FirstLight is our best response to what God is currently
doing in the world. It is not the “best kind
of church,” which elicits pride and an “Us” versus “Them” mentality.
Instead, it is our vision to be “a new kind of
church” which intentionally reclaims the essential
parts of the Christian faith and speaks this truth
into our 21st century, North American context.
Read below to see our beliefs in our Creedal Statement.
Creedal
Statement
•
Centers every hope, every decision in the fullness of
the Triune God revealed in the Life, Death, and Resurrection
of Jesus who is Christ. “A new kind of church”
entirely invests itself to loving God through our worship,
service, and our love for our fellow neighbors and enemies.
• Believes Jesus is Lord, the
authority of what is True and Right, and the “Caesars”
of this world are not. This Jesus calls his followers
to live counter-culturally as citizens of the Kingdom
of God personified by the Life of Jesus the Christed
King.
• Trusts the Bible as the “inspired
words of God.” The Bible is the revelation of
God’s nature and purpose evidenced in God’s
relationship with the Jewish people and the early Christians.
It is God’s Story and “The Story We Find
Ourselves In.”
• Is bold enough to both challenge
Tradition and embrace Tradition
• Takes seriously the destructive
impact Sin has on our lives, but Scripturally recognizes
that God’s “Grace is greater than Sin (Romans
5:20).”
• Understands salvation offers
more than life after death, but is a “this-world
reality.” It is the extension of God’s love,
God’s “salve,” for the healing of
the world and its transformation into the likeness of
Jesus, God’s Son.
• Confesses the Church’s
past and present sin done in the name of Jesus such
as slavery, genocide, hypocrisy, exploitation, prejudice,
and the omission of justice. Additionally, “a
new kind of church” must consistently speak out
against personal and systemic injustice and work toward
the righting of all relationships.
• Understands that the Church
is Mission. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked,
befriending the lonely in Jesus’ name is our purpose
and not just one of the things we do.
• Believes that God is bigger
than the Church ... always active even when the Church
is sleeping, wrong, or self-consumed.
• Welcomes and eats with the
people Jesus ate with
• Announces the equality of all
God’s children and embraces the sacred value of
our God-given diversity
• Believes that each person is a minister
called to serve God according to their gifts and passions
• Treats faith as a journey we
are all on; not as a guilt trip. Instead of bashing
people with the Bible, Evangelism looks more simple
invitations to “Come and See Jesus.”
• Values open-mindedness, the asking
of questions, dialogue, critical thinking, and the embracing
of the paradoxes of faith
• Testifies that belongings are
not our possessions, they are our relationships, who
belongs to us and who we belong to. “A new kind
of church” stresses living in community as part
of God’s loving plan for a “rich”
and meaningful life.
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