What We Believe

Summary Outline of What We Believe:

God

• There is one true and holy God, eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All things, seen and unseen, come from the Father and were created through The Son.

• We believe God shows His love, grace, and power by creating, sustaining, ruling, redeeming, and judging the world. His desire is to draw people into relationship with Him and into the life He intended us to live.

• Every person has value because we’re all made in God’s image. We’re created to love, live holy lives and care for the world. But we’ve all gone off track (we call this ‘sin’) and our sins separate us from God who will judge our sin.

Jesus

• You don’t have to earn God’s love; it’s freely given by God’s grace. Anyone can start a relationship with Jesus by recognising and turning away from sin and putting faith in Jesus Christ. God promises to hold us securely and walk with us in every step of our lives if we put our faith in Him.

• Jesus Christ, God’s eternal Son, was born of the Virgin Mary. He is fully God and fully human, yet without sin.

• Jesus lived in perfect obedience to God and willingly died on the cross in our place. He paid the price for our sins, defeating evil, so we could be forgiven and reconnected with God. The story didn’t end there – He rose from the dead, ascended to heaven and now reigns in glory, interceding for us with the Father.

• Jesus’ bodily resurrection is the foundation of our hope. Just as He rose from the dead, and ascended to the Father, we believe we too will rise to eternal life. Jesus now reigns with the Father until his return.

• Life doesn’t end when we die. One day, Jesus will return personally and visibly to fulfil God’s purposes and plan for human history. Everyone will be raised and judged. Those who’ve rejected Him will be separated from Him forever. Those who’ve trusted in Him will live forever with God and be rewarded for faithful service.

Holy Spirit

• The Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit who helps us and lives within us when we decide to put our faith in Jesus. He draws us to God, unites us with Jesus and gives us new life. He helps us grow, understand God’s truth and the Bible and live more like Jesus. He convicts us of our sins and leads us to make right choices in how we live. He gives assurance, strength, spiritual gifts and helps us to love others and share our faith.

The Bible

• The Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, is inspired by God, fully reliable and trustworthy. God spoke through real people in real times, using their language and style, to share His message. The original Scripture is completely accurate and is our go-to source for understanding faith, life and purpose. Where the Bible is silent, we seek God’s guidance, knowing each of us is ultimately accountable to Him.

The Church

• The Church is God’s people, joined together through Jesus. Everyone who has committed to following Christ becomes part of His worldwide Church. Scripture calls the Church to gather to worship God, pray, help one another know Him, grow in faith, and love and care for those around us. In doing so, we live in a way that reveals His kingdom on earth today.

The next four statements while not core principles, are truths we believe and teach at SCF

• Baptism – Water Baptism by full immersion symbolises our burial of the old life and our resurrection into God’s new life. It is for everyone who has chosen to follow Him, baptism is a required step of obedience, showing that we belong to Christ and want to live with Him at the centre of our lives.

• Communion – At His last meal, Jesus asked His followers to regularly eat bread and drink wine to remember Him. The bread is a symbol of His body, the wine a symbol of His blood. When we take these, we reflect on what He did for us on the cross and look forward to the day He returns.

• Committing to a local church – We believe this is vital for everyone’s spiritual health and growth. Christianity is meant to be learned and lived in community. Choosing to be an active part of a spiritual family gives real meaning to that commitment — you become part of our SCF Church Family.

• Marriage – We believe that God created humankind as men and women with equal worth, and that marriage is a lifelong union between one man and one woman. Sexual intimacy is reserved for that covenant relationship. Therefore, sexual activity outside of marriage is sinful.