What We Believe
By The Elders of Orcas Island Community Church
As a community church, we have no organizational ties or obligations to other groups. We are not against denominations or formal associations?we have just chosen to fellowship with other churches on the informal, rather than the formal level.
We do, however, know what we believe and why. Our goal is to discover the universal truths of the Bible and apply them to our own time and place. We try to meet the needs of as many backgrounds and tastes as possible but without compromising the core truths of God’s Word.
Because humans are decision-makers and thinkers by nature, everyone has beliefs that they live by,whether open about it or not. Following is an informal description of what you can expect to found taught here at OICC.
God: We believe there is only one true God who is revealed to us in the Trinity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This God is outside of creation because he is the creator, but He chooses to communicate to us and make Himself knowable.
Bible: We believe the Bible to be God’s written word and the final authority on the serious issues of life, living, and knowing God. When interpreted by its own standards and style, the Bible is clear on the topics we really need to know about.
Jesus: We believe that Jesus is God’s living revelation of Himself and that to know God we must know Jesus. Jesus himself said he was the way and the Son of God. While we respect everyone’s right to beliefs of their own, we don’t believe that every belief is right. God has a right to pick His own method of coming to Him, and He has.
Sin: We believe that the root problem of life as a human is the problem of sin and the resulting separation from God. While psychological and physical problems are real and have solutions, behind life’s problems we can find the issue of sin against God, whether general affects or specific to the individual.
Salvation: We believe that Jesus died on the cross to take our guilt on Himself so that by our faith in Him we can be free from the guilt and alienation that goes with sin. Not only does this free us to know God and have eternal life, but also it frees us from the power of sin to control our attitudes and actions. If we are willing, we can live each day in victory and joy.
Holy Spirit: We believe that the Holy Spirit gives gifts and abilities, and that every man, woman or child who belongs to Jesus has equal worth in the church and has a unique contribution to make in serving God here. The Holy Spirit resides in us to give us a personal relationship with God.
Church: We believe in the church as the living Body of Christ on earth. All true believers, whatever their church, location, or time in history, are members of the Universal or spiritual kingdom of God, the Church. A local church, like ours, is the building block of the Church Universal, like the nuclear family is to the human race. We are a committed community of believers made up of all ages, backgrounds and abilities. The church (on both levels) is a necessary part of healthy spiritual life because God made us for community as well as individuals.
