What we believe
“God is love, and those who live in love live in God, and God lives in them”
1 John 4:16
Love is the reality at the heart of the universe and of the Christian faith. God loves each one of us and, as Christians, we are called to love God and love our neighbour.
​‘God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life’
(John 3:16)
God created all things and then in love became part of creation in Jesus Christ who is fully divine and fully human. Human evil killed Jesus by nailing him to a cross but God’s love is more powerful than the powers of evil so Jesus rose from the dead and offered us a way of sharing God’s life.
Jesus called God ‘Father’. His followers noticed that Jesus taught and did things which made it clear that he was the Son of God and shared the identity of the one God of Israel (Mark 2:7 & 1 Corinthians 8:6). The Apostle Thomas called Jesus, ‘My Lord and my God’ (John 20:28). Jesus also sent the Holy Spirit on his followers after he had risen from the dead and the experience of the Spirit showed them that the Spirit is also God (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18). Jesus thus revealed to us the Holy Trinity: there is one God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). God is not a solitary power but a communion of love.
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In the Church, Christians live out their faith by committing themselves to follow Jesus teaching to ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself’ (Luke 10:27). We love God by prayer and worship, and love our neighbour by loving service. Throughout the ages Christians have been known for their service of the poor and commitment to social justice, and this continues today.
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The Christian faith is summed up in a statement of faith called the Nicene Creed, compiled in the fourth century. We say it together during our Sunday worship:
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We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father; through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
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Amen