Everyone believes in something.
Everyone believes in something. Everyone lives by a statement of faith. Even if it’s a statement like: “I believe no one should live by a statement of faith.”
Pleasant Street is a worshipping community that operates by statements of faith, beliefs, and doctrines. Some of them show up more clearly than others. All of them shape who we are. And each one of them flow from the Story that God is telling in the bible. That Story points to, and finds its deepest meaning in, Jesus of Nazareth.
At the core of our convictions and our community is not an idea but a person. We take it to heart that when Jesus self-identifies as “the Way, the Truth, and the Life…” (John 14:6) he is literally telling the Truth. Without this, none of what we believe makes any sense. And without this, none of how we are trying to live as community does either; “If Christ is not raised from the dead, than we of all people are most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15: 12-19).
Our beliefs about God, the world, and one another are most universally expressed in the Apostles creed. We hold it in common with Christians across culture, language, and history.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
* that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places
Our beliefs about God, the world, and one another are particularly expressed in the Reformed Confessions. We hold those in common with our denomination and global groups of Christians in the Reformed family:
Pleasant Street is a congregation in the Christian Reformed Church in North America.