What do Christians Believe?
It is important that we understand what we believe so that we can rejoice in the great truths of scripture and also so that we can guard against false messages.
Who is Jesus?
No person has influenced the world as much as Jesus, and so understanding who Jesus really is, is important.
Want to Know more?
Want to know more about Jesus? No matter what your current perception of God or Christianity is, we would love to chat with you, read the Bible with you or have you at one of our Hope Explored courses. At a Hope Explored course we spend four sessions looking at the hope the you can have in Jesus Christ.
The Nicene Creed
Our faith isn't a new one and we highly value the work of God in Christians who have gone before, which is preserved in traditions, documents and in creeds. A creed is a statement of really important beliefs. Here we'll unpack the Nicene Creed, which we affirm by saying together every Sunday in our services.
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe that there is only one God and that in his infinite power, he created everything in the whole universe including things we can see (like dogs and planets) as well as things we can't see (like gravity and happiness). We also believe that the all-powerful God wants a close relationship with us, like that of a good father.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made.
We believe that Jesus is the only Son of God and that he too is eternal, just as God the Father is. Christians don't believe that Jesus is another God, but that he is one with God (along with the Holy Spirit who we meet later in the creed).
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man.
Because of God's great love for us, he sent his only Son (Jesus) to earth to live as human, just like you and I. He was born a baby, just like you and I were, but wasn't conceived in the same way, he was born of the Holy Spirit to a young woman called Mary who was a virgin.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.
In order to pay the pentalty of our sin (ways that we have acted against God and rejected him) Jesus was crucified. He suffered the most painful death possible, bearing the weight of all our sins.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
But the good news is that Jesus didn't stay dead, he rose again (just as the Bible said he would). Jesus then continues to minister for 40 days after he rose, being seen by over 500 people before he ascended.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
Jesus isn't gone for good though, we believe he is coming back to judge the world and be a perfect ruler for all his people. This is good news, his justice will be perfect which means that no wrong dead done by anyone will go unpunished. It is also good news that through Jesus' death and resurection we can be found right before God.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in the Holy Spirit is also God (just like Jesus and the Father) and that he should also be worshiped.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We believe that the church is for the whole world, not just one racial group (catholic) and that is it built on the teachings of the disciples that Jesus appointed (apostolic).
We believe in baptism the ritual by which we are united to Jesus in his death and ressurection by going under water which also symbolises the cleansing of our hearts. It is through Jesus' death and ressurection that our sins can be forgiven.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
We beileve that at the end of time all people will rise from the dead either to judgement and eternity away from God (hell) or eternity with God (heaven). We believe that all Christians will have life eternal with God forever.
