OUR
BELIEFS
While our expression of how we live out church may be less traditional than others, our core beliefs are in line with most churches across traditions and denominations. Rather than try and list everything we believe it is better to point towards one of the earliest creeds of the Christian faith, upheld by most mainstream churches even today. This creed describes our core beliefs more elegantly and succinctly than we could ourselves. The version below uses the language of “we” rather “I” unlike the original. This is in reflection of this being the core beliefs of us a community together.
BELIEFS
&
VALUES
THE
APOSTLES
CREED
We believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
We believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
We 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.
we value...
GOD
At the heart of Rock Community Church is God. We recognise God as triune, God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. First and foremost, we exist as a reflection of His great and overwhelming love as displayed through Jesus. We want to be a community of people who value God above everything else. We want to live lives which worship Him with everything we are and everything we do. There are some words which we would use to describe ourselves which we understand have multiple meanings, so let us define them. We would describe ourselves as “charismatic”; we believe that, through the Holy Spirit, God continues to speak to and transform us today through dreams, visions, healings and words of prophecy. These are, however, always weighed against the truth of scripture. We consider ourselves “evangelical”, by that we mean we hold the Bible as the main place we find truth. We believe God has revealed Himself through the stories, poetry, letters, prophecies and wisdom of the Bible.
we value...
DISCIPLESHIP
We believe our primary call as a church is to be disciple makers. By this we mean that we want to be a community where people can passionately and faithfully follow Jesus; to be all about the things He is all about and to be reflections of His holiness. We believe that this is the mission that God has given the church across the globe. We believe the big story of God is the restoration of all things; that God has a plan to renew all of creation. We see our role as disciples as being active agents in pointing towards His Kingdom, His ways and His principles.
we value...
LOVE
We believe God is love and we value this aspect of His character. We believe in a God who isn’t distant and disinterested but who cares about humanity and intimately knows and loves us. We want to be a community that holds this aspect of God at the heart of who we are. We value the love of Jesus, who died for the forgiveness of our wrongdoing. We believe that we cannot make ourselves good enough for God by ourselves but that it is through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection that our relationship with God is restored. We believe that in Jesus we see that love is freely given by God and isn’t something we earn. We want to be a community who lives out this love within us by living lives which are gracious and selfless. We want to be open and welcoming and a place where genuine relationships are built. We also hold to the idea that humanity is made in the image of God and as such everyone has value. We therefore want to be a community where everyone, of any background, can enter into the story of a God who loves them.
we value...
INTERDEPENDENCE
We believe that we do not walk the journey of faith alone but that we are “interdependent” one with another, by this we mean we are connected but not isolated and supportive but not controlling. We value the diverse expressions of God’s church and our role in loving and being loved by other churches, locally, nationally and internationally. We believe that we are all part of the life of Rock Community Church as God has given us all gifts which are to be used to work together and build one another up. We also believe that while we are called to have leaders who guide us as a community, we are all called to be “priests” and lead one another deeper into the journey of growing as disciples of Jesus.
we value...
ADVENTURE
We believe that God is loving and a firm foundation for us. We believe he cares about us. However, as we read the stories of scripture we also see a God who calls us to step out and to risk everything in following Him. We believe that following Jesus is a call to live a life full of adventure. We believe that in joining in His mission of the restoration of all things we do so in ways which have a cost to them. We believe this adventure, though full of cost and risk, is also full of excitement, unrivalled joy, and personal transformation. We value the opportunities to welcome others into the intimate love of God. We deliberately want to provide spaces, events and conversations which allow people to hear and experience the story of a God of love and to join us in this adventure.
we value...
CREATIVITY
We would consider our core beliefs to be “orthodox,” by this we mean the truths we hold are the same truths which have been held since Jesus started His church with His first disciples. We believe these ancient truths are as relevant today as they were two thousand years ago. We believe one of our challenges is how we make these truths accessible in twenty-first century Scotland. We therefore are less interested in the traditional structures of church and more interested in the truth behind these traditions. We believe that humanity being made in the image of God the creator means we are creative beings. We therefore look to be creative in how we join in the mission of God.
we value...
AUTHENTCITY
We desire to grow more and more in being Christ-like but we are also realistic and know that at times we’ll get it wrong as well as right. We want to be a community of honesty, where when we get in wrong we can graciously build each other up again. We want to be a place where the broken and hurting can find good news but at the same don’t have to wear a fake smile and pretend everything is ok. We want to be a place where we can ask honest questions and wrestle with things we don’t understand or struggle with. We also value humility, we’re far from being the perfect church. We have flaws and imperfections. We don’t want to be proud in ourselves but continue to push forward and humbly strive to be more and more like Jesus.
