Keith Hudson’s Statement of Faith June 2009

I believe and trust in the one, loving triune God, revealed to us in the persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob continues today to be active in the world, calling us into relationship with God and each other in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

I believe and trust in Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine, as our Lord and savior. All things were created in and through and for him. In Jesus the Christ, God has been revealed to humanity so that we might be reconciled to God and delivered from death to eternal life. It is in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we find true life in harmony with God, each other and all of creation. In his life, Jesus proclaimed the reign of God, healed the sick, ate with outcasts, and called all to repent. By his innocent crucifixion on the cross, Jesus suffered on humanity’s behalf, giving his life for the sins of all. God by the power of the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead, defeating the power of sin and death. The salvation found in Christ is a free gift of grace from God that can only be accepted by faith alone.

I believe and trust in God, whom Jesus called Father, creator of all things. God created the world and declared it good. God created humanity in God’s image, entrusting the care of creation to humanity. Humanity sinned against God and continues to sin against God, yet God acts in mercy and love to redeem humanity and creation in and through Jesus Christ. Even though we deserve condemnation for failure to love God and each other as God has commanded, God continually forgives and welcomes us back into God’s loving embrace.

I believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit, who moved over the waters at creation, giving new life, and who continues to give life to all. Ever present and active during the ministry of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit inspired the prophets and apostles, and continues calling all of us into the vocation of ministry. Through the waters of baptism, the Holy Spirit incorporates us into the body of Christ. By the Word proclaimed and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, the Holy Spirit sustains us and nourishes us. The Holy Spirit sends Christ’s church out into the world to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, heal the sick, and make disciples of all nations.

The living, triune God is attested to and revealed in the Old and New Testaments of scripture. The writers of scripture were inspired by the Holy Spirit in the particular time and culture in which they wrote. But scripture continues to speak to us today as the unique authoritative witness to God, revealing God’s character and purpose for our lives.

I believe in the universal church of Christ and affirm the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds. The church is the body of Christ active in the world throughout the ages, comprised of fallible men and women who have and will fall short of the glory of God. It is in and through these redeemed sinners the Spirit moves, revealing God’s love to a broken world in Jesus Christ. Because of the recognition of its sin and the reality that God is not bound by a particular tradition or context, the church shall ever be open to the reforming action of the Holy Spirit in its midst.

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