what i believe

I am gripped by God’s love for us.

I am gripped because his love gives me life. I am convinced that it was God who brought the universe into existence, and that it is God who breathes life into the world every day. He orchestrates the movement of the planets, oversees the changes of the seasons, and raises the sun every morning. He gives breath to our lungs, provides bread for our stomachs, numbers the hairs of our heads and sustains the beating of our hearts. God is not distant and removed: this is his world and he is the one who gives it life.  

Even more than that, I am gripped by God’s love because he gave the life of his Son for us. Despite our indifference and selfishness, greed and pride, God sought us out. In Jesus he came to us forgiving the guilty, healing the sick, caring for the poor, and welcoming the outcast. When Jesus willingly offered his life for ours on the cross, he reconciled us to our maker. When he rose three days later, he conquered death and opened up for us a whole new way of life.  This is a love we can’t ignore.  

What’s more, I am God’s love because his love promises a better day. When I look around and see the anger, violence, greed, pain and death that still mark God’s world, I cling to Jesus’ promise to come again: I long for the day when he will wipe away every tear and make all things new. And when I look inside and see the same things - problems, weaknesses, imperfections, sin - in myself, I rejoice in Jesus’ resurrection because it promises that I too will share in the life of the age to come.

- adapted slightly from my church’s statement about what we believe :)