Belief Statements
We Believe
We Believe…
That it is reasonable to follow Jesus Christ daily, radically, totally in life.
That it is practical to obey the Sermon on the Mount, and the whole New Testament literally, honestly, sacrificially.
That it is thinkable to practice the way of reconciling love in human conflicts and warfare, non-defensively and non-resistantly.
That it is possible to confess Jesus as Lord above all nationalism, racism, or materialism.
That it is feasible to build a communal church of brothers and sisters who are voluntary, disciplined, and mutually committed to each other in Christ.
That life can be lived simply, following the Jesus-way in lifestyle, in possessions, in service.
What Are Reba's Beliefs?
Allan Howe (1978)
As Christians we start with Jesus. For us he is Lord and Savior, Son of God and man among men, teacher of truth and healer of the nations. He came as Israel’s promised Messiah, suffered and died confronting human sin with the love of God, and rose from death by God’s power. He now reigns in heaven until He returns with God’s full justice. His rule is visible on earth in the Spirit-filled life of his people, the Church.
We believe that the Lord is present in our midst speaking to us and guiding us in a lively, daily way as we listen and yield. That is our basis for discernment, authority and ministry.
We believe that God desires all persons to discover their identity as his children. All who turn from their sin and reach out to their waiting heavenly Father find themselves within a new family gathered around Jesus.
We see the distinctive convictions and practices of that family reflected quite clearly in the witness of the sixteenth century Anabaptists. Like them we view God’s church family as a community of believers baptized only upon individual confession of faith. Like them we hold Jesus’ way and words to reveal truly God’s direction for his people: unreserved love and sharing, honesty and mutual responsibility in relationships, the renunciation of coercion and violence, active outreach to the world in service and witness. Like the Anabaptists we believe that such living is possible only by the grace of God and the power of his Spirit. He enables, we follow, and what begins with faith in the Lord Jesus leads to growing experience with Him.
What We Believe
We believe all the basics of what Christians believe; the Apostles’ Creed pretty much sums it up. We believe in one God, and in his son Jesus the Messiah, who died so we could be saved from our sins. We believe Jesus rose again and ascended to Heaven, and left us the Holy Spirit, the presence of God, to guide us in following him. We believe the Bible is the true and accurate record of God’s dealings with the human race.
So what makes us different? (Should anything we {i believe} make us different from other Christians?) What makes us uniquely who we are as a Christian community is what we try to do about what we believe, how we live it out in our daily lives together. Here are some things we’ve latched onto in trying to live a common Christian life.
We believe in the words of James: “Faith without works is dead.” And even more in the words of Jesus, who tells us that a firm foundation for our lives comes not from just listening to what he says, but from doing it. We don’t believe in earning brownie points with God, but in becoming disciples of Jesus who obey his words, and teach others to do so.
We believe that when Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount he meant it. Some of the things he told us to do in that sermon are hard. But we are trying to grow, by God’s grace, into people who live by those teachings.
We believe in the body of Christ as a very practical reality. The Christian life was meant to be lived together. In community we can come alongside each other, we can give and receive help in following Jesus. It’s pretty hard to be a hypocrite when you live with your church! Also, in relating to God as a body, not just as individuals, we see him more clearly. And we get some confirmation, when we feel him working among us, that it’s not just our imagination.
We practice Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 18: “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother….” This passage is often taught as the methodology for “church discipline,” but we believe that Jesus taught it primarily for the purpose of reconciliation. Honesty, repentance, and forgiveness are absolutely vital to a community of disciples; gossip and manipulation, sins this teaching is meant to prevent, can kill one very quickly. Living as closely as we do, personal resentments and bitterness are a real danger, so we need this teaching badly.
We draw on the example of the early church in Acts 4:32 for our life as an intentional community. We own everything in common, believing this to be a good antidote to the worship of money that is so deeply rooted in our culture. We also believe in living simply in order to free up more money for things that advance the kingdom of God.
We have a strong orientation toward practical service. That may come from how we read the Bible, or from Reba’s Anabaptist heritage, or maybe from just responding to the people and life around us.
We believe in sharing the gospel with anyone who wants to hear it, but you’ll find us more often doing practical things for the people living around us simply because we believe God calls us to serve others.