The following is an attempt to briefly put into words the faith that Crestview has received and proclaims. While the following is not comprehensive, it provides a sketch of our faith.
GOD, the Creator, remains actively involved in Creation. There is only one, true God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit existing in a loving community. We believe God desires a relationship with humans so much that God has acted decisively in history to restore relationships. God is revealed through the Son, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Creation, and Scripture. (Genesis 1.1-2)
JESUS is God’s Son, sent into this world as God’s representative. Jesus lived without sin, died obediently, was buried, and was raised triumphantly. Jesus the Son lives today and will come again at the renewal of all things. Because of Christ’s complete obedience, the Cross is sufficient for all. (John 1.1-3, 14; Acts 1.6-11; Philippians 2.5-11)
THE HOLY SPIRIT, one with the Father and the Son, dwells in each believer as Helper and Guide. The Spirit is actively involved in bringing humans to belief in God and enters the physical body of the believer at the time of salvation. The Spirit is the living dynamic through which we experience the life of Christ. (John 14.16-17; Romans 8.9-11)
THE BIBLE, also called Scripture, reveals God’s story, God’s character, God’s love for us, God’s pursuit to restore relationship with us, and God’s desires for us. The Bible is real, relevant, and reliable. (2 Timothy 3.16-17)
HUMANITY is created in the image of God. We believe that God gave humans free will to choose to love God and to choose to love what God loves. Humanity was created to live forever in relationship with God. The first humans, Adam and Eve, chose their will over God’s will and therefore sin entered the world, and humans have been making this choice ever since. Sin has deeply scarred this world and broken our relationship with God. Humans stand in need of a savior. (Genesis 1.26-27; 3.6-24; Romans 3.23-24)
SALVATION is dependent on the actions of God when Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. Because of sin and death, humans need salvation by God’s grace and humans cannot earn salvation by any action, deed, thought, or initiative. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus breaks the power of sin and death over humans. We receive the grace of God by trusting God, committing to live differently, confessing our faith, and demonstrating this trust by being immersed (baptized) in water to encounter the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. (Galatians 2.15-21; Acts 2.36-47; Romans 6.14)
THE CHURCH is the baptized community sent into the world to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus. To belong to Jesus is to belong to the Church. The Church is not a building or even one particular group of believers. The Church gathers in local congregations to worship God, to care for one another, to encourage one another, to celebrate Christ through the Lord’s Supper, and to use gifts, abilities, and resources to serve Jesus and to actively maintain unity. (Ephesians 1.22-23; 1 Corinthians 12.12-13)
HEAVEN is the eternal home and source of hope for those who follow Jesus. On the day of Resurrection, Jesus will return to complete God’s plan for renewing all things by establishing a new heaven and new earth where Christ will sit on a glorious throne. Jessu will judge the living and the dead, and the believers will enjoy uninterrupted fellowship with God and each other. (Matthew 19.28; Acts 10.42; Philippians 3.20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18; 2 Peter 3.13; Revelation 21.1-5)