We believe the God of the Bible is the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
2 Corinthians 13:14 TNIV
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
2 Corinthians 13:14 TNIV
Mystery. That's all the Trinity was to me for many years--one of those inexplicable things about God that just was. You couldn't understand it, or understand why. You just accepted it as true. Or maybe you didn't. I don't remember many sermons about the Trinity. I don't recall it being discussed very often. No teacher or preacher really wanted to talk about something they couldn't explain and may have struggled to understand themselves.
The biggest problem was, "why?" What's the point? Why would God exist in such a confusing way? God existing as three simultaneous and co-equal persons seemed unnecessarily weird, especially if God wanted to relate to human beings.
I didn't understand the Trinity because I didn't understand community. I didn't understand how deeply relationship goes to the core of God's being. And it showed in the way I viewed my own life, the church, and all of Christianity. The Trinity was the clue I was missing.
God is three persons existing in constant and perfect relationship with each other. Once you see that, how could it be otherwise? God's true nature is so opposite of the cosmic Loner we often perceive. Relationship--Love--is so central to His being that it manifests in the Trinity, and his character becomes the model for everything and everyone He has created.
The Trinity is the basis for most of the other core beliefs. Trinity explains why God is a Personal God, why we have Identity in Christ, why all of Humanity is loved by God, why Compassion and Stewardship are important, and is the relational model for the Church. If love, mutual deference, and mutual honor weren't so much a part of who God is, these other things would not be true. God loves us, but God's love has been expressed in His person before there even was such a thing as us.
Maybe we think it's weird because we've sunk that far. Existing that closely in relationship grates against our individualism. It causes us to think twice before we go our own way. But if we embrace God's relational nature, it changes all of life. If Trinity is Truth, then life is different than we thought, and what was once weird about God is now poignant, beautiful, and yes, mysterious.
How much do you truly believe Trinity? Not just as doctrine, but as the model and foundation for life as a Christ-follower. Do you believe in Trinity enough for "me" to give way to "you" and "us"?
The biggest problem was, "why?" What's the point? Why would God exist in such a confusing way? God existing as three simultaneous and co-equal persons seemed unnecessarily weird, especially if God wanted to relate to human beings.
I didn't understand the Trinity because I didn't understand community. I didn't understand how deeply relationship goes to the core of God's being. And it showed in the way I viewed my own life, the church, and all of Christianity. The Trinity was the clue I was missing.
God is three persons existing in constant and perfect relationship with each other. Once you see that, how could it be otherwise? God's true nature is so opposite of the cosmic Loner we often perceive. Relationship--Love--is so central to His being that it manifests in the Trinity, and his character becomes the model for everything and everyone He has created.
The Trinity is the basis for most of the other core beliefs. Trinity explains why God is a Personal God, why we have Identity in Christ, why all of Humanity is loved by God, why Compassion and Stewardship are important, and is the relational model for the Church. If love, mutual deference, and mutual honor weren't so much a part of who God is, these other things would not be true. God loves us, but God's love has been expressed in His person before there even was such a thing as us.
Maybe we think it's weird because we've sunk that far. Existing that closely in relationship grates against our individualism. It causes us to think twice before we go our own way. But if we embrace God's relational nature, it changes all of life. If Trinity is Truth, then life is different than we thought, and what was once weird about God is now poignant, beautiful, and yes, mysterious.
How much do you truly believe Trinity? Not just as doctrine, but as the model and foundation for life as a Christ-follower. Do you believe in Trinity enough for "me" to give way to "you" and "us"?
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