to stand in a sorta pulpit and declare what you believe is a powerful thing. people do it metaphorically all the time, and i wonder if, despite my hoped for profession, if i do it enough.
two "statements of faith" that i admire:
"you believe in a witness based on the historic tradition of scripture but also the lived experience of today, and so do I." read the rest of this incredible speech by bill moyers here.
in this video, cornel west says nothing about God, but i believe he speaks deeply to faith.
a statement of faith should be a call to action, because faith is alive. these are both calls to action.
so i put before you the faith statement i presented yesterday for your feedback.
I am in constant revolution, being made and remade each day by God. This is the reality of my faith and my call. But, the roots of my faith could not grow deep and strong without being grounded in a deep and abiding belief loving and living presence of the Triune God.
I believe in a Triune God is to believe in a God, who, by God’s very nature, is in relationship.
God is here. God is present. God is real. God engages in the world, and God moves in the world.
Jesus was God with us—Emmanuel. Both human and divine, his birth, life, death and resurrection show us how to live, while saving us at the same time.
The Holy Spirit is God’s presence among us now. The Holy Spirit empowers us to live faithfully and allows us to experience God in our midst.
Our salvation—given by God’s abundant grace and love—through the life, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, allows us to live together with God, both right now, and forever.
In our baptism, God claims us. Our hearts are sealed with the love of God, and we are adopted into God’s family in a new way. We become heirs to the kingdom. The adoption is a covenant that comes with significant responsibility for caring for that kingdom and working towards the reality of that kingdom here on Earth. Each time we experience the baptism of someone else, we are reminded who we belong to.
At the Lord’s Table, we renew that covenant. We experience the presence of God among us, feeding our bodies and souls for the work God calls us to in the world. At the table, we remember our salvation, remember the life of Christ, and are empowered to live into the calling.
I believe that we are made in the image of God, thus by our very nature, we are created to be in relationship—because by God’s very nature, God is in relationship. We are made to be in relationship with God and in relationship with each other. This is the calling of the church—to nurture both relationships. These relationships must follow the pattern given to us by Christ. We are to love God, each other and ourselves with everything we have. We are to love the least of our brothers and sisters, even above ourselves, caring for their earthly needs as Christ did. We are to radically forgive each other and ourselves. When we follow Jesus, we live the life that God’s call us to.
Each one of us is a lovingly created child of God, and if we fail to recognize that in each other, we fail to recognize God.
3 comments:
Thanks for sharing your statement of faith. I think when people share their statement of faith they are sharing their identity.
I have to say that the phrasing that hit me at my core was your last sentence "we fail to recognize God." It is truly powerful and caused me to stop and wonder.....is she talking about me.
You definitely make me think about my actions and what I am doing as a Christian in my daily life.
Yeah, but did you pass the trials ;-)
Bruce, give me some leeway. It was a fake meeting, and I am not even eligible for real trials yet :)
Martha... thanks! I also love hearing other people's beliefs as well. We rarely recognize the power of our own words, but can see the power in the words of others.
Post a Comment