Statement of Faith

I believe in God who is my maker and sustainer, and the maker and sustainer of all that is visible and invisible. God alone can give life meaning and purpose. Any person seeking elsewhere for these things is doomed to failure.

Jesus Christ is the only begotten of God. Jesus was with God from the beginning. It is through Jesus Christ that God created and sustains all things.

From our creation we have been made in the image of God. We have been blessed by this but not satisfied with it. Our first ancestors chose to try to be like God, and in so choosing they destroyed the fellowship they had with God. Thus loosing the power of sin in the world. Sin grabs each of us in its trap, bringing us inexorably to death. This we deserve, because of our disobedience. Sin colors all that we do. It is seen in the exploitation and neglect of creation by all humanity. Even though we have constantly turned our backs on God, He has been gracious to us, continually entering into history so that our broken relationship might be restored. The Bible in the Old and New Testaments contains the record of this redemptive history. In the Old Testament we discover God’s love and his limits for us shown again and again to Israel, the covenant people of God. In the New Testament this covenant was made effective for all people by God’s supreme act of grace, the willing sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary. It was in the cross of Jesus Christ that the power of sin was broken and our shattered relationship with God restored. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ the power to break sins hold over us is demonstrated.

The Holy Spirit proceeds from God and Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit has been given to all who accept the payment Jesus made for their sin. The Holy Spirit comforts, convicts, instructs, and guides us. We are led by the Spirit into the fellowship of the Church catholic. This Church transcends the walls of denominational preference. It consists of all who are bound to one another, and to the Lord, by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. God has given the Church the sacraments as gifts of spiritual nourishment and proclamation. Baptism is the act of initiation into the body of Christ. Baptism looks forward to it’s confirmation in the confessing faith of the recipient, and to a life lived as a sacrifice to God. The elements of communion are a reminder of the sacrificial act of Christ. In partaking of communion we visibly proclaim our Lord’s sacrifice until He comes again. The Holy Spirit has also given the Church the written Word (the Bible) which is to be preached, proclaimed, and lived out. This is done so the world might hear God’s Good News, that some might be saved and that God might receive glory.

Thus equipped with the sacraments, the Word, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Church is called by God to demonstrate to a broken world, the new creation found in Jesus Christ. By the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, the Church is to demonstrate the reconciling love of God. This love has broken down every wall and made all things new. The Church is to minister to the poor, the sick, the old, and the unfortunate. The Church must seek to bring justice, righteousness and peace to our world which is marred by sin.

By God’s grace may He find His Church engaged in these tasks when Jesus comes again in power.

Rev. Van Lahmeyer