Faith

BELIEF AND COMMUNITY

The best way to understand what we believe is to come and be a part of our community. You don’t have to hold these beliefs to experience a sense of belonging. We seek to humbly express the beliefs of our core community through our words and actions, while welcoming everyone, regardless of their beliefs, to join us.

THE APOSTLES’ CREED

Oak Church affirms, with the Church throughout the ages:

We believe in God the Father: Almighty Creator of heaven and earth.

We believe in Jesus Christ: God’s only Son, our Lord.  Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, died, and was buried;  He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again;  He ascended into heaven, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

We believe in the Holy Spirit: The holy catholic Church, The communion of saints, The forgiveness of sins, The resurrection of the body, And the life everlasting. Amen.

We affirm seven core beliefs:

GOD

We believe in one God who is the maker of all things visible and invisible (Gen 1:1). We believe he is perfectly loving, completely powerful, and entirely holy, and is the only absolute and all-powerful ruler of the universe (1 Pet 1:16, Lev 11:44, Ps 103:19). We want to be loving because He is loving, we want to be merciful because he is merciful, and we want to be just because He is just (Mt 5:48, Luke 6:36).

JESUS

We believe that Jesus is the perfect reflection of God’s heart, character, beauty and love. We believe that God has spoken to the world through Jesus so that we may know of God’s way, truth and life (Heb 1:1-3, Rom 1:19-21). We believe that Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15), and where his name is lifted up, he draws all humanity to himself (Jn 14:6). We affirm that salvation comes by God’s grace to sin-filled people, through faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). Jesus is our savior, baptizer in the Spirit, healer, and soon-coming King.

HOLY SPIRIT

We believe that the Holy Spirit draws sinners to Christ and equips believers for personal growth and service to His Church, transforming us into the image of Jesus Christ (Jn 16:5-15; Rom 8; 1 Cor 12). The Holy Spirit works in our lives to teach us, convict us, speak to us and empower us so that we may reflect God’s character in our daily lives (Jn 14:26, Gal 5:22-23).

SCRIPTURE

We believe that the Bible is unique and God-inspired and reveals God in Christ to us by the Holy Spirit. It is a pathway into God’s presence, a compass that guides our lives, and a force that transforms our faith. We believe that Scripture is entirely trustworthy and is our guide for truth, faith and life (2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pet 1:20-21; Mt 5:18; Jn 16:12-13; Ps 19:7-11, 119:105). Together the Scriptures form a complete story. This larger story moves from chaos to order, from first creation to new creation, and from covenant to renewed covenant. Though none  of its authors could have seen the way their writings would eventually fit together,  we now look at the finished product and marvel at God’s work.

HUMANITY

We believe that all humanity is fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God and designed to live in loving relationship with God (Gen 1:26-27, Ps 139:13-16, Jer 1:5). Woven into our being is a longing to connect with our Creator, but humanity has fallen into sin and evil and become separated from God. As a result, we need God’s saving grace to end our alienation from Him. Salvation comes only through God’s grace – not human effort – and must be received personally by repentance and faith.

THE CHURCH

We believe that the Church is a global and local expression of people purposing to live the way of Jesus. The church does this through love, peace, sacrifice, and healing,  as we embody the resurrected Christ, who lives in and through us. We hope to be vessels of Jesus’ love to a broken and hurting world. (Mt 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, 2:1-47, Eph 1:22-23, 4:11-13, 5:25-30, 1 Cor 12:27). We believe that our most credible form of witness is the creation of a living, breathing, visible community of faith; a group of people devoted to living the life of Christ; a place where God is forming a family out of strangers; and a people who proclaim the Gospel in both word and deed. In this way the church acts as a signpost to the Kingdom of God.

THE RENEWAL OF ALL THINGS

We believe in the ‘blessed hope’, the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones. We look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness will dwell and reign forever. We believe that the day is coming when Jesus Christ will return in power and glory to complete his salvation and judgment, bringing an end to injustice and restoring all things to God’s original intent (I Thes. 4:13-18; Is 60; Rev. 19:11-16, 20:1-6; I Thes. 1:10, 5:9; Rev. 3:10; Matt. 25:46; 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 20:11-15; Rev. 21-22).