BELIEFS
You don't have to believe what we believe to worship with us or to engage our community. It is Jesus’ attitude to welcome all. We are a community made up of people of different shapes, sizes, and backgrounds. We embrace skeptics, invite doubters, and intentionally welcome those who challenge what we think. With that being said, below are the things we believe.
GOD
We trust God, revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who is at the same time infinite and local, everywhere and intimate. “The good news of the Gospel is that the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— creates, redeems, sustains, rules, and transforms all things and all people.”1 God created time, space, and the universe for the sole purpose of making a home for humankind. God is the source of purpose and dignity for every human – the origin of love and reality. Because God exists, everything is spiritual.
WE: THE PEOPLE
Humankind – every one of us, was created in love by God. In that love we are given the freedom to follow God and to be shaped by God’s guidance and care. Or we have the freedom to walk away from God. Even though the universe was created perfect and beautiful, the human decision to break the relationship with God has been catastrophic. When we separate from God, we separate from life and the greatest love. The world is fatally broken and every person is helpless to reconcile creation to our Creator. We do not have the ability to save ourselves.
AT THE CENTER: JESUS CHRIST
Jesus is at the center of everything. He is literally the Savior of the world. God transcends all of our wisdom and intelligence. God remains the highest form of intelligence, and the source of truth. In love that goes beyond our understanding God became a human being – once and for all – as Jesus of Nazareth. God met us where we are in his 33 years of life in Palestine. In Jesus the evil and brokenness of creation were reconciled to God in his public execution by crucifixion and his physical resurrection. By embracing Jesus’ death for us on the cross and his resurrection, human beings receive eternal life with God and each other.
GOD’S SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit causes those who believe in Jesus to be connected to God and calls them to gather as the Church, Jesus’ continuing mission on earth. The Spirit is the perfect picture of intimacy with God. Those that follow Jesus are literally God inhabiting them from the inside out. That doesn’t mean that makes us perfect or give us perfect judgment. Nevertheless, God’s Spirit is the source and reason for every church across the globe.
THE BIBLE
God is not silent. By the Holy Spirit, God’s written word was given to us in holy Scripture. God, using the perspectives and limitations of human authors, revealed what truly is central to our lives. We take the Bible seriously as God’s word to us, as we take into account the cultures and history of its origins. Everything we do as a church is guided by the trajectories set by the Bible. “The Scriptures are not a witness among others, but the witness without parallel.”2
GENEROUS JUSTICE
We believe that God is love, and that divine love demands justice. Love and truth go hand in hand. Therefore we advocate for justice in personal and public life. We readily admit that the Church over the ages has been at times complicit with injustice, and is always vulnerable to being wrong in the affairs of the world. Nevertheless, we are engaged in public life. In essence we consider God the source of what Pastor/author Tim Keller refers to as “generous justice.”3
THE CHURCH
“The Church’s life and mission are a joyful participation in Christ’s ongoing life and work.” 4 The
Church is the gathering of people who love God in Jesus Christ and know they are saved from
eternal death by his grace. Jesus’ message of reconciliation with God continues today. “The gift of God in Christ is for all people. The church, therefore, is commissioned to carry the gospel made up of all sorts of people in all sorts of intensities of trust in Jesus.”5
WELCOMING ALL
We welcome all people – of all nationalities, generations, ethnicities, races, social positions, economic statuses – including LGBTQ+ folks – in full participation in our church life and leadership. We want to reflect God’s deep regard for all people.
1,4 The Presbyterian Church (USA) Book of Order
2,5 The Confession of 1967 of the United Presbyterian Church in the USA
3 Timothy Keller, Pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, NYC, 1989-2017
You don't have to believe what we believe to worship with us or to engage our community. It is Jesus’ attitude to welcome all. We are a community made up of people of different shapes, sizes, and backgrounds. We embrace skeptics, invite doubters, and intentionally welcome those who challenge what we think. With that being said, below are the things we believe.
GOD
We trust God, revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who is at the same time infinite and local, everywhere and intimate. “The good news of the Gospel is that the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— creates, redeems, sustains, rules, and transforms all things and all people.”1 God created time, space, and the universe for the sole purpose of making a home for humankind. God is the source of purpose and dignity for every human – the origin of love and reality. Because God exists, everything is spiritual.
WE: THE PEOPLE
Humankind – every one of us, was created in love by God. In that love we are given the freedom to follow God and to be shaped by God’s guidance and care. Or we have the freedom to walk away from God. Even though the universe was created perfect and beautiful, the human decision to break the relationship with God has been catastrophic. When we separate from God, we separate from life and the greatest love. The world is fatally broken and every person is helpless to reconcile creation to our Creator. We do not have the ability to save ourselves.
AT THE CENTER: JESUS CHRIST
Jesus is at the center of everything. He is literally the Savior of the world. God transcends all of our wisdom and intelligence. God remains the highest form of intelligence, and the source of truth. In love that goes beyond our understanding God became a human being – once and for all – as Jesus of Nazareth. God met us where we are in his 33 years of life in Palestine. In Jesus the evil and brokenness of creation were reconciled to God in his public execution by crucifixion and his physical resurrection. By embracing Jesus’ death for us on the cross and his resurrection, human beings receive eternal life with God and each other.
GOD’S SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit causes those who believe in Jesus to be connected to God and calls them to gather as the Church, Jesus’ continuing mission on earth. The Spirit is the perfect picture of intimacy with God. Those that follow Jesus are literally God inhabiting them from the inside out. That doesn’t mean that makes us perfect or give us perfect judgment. Nevertheless, God’s Spirit is the source and reason for every church across the globe.
THE BIBLE
God is not silent. By the Holy Spirit, God’s written word was given to us in holy Scripture. God, using the perspectives and limitations of human authors, revealed what truly is central to our lives. We take the Bible seriously as God’s word to us, as we take into account the cultures and history of its origins. Everything we do as a church is guided by the trajectories set by the Bible. “The Scriptures are not a witness among others, but the witness without parallel.”2
GENEROUS JUSTICE
We believe that God is love, and that divine love demands justice. Love and truth go hand in hand. Therefore we advocate for justice in personal and public life. We readily admit that the Church over the ages has been at times complicit with injustice, and is always vulnerable to being wrong in the affairs of the world. Nevertheless, we are engaged in public life. In essence we consider God the source of what Pastor/author Tim Keller refers to as “generous justice.”3
THE CHURCH
“The Church’s life and mission are a joyful participation in Christ’s ongoing life and work.” 4 The
Church is the gathering of people who love God in Jesus Christ and know they are saved from
eternal death by his grace. Jesus’ message of reconciliation with God continues today. “The gift of God in Christ is for all people. The church, therefore, is commissioned to carry the gospel made up of all sorts of people in all sorts of intensities of trust in Jesus.”5
WELCOMING ALL
We welcome all people – of all nationalities, generations, ethnicities, races, social positions, economic statuses – including LGBTQ+ folks – in full participation in our church life and leadership. We want to reflect God’s deep regard for all people.
1,4 The Presbyterian Church (USA) Book of Order
2,5 The Confession of 1967 of the United Presbyterian Church in the USA
3 Timothy Keller, Pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, NYC, 1989-2017
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The Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) |
Highlands Presbyterian Church
1902 W. 59th Street La Grange, Illinois 60525 (708) 246-1911 office@highpres.org |
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