Belong, believe, and become more like Jesus together with us.
Beliefs
All is a gift received from God.
God’s gracious plan is to save people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. God does this through the gift of salvation provided in Jesus and received by the work of the Holy Spirit. We look forward to when God will reign and live with humanity forever, and the experience of the Kingdom of heaven come to earth will be gracious, great, good, and glorious, filling all creation.
Genesis 1:1-2; Habakkuk 2:14; Ephesians 2:8-10; Revelation 5:9-10; Revelation 7:9-12; Revelation 11:15; Revelation 21:1-7, 22-27; Revelation 22:1-5, 17The Scriptures reveal to us the story of God.
Genesis through Revelation in the Bible tell us one story featuring a movement through creation, crisis, covenant community, Christ, and church to new creation. We receive the Bible as the inspired story of God written through human authors by the work of the Holy Spirit and believe it to be true and trustworthy. We rest upon Jesus and His gift of salvation for us graciously revealed in this story, and we submit to God's leading as the Holy Spirit directs us and shapes our words and actions.
Proverbs 30:5; Luke 24:44-48; 2 Timothy 3:14-17God is the good Creator who created a good humanity and a good world.
The universe is the good creation formed by the good communication of God. Human beings are created in the image of God, male and female together, diversity in unity, in order to reflect who God is together in the world; to relate to one another in steadfast love, justice, and mercy; and to care for creation in mutual service as we work, play, and rest, filling the earth with more image-bearers who give glory to God and cultivate the potential of creation.
Genesis 1:1-2; Psalm 33:6-9; Psalm 104:10-35; Micah 6:8Humanity invited in all the selfishness and self-destruction.
After God gave creation as a gift for us to cultivate, humanity chose instead to reject God's abundant vision for the world. Today, we continue to alienate ourselves from God, one another, and from the world we were given to bless and cultivate. The feeling and experience of life not being the way it's supposed to be are ramifications of our rebellion against God, which can be defined by trying to be our own saviors of the world and managing good and evil on our own terms. This choice has infiltrated our cultures, economy, society, politics, and religious life, causing poverty, injustice, racism, sexism, war, etc., ultimately damaging all of God’s creation, including us. We need God's justice mercy to save us from ourselves, remove evil, and make all things new.
Genesis 3:8-15; Psalm 14:1-6; Amos 2:4, 6-8; Romans 1:21-32; Romans 2:1-4; Galatians 5:19-21God loves us, seeks to redeem us, and will restore His creation.
Though we are distorted by sin, humans are made in the image of God and we are created for relationship with God. God loves and cares for us as family across all cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines, and has graciously come to us in generous justice, mercy, and grace to save us. God's arrival in Jesus is the defining moment in time and human history. All we need to do is turn from ourselves to the Savior.
Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 5:3-11; Romans 8:19-25; Galatians 3:28Jesus is the Savior, Healer, Redeemer, and King we all need.
The Gospel is the Good News that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Savior who brings God's redemption, reconciliation, and restoration to the world. Jesus reveals what life in the Kingdom of God on earth was intended to be like between God and humanity, and between humanity and the world. Jesus is the new Adam, the faithful Israelite, and the King God promised: He graciously gave His whole life to doing justice, mercifully loving people, and walking humbly on this earth in a beautiful and powerful display of Immanuel - God with us. And even as humanity's religious and political authorities rebelled and killed Him, in His death on the cross, Jesus took on our self-destruction and the brokenness of the world so that we can be reconciled with God. On the cross, Jesus entered into our suffering, defeating the powers of evil and accomplishing the redemption of all creation. He is the only One we can trust to resurrect our lives from the death spiral we've put ourselves and the world in. And in His bodily resurrection and ascension, He defeats death and showcases that humanity can and will be redeemed for our intended purpose on earth. Jesus reigns with grace and truth and sends us His Spirit to turn us to Him and lead us through the valley of the shadow of death into His abundant life so that we can be witnesses of His redemption and renewal. And when Jesus returns, He will accomplish God’s good justice, revealing what is true, finishing His defeat of evil and death, and removing all those who do not want His renewal, as He reconciles heaven and earth and makes all things new, good, beautiful, and true forever.
Mark 10:45; Luke 19:10; John 1:1-5, 14; John 3:16-17; John 10:10; John 12:46; Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:23-27; Ephesians 1:20-22; Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 1:13-20; 1 Timothy 1:15; Hebrews 1:1-3; Hebrews 2:10-18; Hebrews 4:14-5:2; Revelation 22:1-5, 17
The Holy Spirit of God empowers us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly.
The Bible testifies to the Holy Spirit’s activity both in creation and history. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and justice, leads us to faith and repentance, reminds us of what Jesus said, glorifies Jesus for who He truly is, and unites followers of Jesus, making real in them personally and communally what Jesus has accomplished. The Spirit gives gifts and the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and self control to proclaim and demonstrate the Gospel, discern what is true, pray in the will of God, and prevail over the forces of darkness. Throughout history, the people of God with the Spirit's help have been involved in sharing God’s liberation, reconciliation, justice, mercy, and steadfast love for the life of the world.
Genesis 1:1-2; Joel 2:28-32; John 14:15-21, 23-24; John 20:21-22; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:17-21; Romans 8:26-27; Galatians 5:22-23; Philippians 1:27-2:11; Titus 3:4-7We join with God in loving Worcester and living for the life of the world.
We have been blessed by God to to be a blessing to all who call Worcester home. We get to embody this posture towards people throughout our city because that's Jesus' posture to the world. People who follow Jesus in His Church today walk in continuity with God’s people in the Old Testament, called with Abraham to be a light to the nations; shaped and taught through the Torah and the prophets of Israel to be a community of holiness, compassion, shalom, and justice; and redeemed through the cross and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah to bring His ambassadors of reconciliation throughout the earth. We get to be commissioned by Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do justice, love, mercy, and walk humbly with God and others as we share the Gospel.
Genesis 12:1-4; Exodus 19:6-7; Isaiah 49:6; Jeremiah 29:4-7, 11-14; Micah 6:8; Matthew 25:31-46; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:42-47; Acts 4:2; Ephesians 2:11-22; Revelation 5:9-10; Revelation 7:9-10; Revelation 19:6-9
See also the Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed, Our World Belongs to God, and The Lausanne Covenant in unity with followers of Jesus who came before us, inspire us now, and continue to live faithfully around the world.
