Sunset Congregational Church

What We At Sunset Congregational Church Believe:

What we believe?

Every United Church of Christ church is unique and Sunset Congregational Church is no exception. Every church in the United Church of Christ has a congregational government; that is each congregation, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the leading of the Holy Spirit, governs itself and determines its own practices.

Sunset Congregational Church is made of different individuals from different backgrounds and experiences. However, we come together around three uniting principles: our personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ; the Bible as the only and infallible source for our knowledge and understanding of God; and loving, through the power of the Holy Spirit, everyone around us.   

For centuries Christians have used confession as a way of summarizing their beliefs. For Sunset Congregational Church the core of our faith is expressed in an ancient confession known as the Apostle’s Creed:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,
and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy universal church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.

Amen.

 

As a member church of the United Church of Christ, Sunset Congregational Church also embraces the Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ:

We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

and our Father, and to his deeds we testify:

He calls the worlds into being, creates man and woman in his own image

and sets before them the ways of life and death.

 

He seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin.

 

He judges men and women, and nations by his righteous will declared

through prophets and apostles.

 

In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord,

he has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and

death and reconciling the world to himself.

 

He bestows upon us his Holy Spirit, creating and renewing the church of

Jesus Christ, binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues, and races.

 

He calls us into his church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be

his servants in the service of men, to proclaim the gospel to all the world and

resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ's baptism and eat at his table, to join

him in his passion and victory.

 

He promises to all who trust him forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage

in the struggle for justice and peace, his presence in trial and rejoicing, and eternal

life in his kingdom which has no end.

 

Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto him. Amen.

 

Together these two confessions or statements reflect the beliefs of Sunset Congregational Church. As a church we consider that other matters of doctrine and belief that are not mentioned in these statements are consider matters of conscience; that is matters in which faithful Christians might lovingly and respectfully disagree, and thus are not crucial to our relationship with God and/or living the Christian faith.