What We Believe
What follows is neither a creedal statement nor an exhaustive treatise of Christian doctrine. It simply expresses the major emphases of faith and life that define Leland as seeking to be within the great biblical, apostolic, and orthodox traditions of faith.
We believe that God who is One exists eternally in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe that God’s perfection is revealed through divine holiness and love. As Holy Scripture attests, everything and every person is God’s creation.
We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s eternal son, fully God and fully human, who lived, suffered, died, and was raised from death to life and is seated at the right hand of God as our advocate with the Father. Those who receive God’s gracious gift of salvation in Christ through repentance and faith find assurance of new life in Him.
We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who is active in regeneration, sanctification, and discipleship and who empowers the people of God to use their gifts to bring honor and glory to God through Jesus Christ.
We believe that Holy Scripture is the inspired Word of God, revealing the divine will for salvation of the world and is totally truthful in all it intends to affirm. Scripture is the true and authoritative rule of faith for all Christian belief and practice, and Jesus Christ is the interpretive principle of the Scriptures. We further believe that the Holy Spirit, through the Scriptures, reveals to fallen humanity its sinful character and its need to discover faith in Jesus Christ.
We believe that the Church is the gathered community of believers in Jesus Christ, called together by God’s Spirit as an agent of reconciliation in the world. It has its visible expression in the local community which is called as a body to worship God with Christ as its head and is the universal Body of Christ throughout the world.
We believe that by following the example of Jesus, all Christians are called to servanthood, worship, prayer, the study of Scripture, faithful witness, and obedience to the commandment of the resurrected Christ and the urging of the Spirit to go into all the world and make disciples.
We believe that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who is the only way to salvation, ensures acceptance by the Father through the Spirit for prayer, fellowship, and to receive the blessing of God’s grace. This acceptance is a precious inheritance and means that the believer needs no intermediary with God, except our high priest, the Lord Jesus.
We believe that salvation is for the redemption of the whole person and is given freely to all that repent and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This salvation prepares and the Holy Spirit empowers every obedient disciple to be an evangelist, priest, and prophet.
We believe that Scripture teaches us that God, who is love, has concern for the poor and oppressed and that Christians are called to respond to God’s mercy by acts of love and grace toward all people, by promoting justice, working for peace, and reaching out to everyone in need.
We believe in baptism of the repentant believer and in the Lord’s Supper. Jesus, in his days on earth, identified with us in his baptism, commanded us to be baptized, and instituted the communion meal. In both baptism and the Lord’s supper, the Good News is proclaimed, and we experience anew the love of the Father, the presence of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.
We believe that freedom in Christ gives freedom from the oppression of sin, death, and demonic power. While governmental, ecclesiastical, and worldly forces may seek to compel and coerce the conscience of the believer and may even deprive the believer of life and liberty, in Christ we are always truly free.
We believe the Kingdom of God is both here and now and will find ultimate completion when Jesus Christ returns to judge between those who are in Christ and those who have rejected him. The Christian hope that sustains the believer is that Jesus Christ will usher in an everlasting reign of peace, justice, and eternal joy.