GRACE
“You are saved by grace through faith and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift” Ephesians 2:8
Grace is the idea that God saves people who do not deserve to be saved. Since we all fail the perfection test (and most of us realize we are not even close), we all need grace. Fortunately, Jesus came to save the lost and the spiritually sick.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Since grace cannot be earned, Christians should be marked by humility and gratitude for God’s undeserved gift. In practice, grace means I don’t judge you harshly because I am all too aware of my many weaknesses and failures. A community rich in grace is a safe place to bring your baggage and troubles.
Our name reflects the balance that is so difficult to maintain in matters of faith and in all areas of life. We continually drift off course and move toward the extremes. The message of the Bible leads us toward a sustainable balance where we are guided by the truth of God’s word, humbled because we fail to obey it, and comforted by God’s grace to forgive and heal. While people tend to prioritize either grace or truth and lose sight of the other, Jesus came full of both grace and truth (John 1:14). Our church aims to follow his example and seeks to avoid the great harm done by truth without grace and by grace without truth.
TRUTH
“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” John 8:32
Freedom and fulfillment come through knowing and embracing the truth. We recognize the Bible as a reliable and authoritative source of truth. As God’s inspired word, we seek to understand and apply its teaching in all areas of life. Enlightened by God’s Spirit, the same Spirit of Truth who has worked in the church throughout history, we follow the pattern of Christianity established in the New Testament, modeled by the early church, and later expressed in creeds and doctrines.
GRACE & TRUTH IN THE CHURCH
Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love (Ephesians 4:15-16).
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11–13).