Jesus Christ is at the center of everything we believe and practice. Jesus is the image of the unseen God; all creation testifies to Him as author and creator. All of Scripture is informed by Him and informs us about Him. Jesus is the head of the Church, and we yield to His guidance and authority over it. We are guided and compelled in our allegiance to Jesus through the power of God the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father. Jesus taught and demonstrated that God’s redemptive love is radically inclusive; that every person is uniquely created in God’s own image; that God offers everyone — in equal measure — abundant grace and room at the Kingdom table. God the Holy Spirit teaches, directs and unifies us. One of our chief functions at Vine & Branch is to create and maintain an environment of sensitivity to God the Holy Spirit’s presence and work.
About > How We Believe
How We Believe
We are a diverse group of people learning how to participate with God’s grace, so we hold our beliefs with open hands and humble curiosity.
The folks who are part of our Vine & Branch Church family come from different cultures, faith traditions, points of view which makes for some interesting conversations as we figure out together what it means to live in the Kingdom every day. This is why we focus on how we believe rather than just what we believe.
Nicene Creed
No creed or confession of faith can fully state what we believe. That being said, in order to connect with historic Christianity, while leaving room for disagreements on what Paul calls “disputable matters,” we’ve adopted the Nicene Creed. Like all declarations, it’s a product of a particular time and place; of people like us, sorting through what they believed and confessing publicly what they understood to be the basics of Christian faith. It’s also an interpretation, not intended to replace Scripture.
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
Eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
Begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father;
Through Him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
Was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
And became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
And his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the given of life,
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
Who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
Who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Salvation
We believe that salvation is the totally free gift of God that is offered to everyone equally. Everything starts with God’s love for us. Loving God because He loved us produces the sort of outcomes we hope to see in our lives: love for each other, desire to serve and excitement to share what we know about Jesus. We didn‘t do anything to earn this love and we can’t do anything to lose it. In the daily discipline of laying everything in our lives before Jesus and apprenticing ourselves to His heart, mind and ways, we grow to know Him more intimately, follow Him more closely and become more like Him. How we act, think, believe and behave — the Holy Spirit at work in us can change everything about us. Becoming more like Jesus we learn to see the world, and our place in it, differently.
The Bible
We believe the Bible is a collection of writings uniquely inspired by God. We read and teach the Bible at Grace Church because Scripture helps reveal Jesus to us; it tells us about God’s love for humankind, shows us a history of God’s dealings with God’s creation and invites us to understand our own lives as part of the story. We recognize the Holy Spirit as the authority in teaching us God’s Word, not the person at the microphone on a Sunday morning or the Bible in any particular form/version. The culmination of study, prayer, the Grace Church community, and the Holy Spirit help inform our understanding of God, our relationship with him, and the world. Everyone at Grace is urged to read, think, study and pray on their own and in community in preparation for worship, and to revisit our weekly text with others in our fellowship, whether one-on-one or as part of a Grace Group.
We believe that when all of us are tracking together and investing time as a community to be transformed by Scripture, we stand the best chance of growing into a church that looks like Jesus. Trying to hear what God is saying to us through God’s word is a serious undertaking; we approach it with care, respect and humility, not so that we can shape it to our will, but so we can grow in our understanding of how the Holy Spirit can use it to shape us.
The Church
We believe the Church is a non-clerical community. The distinguishing mark of Christianity was not found in a clerical hierarchy but in the fact that God’s Spirit came to dwell within ordinary, common people, and that through them, the Spirit manifested Jesus’ life to the believing community and the world. Every member of the body is equipped to share the Kingdom by living it out, and to be a minister of the Gospel. Everyone is encouraged to be a passionate follower of Jesus as a part of the regular rhythm of their life. Everyone is encouraged to develop deep, honest and loving relationships with the Creator and with each other; to look for and respond to opportunities for serving others in Jesus’ name. Rather than building our church primarily around programs for our members, our priority is to help each other be active influencers for Christ in the world.
As we grow in relationship with God and each other, we learn to live and serve together in ways that demonstrate God’s love. Grace Church is a small part of the larger body of Christ, and we seek to cooperate with our brothers and sisters any way we can, being faithful with the resources we’re given. Part of our mandate as a church is to provide teaching and training, and to serve wherever God is at work.
The Lord's Supper
The last night Christ was with His disciples before His death, He shared the Lord’s Supper with them. The bread and wine symbolize His body that was broken and His blood that was shed to free us from our sins. It is not necessary for salvation, but is a reminder of what Christ did for us. The table also reminds us everyone is welcome.
