BEST NEWS EVER!!!
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BEST NEWS EVER!!! *
GOD’S GOOD NEWS IS ALWAYS GOOD! This is the gospel message.
Our front door has a lantern that represents the light of Christ. The symbol over the door portrays the Holy Spirit descending like a dove, a baptismal font inviting faith, and a communion table standing between the font and the rock of our salvation: Jesus Christ our Lord.
We assume that everyone needs to hear the good news of God’s love and grace, and everybody wants the welcome and hospitality that our congregation has to offer!
GOD WELCOMES YOU HERE AND SO DO WE!
THE PURPOSE OF RELIGION
The word “religion” means literally to “re-connect” what was once whole, but is now broken. Think of healing torn ligaments.
The stresses of daily life can make us feel broken, alienated from other people and our environment, and separated from God.
We strive to be the Christian religion at its best. We emphasize God’s love and grace; and focus on empowering, equipping, and encouraging you to connect to God, other people, and the earth.
Our God is a God of Love. We mean that God is a unified, three-in-one God, a Triune God, bound together in love.
Below is a symbolic picture of the Trinity. The link below it gives an explanation of the symbol of the Triune God. Please see also the links below the mailbox! Some of the images are of perichoresis, the creating Triune God dancing in love and joy.
LEFT, RIGHT, AND BELOW IS A SAMPLE OF THE GOOD NEWS THAT WE DELIVER
Because God is a community, and we are created in God’s image, we grasp that we cannot be human without community, from birth through death and beyond it. We are never without the Triune God who continues to create us, everybody, and everything. In God we are connected to - in relationship with - all of creation. Our responsibility is to live lovingly and intentionally in all relationships, as best we can.
As great as loving feelings are, for Christians love is action that happens however we feel. Love not lived out is not real.
Our brand of Presbyterians tend to see the various Christian denominations, such as Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, etc. (including our own) being akin to various flavors of ice cream in an ice cream shop. All are important; they all contribute to God’s purposes among us. Appreciating and respecting differences is a key component to being Presbyterian.
We speak about our love of Jesus Christ to people. This includes to people belonging to other faiths or who have no faith. We speak with them, and also listen to them, with the understanding that God has not left judgment to us. We are in sales, while God is in management.
If we listen carefully, we can learn from those who differ from us. Because is Jesus is Lord, we acknowledge that every universe, including every part of this one, belongs to God. Hence everything and everyone deserve respect.
One member of the Holy Trinity, God the Son, became human in order to
embody the loving being of God.
teach us how we humans should treat each other.
cast a vision of what Jesus called the kingdom or realm of God that has been, is, and always will be God’s aspiration for all of creation.
The realm of God teaches that institutions, organizations, and governments should strive for social justice for all creatures.
The realm of God mandates that humans practice mercy, forgiveness, and kindness.
The realm of God invites trust in God’s future.
(Micah 6:8; Matthew 23:23)
The link below offers a lesson on how to understand worship in the Reformed tradition.
What supports our confidence that everything we have said above is true?
Our daily life experience with the Living Christ provides us with the FOUNDATION of our conviction. Our faith is a mystical faith, one of direct experience of the Living Christ in a variety of ways.
In addition, we hold the Bible in high regard because - although it is such a human book - we experience the Risen Christ speaking to us through it. The Living Christ uses the Bible as WALLS, boundaries, against toxic forms of religion, including Christian ones that deny the social justice, mercy, and trust that Jesus says are his priorities.
Finally, the church is the ROOF, the protective cover for Christian community. As part of the church, people experience together struggles with God, celebrations of God’s love, communications with God, and lessons for practicing God’s love in the world. We are all in it together!
So our assurance comes from three sources: