Our Distinctive Beliefs

We have many distinctive beliefs as Presbyterians. Here are a few. To learn more, check out "Presbyterian 101" at the denomination’s website, http://www.pcusa.org/101/.

And of course, the best way to find out about our beliefs is to get to know us at worship with us! Our pastor, Barnabas, is thrilled to discuss issues of faith and life, like the following.

We seek a dynamic relationship with God

It is amazing that the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, who created us and knows everything about us, wants a relationship with us. Knowing God is not a matter of knowing the "right" answers to certain questions, but is an ongoing process of asking, seeking, knocking.

So we Presbyterians ask questions, seek answers, and knock on God’s door in prayer. Some churches seem to think that if you ask questions, you don’t have enough faith. We believe the opposite! We believe people with "pat" answers to tough questions have not explored their faith deeply enough.

For this reason, Presbyterians have always encouraged education. John Calvin, one of our founding theologians, started the first public school in Geneva, Switzerland, to teach children to read the Bible for themselves! All of our ministers must have Master’s degrees, and must learn both Greek and Hebrew, so they can study the Bible in its original languages. We take seeking seriously!

This also means Presbyterians don’t always agree. When different people seek, sometimes they find different answers. We believe that we find better answers together, even with people who disagree, than we do on our own. So our personal relationship with God is not just "God-with-me," but is really "God-with-us," too.

We believe salvation comes from God, not from anything we do.

The Bible proclaims, "Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23-24). Salvation is a gift from God! There is nothing we have to do, or even can do, to "earn" salvation. God is in charge of salvation, not us.

God loves us even though we are not perfect. In fact, we do all sorts of things that make God sad or angry. But God loves us anyway, because God is love. In fact, the person we are most certain is in heaven, was a criminal hanging on a cross next to Jesus. Jesus told him he’d go to heaven, so we're sure! And the only things we know about him are (1) he was a criminal, who deserved to be executed, and (2) he believed Jesus was the sinless Messiah. (For the story, read Luke 23:39-43.) If God loved that criminal, and brought him to heaven, then God loves us, too, and will bring us to heaven if we believe in Jesus!

Some churches teach that you have to pray some "sinner’s prayer" and then get baptized a certain way to go to heaven. But that’s not what the Bible says! The Bible says salvation is a free gift! Neither Jesus, nor Paul, nor anyone else in the Bible ever tells anyone to pray a "sinner’s prayer," and the words of such a prayer do not appear in scripture.

Instead, the Bible says that "God so loved the world" – the whole world, including YOU! – "that he gave his only Son" (Jesus), "so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but will have eternal life" (John 3:16). The only thing you have to "do" is to believe that God loves you, and showed you that love in Jesus Christ.

What about baptism? Baptism is the sign that you are adopted into the family of God. Baptism with water is a sign we do here on earth, that represents what God has done in heaven. God writes our names into his family book, called in Revelation the "Book of Life." It doesn’t matter when that happens — whether you’re an adult, or a child, or a baby. God in heaven is not limited by what we do on earth!

God adopts us only once. Any church that re-baptizes people who have already been baptized is saying that other church’s baptisms aren’t "good enough." But the truth is, no human baptism is "good enough": our salvation depends only on God being good enough to love us!

So we baptize both adults and infants, but we do not re-baptize people who have been baptized in other Christian churches. And we trust that God is totally in charge of salvation.

We believe that God calls us not just for heaven, but for life here on earth.

Salvation is free, but it’s not cheap! Being adopted into God's fmaily means we must abide by family rules.  Some churches seem to think all God wants is for people to become Christians, then wait for heaven. No way! God calls us to action. In fact, the theologian Karl Barth pointed out that in the Bible, God never calls anyone to salvation without giving them a task in ministry.

One of the things we are called to do is to make disciples. That means teaching other people to follow Jesus, by believing in him and living as he would have us live. Jesus’ last words to his disciples before he went to heaven were, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20).

Of course, to make disciples, we have to BE disciples! Our lives should reflect Jesus’ purity, and Jesus’ love for everyone. That is not because God doesn’t want us to have fun. God tells us what is best for us, because God loves us! Jesus said, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10).  God wants us to enjoy life to the fullest, and we can only do that through holy, loving lives.

But God wants more for us than just being moral. God calls us to work for justice in society, too. Through all the Bible, but especially in the prophets and in Jesus’ teachings, God shows how much God cares for the poor and the oppressed in society. God wants us to work for justice for those people, so this world will reflect God's kingdom.

That means we Presbyterians often get involved in politics, and in social service agencies like Habitat for Humanity. It is simply part of being Christian – a part many churches leave out.

We believe God calls both women and men into every ministry of the church.

We ordain both women and men to be church leaders, elders, and pastors. We do this because we believe it is the best expression of the Bible's teachings.

Some passages in the Bible seem to suggest that women should not be church leaders. For instance, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:34, "Women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate," and 1 Timothy 2:12 says, "I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent." Both of these passages have been used by men to prevent women from being church leaders.

But we should remember that both of these passages were written by men in a specific time period, in letters to specific people. Paul is very careful to say when his message is from him and when it is from God (read, for instance, 1 Corinthians 7:10 and 7:20); he does not say women’s silence is commanded by God, but by him. This may have been a result of his own cultural upbringing. Remember, even though Paul did amazing things for God, Paul was imperfect, just like us!

God treats women very differently. The Bible says that God created both men and women, equally in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Jesus had women followers who were called "disciples," even though none of the Twelve were women (Luke 8:1-3). And let’s not forget that when Jesus was raised from the dead, he appeared first to women, and both the angel and Jesus told the women to spread the good news to the disciples (Matthew 28:1-10). If God ordains women to preach and teach, we decided we should too!

If you are seeking a deeper relationship with God, or have questions about any of these statements, please contact our pastor at barnabas_sprinkle@hotmail.com.  He is always happy to discuss issues of faith and life.