Diversity

Our membership is diverse. Our members come from many social, religious, and ethnic backgrounds and have richly diverse spiritual journeys. Some are life-long believers and others have come to faith only in recent years. The church includes singles and married, divorced and widowed, senior adults and others much younger. Our diversity is reflected in church leadership - the ministerial staff, Deacons, Bible Study leaders - and in others.

Our Life Together

All are saved only by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ - not by perfect understanding, doctrine, or behavior. Love, according to the Apostle Paul, is more important than anything else in the believer's life. The love of Christ brings us into faith and the church, and is to guide all our relationships. Because we are Christ's followers, we commit ourselves to love and respect those with whom we disagree.

The Witness of the Church

Jesus came to "seek and to save that which is lost" because of his love for all humankind. In turn, Jesus assigned to his followers and his church the responsibility to "go into all the world and make disciples" (Matthew 28:19). Our church started as a mission chapel in 1978 and has been committed to witness to the love and life of God through evangelism and missions since.