Beliefs

What We Believe

Church is not an organization you join. It's a family where you belong, a home where you are loved, and a community where you find meaning, purpose, and hope.
At Spry Church, we emphasize a passionate, purposeful faith in the Lord, living faith that works by love. We affirm God's unique revelation in the Bible and in Jesus Christ as good news for the whole world, and that includes you! We celebrate that God's loving, transformative grace is freely available to everyone through Jesus Christ.

TRINITY
  • We believe in one God, the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
GOD
  • We believe that God created the world and all that is in it.
  • We believe that God is sovereign; that is, God is the ruler of the universe.
  • We believe that God is loving. We can experience God’s love and grace.
JESUS CHRIST
  • We believe that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man, in whom the divine and human natures are perfectly and inseparably united. He is the eternal Son of God and the sole Savior of the world. He lived as a man and died when he was crucified.
  • We believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and that the risen Christ lives today.
  • We believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the living hope for individuals, families, communities, and our world.
  • We believe that Jesus is our Savior. Through faith in Christ we receive abundant life and forgiveness of sins.
  • We believe that Jesus is our Lord and that we are called to pattern our lives after his.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
  • We believe that the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, is the Lord and giver of life.
  • We believe that the Holy Spirit is God’s personal presence and power at work within us and around us.
  • We believe that the Holy Spirit comforts us when we are in need and calls us to repentance when we stray from God.
  • We believe that the Holy Spirit awakens us to God’s will and empowers us to live obediently.
  • We believe that God pours his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, sanctifying us and helping us grow in love for God and others.
THE BIBLE
  • We believe that the Bible is God’s Word.
  • We believe that the Bible is the primary authority for our faith and practice.
  • We believe that Christians need to know and study the Old Testament and the New Testament.
  • We believe that in our task of interpreting the Bible we are guided by the Holy Spirit and the tradition of the church.
  • We believe that the Bible points us to Jesus, and that our individual and collective stories find their deepest meaning and fulfillment in the light of God’s grand story in Jesus.
HUMAN BEINGS
  • We believe that every human being is created in God’s image, with inherent dignity and purpose, and someone for whom Jesus died and rose again. All people have been made to know, love, and serve God.
  • We believe that human beings can choose to accept or reject a relationship with God.
  • We believe that all human beings need to be in relationship with God in order to be fully human. In their search for meaning, belonging, and fulfillment, people need Jesus and the ministry of the church.
THE CHURCH
  • We believe that the church is the body of Christ, an extension of Christ’s life and ministry in the world today.
  • We believe that the mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
  • We believe that the church is the communion of saints, a community made up of all past, present, and future disciples of Christ.
  • We believe that the church is called to worship God and to support those who participate in its life as they grow in faith.
  • We believe that the church is a sign, instrument, and foretaste of the kingdom of God.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
  • We believe that the kingdom or reign of God is both a present reality and future hope.
  • We believe that Jesus inaugurated the kingdom of God on earth in his life, death, and resurrection.
  • We believe that the fulfillment of God’s kingdom—the complete restoration of creation—is still to come.
  • We believe that the church is called both to bear witness to what the fulfillment of God’s kingdom will be like and to participate, by grace, in helping to bring it to completion.
  • We believe that the reign of God is both personal and communal, ultimately encompassing all of society under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
BAPTISM
  • We believe that baptism is a symbol of new life in Jesus Christ, who commands us to go and make disciples and to baptize people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
  • We believe that baptism is a sign of God’s love and forgiveness of our sins, our acceptance of that gift by grace through faith in Jesus, and our desire to live as faithful followers of Jesus.
  • We believe that baptism is also connected to ongoing instruction and formation, teaching people to obey all that Jesus commands us.
THE LORD'S SUPPER OR HOLY COMMUNION
  • We believe that the Lord’s Supper represents the holy meal that Jesus prepared for his followers when he said, on the night in which he gave himself up for us, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
  • We believe that through the Lord’s Supper God invites us to remember the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and to celebrate the unity we share with one another in Christ.
  • We believe that by sharing in this meal, we give thanks for Christ’s sacrifice, receive a foretaste of the heavenly banquet described by Jesus, and are nourished and empowered to go into the world in mission and ministry. About once per month we celebrate Communion, which is open to all who seek the Lord.
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