What we believe
A well-known children's prayer begins wtih the words: "God is great, God is good..."
These two phrases capture what we believe about God: that God's greatness is expressed as the Creator of the universe and the creator of each one of us. We believe that all life and all creation belong to God. That there is no part of our lives that is outside of God's care or concern. Sometimes Presbyterians say "In life and death, we belong to God."
This simple child's prayer also reminds us that God is good. Presbyterians believe that God's primary characteristic is love. And because we believe that God is love, we trust that God intends good for all of us. Therfore we don't fear God, but we know that even when we mess up our lives, even when we sin, God loves and is always ready to forgive us.
We believe that Jesus is unique among all the people who ever lived. Jesus was a human being who, like us, got hungry and thirsty, laughed and wept, loved others and felt abandoned. We also believe that Jesus was God. He was able to live a selfless life and was willing to suffer and die so that we might know God's amazing love for us. We believe that Jesus died and rose to new life and that we can have a relationship with him today.
We believe that God is present in our lives through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us know how God wants us to live and gives us the faith and the strength to live that life.
We believe that the Bible is God's word to us. In order to understand what God is saying to us through the Bible, we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us, we study it, we discuss it with others, we ask questions, we raise doubts, and we seek to live according to what we understand it saying to us. Because we can never fully grasp what it is saying to us, we commit ourselves to a lifelong process of study.
We believe that our faith is best lived out with other believers in the church. The church is both a local group of people who worship and serve together and it is also Christians everywhere.
These two phrases capture what we believe about God: that God's greatness is expressed as the Creator of the universe and the creator of each one of us. We believe that all life and all creation belong to God. That there is no part of our lives that is outside of God's care or concern. Sometimes Presbyterians say "In life and death, we belong to God."
This simple child's prayer also reminds us that God is good. Presbyterians believe that God's primary characteristic is love. And because we believe that God is love, we trust that God intends good for all of us. Therfore we don't fear God, but we know that even when we mess up our lives, even when we sin, God loves and is always ready to forgive us.
We believe that Jesus is unique among all the people who ever lived. Jesus was a human being who, like us, got hungry and thirsty, laughed and wept, loved others and felt abandoned. We also believe that Jesus was God. He was able to live a selfless life and was willing to suffer and die so that we might know God's amazing love for us. We believe that Jesus died and rose to new life and that we can have a relationship with him today.
We believe that God is present in our lives through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us know how God wants us to live and gives us the faith and the strength to live that life.
We believe that the Bible is God's word to us. In order to understand what God is saying to us through the Bible, we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us, we study it, we discuss it with others, we ask questions, we raise doubts, and we seek to live according to what we understand it saying to us. Because we can never fully grasp what it is saying to us, we commit ourselves to a lifelong process of study.
We believe that our faith is best lived out with other believers in the church. The church is both a local group of people who worship and serve together and it is also Christians everywhere.