Our Beliefs

Etiam Peccatis (pronounced E-tie-em Pay-kay-tus) means, “Even out of our sins, God will draw good.” This was a phrase used by the early church to express and affirm the idea that God will take the mess we make of our lives and manage to pull something good out of it anyway. Our faults, failures, disappointments and sins cannot stop the continuous, astonishingly persistent, healing and mind blowing work of Jesus Christ in our lives (Romans 8:1-2, 38-39). We have come to know and proclaim that God loves us passionately, unconditionally, and continuously. This love has its best and fullest expression in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

We identify ourselves as an Ancient/Future Christian Community. We are Ancient because we not only meet in houses as the early church once met, but also hold to the same beliefs as witnessed by the apostles and proclaimed in the Holy Scriptures. We are also Future because we seek to make this historic faith alive and relevant to a 21st century world. We are a community because we seek to be a people sharing more than a building, a theology or a tradition. Jesus himself knit together a band of strangers with different backgrounds, expectations and beliefs into a community of brothers and sisters. They were more than disciples - Jesus called them His friends and He extends that friendship to us. It is the cornerstone of our Christian community.

We hold to Ancient Faith as expressed in the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed.

We also hold to the following beliefs and assumptions as being true.

	We believe in the one Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. From all eternity they have been sharing love, glory, and joy back and forth among themselves. In our creation, God opens His arms and invites us to join their fellowship.
	We believe that everyone has broken God’s heart by choosing at times to do what is wrong and evil rather than what is right. The scriptures call this “sin.” The truth is that we are all lost – we are all blind – we are all enslaved by sin.
	We believe in the good news that we are rescued from all of our faults, sins, and unrighteousness through the presence and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We believe this gift of redemption is for the whole world – for everyone. All who trust this endowment of grace will be made whole.
	We believe that Jesus Christ is God in human form. When we look at Christ, when we hear His words and tell of His deeds, we are seeing God in the flesh. That Jesus was able to rescue us from our being lost only because He was God. He could only rescue us because He was also a man.
	We believe that God’s great love is powerful and transforming – that it is stronger than any other power or force in the universe – even sin, evil or death. When we trust God’s love, live in God’s love, and abide by God love, it will change us more and more into the people He created us to be.
	We believe that the Holy Spirit is God’s gift to those who believe. The Holy Spirit is our counseler, comforter, tutor, encourager, and daily power. Our journey as Disciples of Christ is only possible because the Holy Spirit is present and animating our spiritual life.
	We believe that the Bible is God’s Word to us. When we allow the scriptures to teach us, guide us, and correct us, we come into alignment with God’s will and truth.
	We believe that the Church is the body of Christ here on earth. Through our love, friendship and fellowship, we strengthen one another, minister to the world, and bear witness to the truth of Jesus Christ and His work of redemption.

We recognize that the above list has great limitations and does not contain all that we believe. There is much more to be said and understood and even debated or refined than can be accomplished here. Yet we also think that such a cursory expression of our beliefs is also very helpful to understanding our foundational assumptions and truths.

While we hold these beliefs and assumptions to be true, you do not need to share them to come and fellowship with us. You simply need to respect our right to hold to them and use them as the foundation of our Ancient/Future Christian community – just as we respect your right not to. We even invite you to come and share your own beliefs and questions with us.