Before you hit the road with us on this journey toward Jesus, you need to know what the Reidland Church believes. In this world, many people spend a lot of time describing what they do not believe. We have chosen instead to state what we do believe. For us, this best takes the form of a story. We have included it here for you to read. As you read, feel free to take notes and reach out to a minister, shepherd, or member with questions you may have.
We believe in a transcendent story whose central and primary figure is God, from beginning to end. God creates, reveals, redeems, and restores. And, significantly, God invites us to partner with him in his purposes as we become living characters in his grand narrative.
Before anything, there was God. Better yet, God is. He exists as a Triune Being--a perfectly balanced community of Father, Son, and Spirit. Love is the essential foundation of this relationship. From this community, love began to overflow into all creation.
This work of God, beginning even before creation, to the life of Jesus and onward, to the early years of his followers, was accurately recorded and transmitted to us in what we call “the Bible" The words were penned by humans but directed by the Holy Spirit so that what it contains is both a true representation of historical events and authoritative teaching for our lives. God ensured this book would be faithfully handed down through the generations so that, in every age, humans would be invited to learn and join the story of God contained within its pages. This living and active word of God is authoritative in the lives of all believers in all areas of doctrine, which includes our purpose, personal and corporate morality, religious practices, and community obligations.
The Triune God created the heavens and earth and all that inhabit them. Humans were created in God's image, as the highpoint of God's creation, to be in relationship with God and one another and to manage his creation. When humans fell away from their divine purpose, God began his loving work to redeem them and restore creation. Ultimately, God's redemptive work took expression through Jesus. As the ultimate expression of God's love, the fully divine Jesus became fully human. He lived among real men and women, taught them the truth, sacrificed his own life, and defeated death by trusting the Father to resurrect him. The Father did just that, resurrecting Jesus as the first of countless others to follow. The sacrificial work of Jesus and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit make possible unity in all creation. There is no other way of salvation but through Jesus.
Upon the death of Jesus'’ earthly body, God birthed a new spiritual body for him to preside over, the church. The church is the assembly of all whom God calls his own throughout the ages. God invites us to call upon the name of Jesus, turn from our wickedness, and be reborn through faith, repentance, and baptism into his family of believers who work together to advance His mission of love throughout the world. The church exists globally, in every gathering of people that God calls his own, but it also exists locally in small and large communities of believers living out the Christian life and calling as God's spiritual family. Grateful for being adopted children of God, we choose to be humbly formed more into the image of Christ and willingly submit ourselves to Christ's rule in and through this body of believers. By doing this, we are also called to the blessing of participation in forming others into the image of Christ.
God's call into his story is that humans should become like him in character. As Creator, he formed us with needs and desires only he can fulfill. As a result, the best version of life each of us can live is one in which we model our character after his. Honesty creates better relationships. Faithfulness builds trust. Gentleness serves the powerless around us. Goodness makes life better for others. Living into the law of God lifts us beyond the anarchy of the fallen creation. But, God's call to live as Jesus taught is also the primary form of how we show God our love. Jesus said," If you love me, keep my commandments" We love God by revering him, participating in his church, being honest people, and rejecting oppression, abuse, and violence. We love God by holding our tongues and our anger, giving unmerited forgiveness to others, and preserving sexual union for its intended place, a marital covenant between a man and a woman.
By cultivating Christian practices such as these, we participate in creation the way God intended it to be and work toward its full restoration as the kingdom of God.
Jesus will return and establish the new heaven and earth, the eternal kingdom of God. Curse lifted! Creation restored! Wrongs righted! Hope realized! Peace prevails! The redeemed will gather before the Triune God in eternal paradise. The promise will be realized as Jesus himself said," I am making everything new."
As we await complete renewal, we return to God's story (Scripture) as our guide. God is always the leading character in the story, and the church in every generation is called to follow his lead.