Understandings

• I believe that Jesus actually really is the Son of God. That to me means that He’s part of the three-part relationship of God of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
• I believe that all three were there right at the start, and before that. I believe that the world we lived in was designed by God and created by God. How, I don’t fully understand. But I do believe that God has the capability and the power to have created all things in 6 days if He had wanted to. On the other hand, evolving things from what was created wouldn’t really be a problem! Either way, I believe God was, and is, totally behind what I call creation.
• I believe that I’ve never met a perfect person. I believe that everyone has lapses, and so it’s not really that hard for me to contend that people are broken, and hurting and everyone is messed up and has messed up, at some point along the way.
• I believe that God has a real heart for people and wants all people to be restored to right relationships with one another and with Him. These are relationships filled with truth and honesty and integrity and grace and mercy and love and many other things.
• I believe that Jesus, the Son of God, was literally born on earth roughly in 0AD give or take 40-50 years. I believe that the bible sets out a fair chunk of what He did and said, including a bunch of things called “miracles” which were exactly as it says.
• I believe that the bible is a gift from God, and that the gospels (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) show us a better way of living and teach us things that God wants us to know about the kingdom of heaven.
• I believe that Jesus was born, lived and died on earth. I believe he was crucified. Then I believe He actually did, amazingly enough, come back from the dead.
• I believe that this act functioned as the greatest sacrifice, because through it, God could punish His own son, instead of humans, for the messing up and lack of goodness in each person’s life. So it functioned as a way back to God.
• I believe that people who call on the name of Jesus and also decide to live out their life in right ways not wrong ways, are offered that reconciliation, which is awesome.
• I believe that the reconciliation is not just redemption (which just means being bought back) but also restoration. It’s about God healing you in all your brokenness and hurting and problems - this is not a promise that everything gets fixed straight away (in fact, that day when there are no more tears is referred to as coming at another day in the book of Revelation) - but it’s about you working for restoration of His kingdom and to help others be healed and restored.
• I believe God wants to restore all things.
• I believe that people who follow Jesus (other people call them Christians but that word has baggage) are called to love God and love their neighbour.
• I believe that loving your neighbour involves serving and healing and mending and fixing what is wrong, in all situations. I believe we can be the hands eyes and feet of Jesus and do as He did - not only speaking words of grace and truth but also living the gospel as we are agents of grace, mercy, truth, gentleness and love and forgiveness.
• I believe that Jesus is the answer to the problems of the world.
• I believe that we are called to live the gospel as well as speak it, and even to live it before we speak it.
• I believe that one day there will be no more tears and no more crying and no more death and suffering. I believe that one day all things wil be beautful.