Statement of Faith
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		I believe in God, the Sovereign of the universe, by whose Word all things are created and sustained; who seeks to reconcile the wayward. The divine plan for creation seems as follows: First comes (1) the Spirit, from whom comes (2) justice/righteousness, in order that we may have (3) peace/security, to the end that we all may know (4) abundant life.   [ref., Isaiah 32.15-25] To begin the fulfillment of this plan, God established the covenants with creation through Noah and with the chosen Israelites through Abraham, complete with a promise of eventual, total renewal.  I articulate the meaning of history as the reconciliation of the creation and the Creator by the Creator.
		I believe that Jesus of Nazareth embodied the fulfillment of the covenants.  Fully human, he came to us as the fully divine Word of God, the Son of God.  He is the Way of God who, through word and deed, revealed and effected the divine will and purpose for all creation.  During the crucifixion, the creation judged the Creator in Christ and sentenced death as the penalty for sinning against it.  But so too did the Creator through Christ-who is the Day of the Lord-judge creation.  However, the divine sentence was one of mercy rather than of retribution.  On the cross Jesus bore the entirety of creation's disobedience in his refusal to retaliate.  Through this ultimate sacrifice-the cutting of a new covenant-the fullness of God's irrevocable justice was unveiled: divine justice was not that of judgment and mercy, but judgment based on mercy.  Through the resurrection, reconciliation was effected with all of creation, bringing it together in peace under one Lord.  Thus, through Jesus' death and resurrection, all creation heard the divine decree that ended their separation from God and from one another.  And so it is that in vindication Christ lives and reigns as the Lord over all creation, that which is seen and unseen.  I articulate the meaning of my life as living, dying, and rising in Christ.
		I believe that the Holy Spirit is the Breath of Life for all creation.  But, through the sacraments, the Spirit renews and empowers the church in a special way.  In baptism, the Spirit indwells and unites the body of Christ-the temple of God-in divine love and forgiveness.  The Spirit raises the body into the life of the trinitarian community (the mutual, self-giving love between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-the God who is One).  Through the Spirit, the chosen nation and royal priesthood advocates for the lordship of Christ and the divine work of reconciliation.  Responding in gratitude, the church is called to proclaim primacy of God's Law above all other laws.  God's Law is this: to reorient one's life around the joy and well-being (a.k.a., abundant life) of others.  This is done by embodying the proclamation that is recalled in the Lord's Supper.  As the bread is broken and given to the church to be consumed, so too is the church broken after worship and given to the world to be devoured as it participates in Christ's sacrificial act of forgiveness, thus participating in breathing new Life into a dying world.  This is what I articulate as the purpose of the church.
		It is the same Holy Spirit that enthralls me and drives me to embrace the Life of the Transcendent.  In the Spirit, I am called to move beyond the boundaries of meaning and purpose and to continually enter deeper into the realm of the passion and faith of Christ, through which meaning and purpose are shattered and redefined.  As a child claimed by a Covenant I cannot control, through the Spirit, I am continually becoming more "human" as I am immersed in and continually re-created by the inexhaustible mystery known as "God."
			* Ref., Isaiah 32.15-25.