The following is a testimony to who we are: our identity as individuals and as a church family. It is not a collection of beliefs designed to exclude those who disagree, or a litmus test for whether one is allowed to join us in worship and the discovery of God.  There are no prerequisites for what you need to believe or how you need to live in order to join us at our gatherings.

We hope this is an easy way for you to understand what is important to us and what beliefs we think are important for a follower of Jesus Christ.  We do believe there are some important facets of our Christian faith that we need to transparently identify and bear witness to.  These facets are rooted in both the Holy Scriptures and affirmed throughout the history of the church.

You will also notice that there are some specific things not mentioned here.  This is intentional.  We have seen Christians, fellow members of the one family of God, divided and separated by walls of hostility that have been built by arguments over “Statements of Faith”.  We want to recognize these tensions and see this as a tool, not a scriptural mandate, to encourage engagement.

We believe that in the Scriptures, God communicates His truth to us through story, not bullet points.  So, our theology is based on and rooted in this story.  We are not in any way embarrassed or ashamed of what we believe or who God is.  As a matter of fact, we want to proclaim, glorify and brag about God’s grace and favor to us and all people!  This is what we believe…

We believe in the story of God and His people, as found in the Holy Scriptures.  This is a story of creation, sin, love, pursuit, redemption and healing. This is our story…

We believe that in the beginning, God created the world with a dream in His heart.  This dream was to have a people that would be His own.  He wanted a people that looked like Him, reflected His heart and brought about His purposes on earth. [Gen 1:27]  We believe that God created His sons and daughters to reflect the beautiful and mysterious relationship of the Holy Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – living in love and oneness with each other. [Eph 2:10, Eph 4:24]

In a tragic turn of events, God’s people decided to doubt God’s heart of love for them when their enemy, Satan, lied about their Father.  In this one moment, doubt, pain, hatred, insecurity and pride all entered the story.  Sin and death were now diseases that humanity was powerless to cure.  God’s dream had been broken by the sin of His sons and daughters. [Gen 3:1-24, Ecc 7:29]

However, the story didn’t end there.  In an overwhelming act of love and grace towards His sons and daughters, God followed them into the mess of this new life.  God was not content to leave His beloved children alone in their sin and death.  He was determined to bring healing and wholeness to this broken world. [Gen 9:8-17] Not only that, but He was determined to see His dream realized again – this dream to have a people of His own that would reflect His heart and bring about His purposes on earth.  God started again through a man named Abraham.  God announced His plan and His dream to Abraham – that against all odds, God would turn Abraham into a great nation that would bless the whole world through this people. [Gen 12:1-3, Acts 3:25, Gal 3:8]

God indeed did turn Abraham’s family into a great nation.  Like all great stories, the story of God and His people is one full of pain, uncertainty, romance and hope.  God’s people, the Israelites, found themselves in captivity. [Ex 1:11-14]  They cried out to God for rescue, and He was faithful. [Ex 3:7-10]  He saved them from their oppressors and led them into a land of goodness and richness.  He did this because He delighted in them. [Ps 149:4]  Tragically, in spite of their Father’s good heart for them, the Israelites history is one marked by doubt, fear and sin.  They consistently walked away from the God who loved them, and He graciously and consistently pursued them.  Much of the story we find in the Old Testament is a story of pursuit.  God pursued His sinful people because of His unfailing love for them. [Nehemiah 9:16-17]

The more the story goes on, the further we find God’s people straying from His purposes for them.  We find the roots of idolatry, oppression, injustice and indifference digging deeper into the hearts of God’s sons and daughters.  Although their Father is constantly waiting for them to come back to Him and repent of their sin, His children continue to walk further away from Him.  However, God’s commitment to His dream will not be overcome by human sin and death.  God will overcome them in the most beautiful way imaginable…in Himself. [Num 14:19, Isaiah 30:15, Jer 24:7, 2 Pet 3:9]

In one beautiful moment in Bethlehem, the world was forever changed.  Jesus Christ was born. [Lk 2:1-7]  In the Scriptures, God says that Jesus was fully God and fully man. [Jn 1:1,14] The Creator takes on sinful flesh in order to heal humanity from sin and death, once and for all.  In Jesus we see the fullest revelation of Who God is.  In Jesus, we see Who God really is.  In Jesus, we find what humanity was created to be.  In Jesus, we find life.  In Jesus, we find ourselves. [2 Cor 5:17]

God came to earth in Jesus Christ and announced the coming of His glorious Kingdom – the Kingdom of God. [Mk 1:14] In Jesus, God was making all things new again – He made a New Creation in Christ.  In one fell swoop, sin and death were swallowed up and overcome for once and for all.  In Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, He conquered death and set us free from sin.  In Christ, God redeemed and saved His beloved sons and daughters.  He loves to give this new life to any and all that believe in Him and receive His gift of life. [Rom 6:4, 7:6]

You would think the story would end there, but it doesn’t.  God still has the same dream in His heart that He’s had since the beginning – to have a people, a family, who would reflect His heart and bring about His purposes on earth.  And so, now we find our place in the story.  Jesus commissioned His family, His Church, to bring about the Kingdom of God, empowered by the Holy Spirit. [Mt 28:18-20]  By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Church now brings wholeness and healing to a broken world.  [Acts 1:8] By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Church calls the Father’s far away and lost sons and daughters back into His embrace.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Church fulfills the mission of Jesus Christ in bringing about the Kingdom of God – setting the world to rights.  This has always been God’s dream – bringing about His heart for the world through His sons and daughters. [Rev 21:1-7]

This is what we believe at Brew City Church.  We have been swept up into this story of God’s great love and grace for us, His beloved.  We invite you to receive the Father’s love for you and join us in this story of redemption…