Our Beliefs | My Site 1

What We Believe

"We dream of a Diocese where the love of Jesus transforms individuals and communities."

Our Diocese

We are part of the the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn, one of 23 Dioceses that make up the Anglican Church of Australia and as part of the Diocese we hold to our Diocesan beliefs (https://anglicancg.org.au/our-diocese/what-christians-believe/)

Anglicans hold to the Christian faith as received from apostolic times and believe the scriptures of Old and New Testament are our ultimate rule and

standard of life. We are committed to obeying the commands of Christ, teaching his doctrine, administering the sacraments of Baptism and Holy

Communion and maintaining an ordered ministry of bishops, priests and deacons.

We believe that in following Jesus, people’s lives will be changed for the better. We invite you to take this journey of transformation with us.

Jesus’ vision of life lived God’s way has never dimmed. His life, death, resurrection and ascension means that transformation is not some vague wish but the reality into which we are called to live as players, not bystanders. The diocesan dream shows how we can share in Jesus’ vision. It highlights the principles on which we build and makes clear the priorities that will shape our life together.

At its heart Christianity is Christ – Jesus Christ.

When we talk about ‘Christianity’ we are talking about a person rather than simply a set of ideas, and because we are talking about a person we are talking about a relationship. The sort of relationship that Christianity offers can be found in the name Christ.

Christ is actually a title. It means ‘the anointed one’, or in its original language ‘Messiah’. This means that Christians believe that Jesus is God’s anointed one, who came and ‘dwelt among us’ (John 1:14). The reason that this is so important is that in Jesus we receive the offer of reconciliation with God. Jesus was anointed to bear the consequence of our turning aside from God to our own ways, and then provide the way for our estrangement to end.

A Christian is one who accepts the work that Jesus Christ has done to reconcile them to God (2 Cor 5:20). Being a Christian then means ‘following after’, or being a disciple of Jesus. This means that Christians given the wonderful privilege of becoming part of God’s mission to the world.

So our Diocesan Dream is that:

We dream of a Diocese where the love of Jesus transforms individuals and communities.

https://anglicancg.org.au/our-diocese/what-christians-believe/

Our Church

We believe in a sovereign God. God is the creator of this world. He made it, he sustains it, he rules it and he loves it. Human beings are made in his image, given dignity and value by God. Yet human beings chose to reject their maker, deny his sovereignty and set themselves as lawmakers. This is what the bible calls “sin” and it deserves God’s judgement. As a result this world is experienced as a broken, painful and corrupted place.

We believe that God’s response to human sin was to come into this world. God did not leave us to the disaster we had made. He entered this world. God the Son – Jesus – came as one of us, perfectly revealing God’s character. Born as one of us, suffering as one of us, dying as one of us, he wore the consequences of our rebellion himself, dying in our place on a cross.

We believe that Jesus is king. God raised Jesus from death, overturning the brokenness of creation and the consequences of human sin. Jesus’ death and resurrection mean that he is now established as the rightful King of all so that, when he returns, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord. It also means that, for those who are his, death does not have the last word. Just as Jesus rose so too will those who put their trust in him.

We believe that the Bible is God’s word. It is how God has revealed himself to his creation and, in particular, it is how we know Jesus – God revealed in full. We study God’s word to listen to him and to know him. We obey his word because he is King.

We believe that God is at work in those who are His by his Spirit, transforming our attitudes and agendas from self-centred to Jesus-centred. It is by his Spirit that he moves rebellious human beings to respond to his love and embrace his forgiveness.

We believe that the church is the gathering of the people of Jesus. We meet around the Bible, we talk to God because he hears and he cares. We sing because we have so much to sing about – God is good! And we long for others to know the freedom and forgiveness that we have found in Jesus alone.

We believe in a healing God. We believe that God is our Healer, who brings restoration, hope, and wholeness through Jesus Christ. He continues to heal today according to His perfect will, working through prayer, the Holy Spirit, and His divine power. We trust in His love, compassion, and faithfulness, knowing that He is always present to bring comfort, strength, and renewal.