Parkview Community Church Beliefs
GOD
God is the one infinite, personal, spiritual being, unchangeable in His attributes. He is Creator and Ruler of the universe who eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
JESUS CHRIST
Jesus is the Son of God; deity in the flesh. Jesus did not come to inform us of what religious rules and rituals to keep to earn eternal life. Instead Jesus came to forgive sin and rescue us through his life, death and resurrection. God’s forgiveness comes to those who humbly admit their failure and need for a Rescuer. It is by grace through faith we experience life.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and Son. He is present in the world to reveal humanity’s need for Jesus Christ. From the moment of salvation, he is present in every believer providing Christians with spiritual insight, truth, wisdom, and guidance in doing what is right, good, healthy and true.
BAD NEWS, GOOD NEWS
All people are created in the image of God and are the supreme objects of His love. Although designed for fellowship with him, humanity became alienated from God through willful disobedience. As a result, all people are born with a sinful and rebellious nature. Since human beings are incapable of regaining a right relationship with God through their own efforts, God offers grace. That grace comes by way of personal faith in Jesus.
SCRIPTURE
The Bible is God’s revealed Word to all people. Both the Old and New Testament are equally inspired, authoritative and without error in the original manuscripts. It is the final authority for our belief and conduct.
THE CHURCH
The Church is the entire body of those people who through faith in Jesus embrace God’s offer of grace and are reconciled to him and receive new life. The universal church refers to all those who have been born of the Spirit of God, and by that Spirit are baptized into the Body of Christ. The local church refers to an assembly of believers in any one locality, constituted by accountability to God and to one another. Within the local church, Believer’s Baptism and Communion, as instituted by Jesus, are practiced as visible expressions of obedience and faith.
CHRISTIANITY
At its core, biblical Christianity is a transaction between a person and the God who created them. Becoming a Christian means to move from knowing things about God to knowing him intimately. Christianity is both rational and experiential.
How to become a Christian is an important matter. One of humanity’s greatest challenges rests in the notion that if we are good and religious enough we can impress God. This emphasis on performance is the narrative of religion suggesting it is possible to merit God’s eternal favor. Christianity alone asserts that humanity is sinfully flawed to such a degree we can never be “good enough” to earn the favor of a holy God. We need forgiveness of and rescue from sin. Therefore, GRACE – the unmerited favor of God is our only hope.
Christianity affirms that Jesus did not come to inform us how to live and what religious rituals to keep to earn merit life. Jesus comes to forgive sin and rescue us through his life, death and resurrection. God’s grace comes to those who humbly admit their failure and inability to perform and acknowledge their need of a rescuer…their need of divine grace.
