In Jesus’s world, we find connective tissue between
the truths of science and morality.
We find a basis for saying that all human beings
are created equal, and a deep call to love across diversity.
We find a name for evil and a means of forgiveness.
We find a vision of love that is so much deeper
than our current hearts can hold, and a true intimacy
better than our weak bodies could ever experience.
We find a diagnosis of human nature as shot through
with sin and yet redeemable by grace.
We find a call to care for the poor, oppressed, and lonely,
a call springing from the heart of God himself
and grounded in the hope that one day
every tear will be wiped away, every stomach will be filled,
and every outcast will be embraced.
But we do not find glib answers or an easy road.
Instead, we find a call to come and die.
“If anyone would come after me,” says Jesus,
“let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 16:24–25).
– Rebecca McLaughlin, Confronting Christianity
We also affirm the essential beliefs expressed in the Apostles’ Creed.