In
life and death we belong to God. Through the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, The love of God,
And the communion of the Holy Spirit, we trust in the one triune God,
the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and
serve. We trust in Jesus Christ, Fully
human, fully God. Jesus proclaimed the reign of God:
preaching good news to the poor and release
to the captives, teaching by word and deed
and blessing the children, healing the sick
and binding up the brokenhearted, eating with outcasts,
forgiving sinners, and calling
all to repent and believe the gospel. Unjustly condemned for blasphemy
and sedition, Jesus was crucified, suffering
the depths of human pain and giving his life for
the sins of the world. God raised Jesus from the dead,
vindicating his sinless life, breaking the power
of sin and evil, delivering us from death to life
eternal. We trust in God, whom Jesus called
Abba, Father. In sovereign love God created the world good
and makes everyone equally in God's image
male and female, of every race and people, to live
as one community. But we rebel against God; we hide from our Creator.
Ignoring God's commandments,
we violate the image of God in others and ourselves,
accept lies as truth, exploit neighbor and nature,
and threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care.
We deserve God's condemnation. Yet God acts
with justice and mercy to redeem creation. In everlasting
love, the God of Abraham and Sarah chose
a covenant people to
bless all families of the earth. Hearing their cry,
God delivered the children of israel
from the house of bondage.
Loving us still,
God makes us heirs with Christ of the covenant. Like
a mother who will not forsake her nursing child,
like a father who runs to welcome the prodigal home,
God is faithful still. We trust in God the Holy Spirit,
everywhere the giver and renewer of life. The Spirit justifies us by
grace through faith, sets us free to accept ourselves
and to love God and neighbor, and binds us together
with all believers in the one body of Christ, the
church. The same Spirit who inspired the
prophets and apostles rules our faith and life in
Christ through Scripture, engages us through the
Word proclaimed, claims us in the waters of baptism,
feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation,
and calls women and men to all ministries of the church.
In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in church and culture, to hear
the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work
with others for justice, freedom, and peace. In gratitude to God, empowered
by the Spirit, we strive to serve Christ in our daily
tasks and to live holy and joyful lives,
even as we watch for God's new heaven and new earth,
praying, Come, Lord Jesus! With
believers in every time and place, we rejoice that nothing in life
or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Amen. Copyright © 1991 by the Office of the General Assembly, Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.). This document is part of the Book of Confessions, which is in
turn Part I of the Constitution of the Church. Used with permission.
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