Our Beliefs
Our beliefs form the basis of everything we do and must be rooted in the Scriptures and expressed through the traditions of the Protestant Reformation. Yet our beliefs are large enough to celebrate the diversity of the historical and global body of Christ.
We are Reformed.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE ‘REFORMED’?
By "Reformed" we mean that we embrace the fundamental issues of the Protestant Reformation: Christ alone, faith alone, and Scripture alone. This means we believe that salvation can only be found in Christ, can only be received by faith, and is only revealed in the Bible. The word "Reformed" may be new to you, or it may not be, either way we're a family made up of many backgrounds and traditions that call Redeemer home.
OUR DENOMINATION
Furthermore, we are Presbyterian. We believe God appoints elders to shepherd the Church. Redeemer is a member of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), to which we hold ourselves accountable. Within the PCA denomination, we belong to the North Texas Presbytery.
Our denomination adheres to the particular expression of Christian doctrine found in the Westminster Confession of Faith.
We always try to stress that you don't have to be Reformed or identify as a Presbyterian to join us at Redeemer. We celebrate the many diverse and faithful denominations within Christ's body. Our church is made up of people from all sorts of Christian traditions and backgrounds that now call Redeemer Rockwall home.
We are orthodox.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ‘ORTHODOX’?
We hold to the historic Christian faith. By ‘orthodox’ we mean that we affirm the essential beliefs of Christianity that have survived for two thousand years and have remained common across denominational boundaries and traditional expressions. This is an important value we hold because the Scriptures call for unity amongst believers, which means we need to appreciate traditions outside our own and establish boundaries for what constitutes the Church.
Together with our sister Christian churches around the world and throughout history, we confess the Apostles’ Creed as a concise expression of the core beliefs that unite the true Church of every time and place. Given the call for unity in the Scriptures, we want to major in the majors and minor in the minors. We consider the Apostle’s Creed to contain “the majors”, or the "basics", of the faith that unite the one Church of God throughout history.
The Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
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 at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I 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.
[ * by 'catholic' it is referring to the true Church of every time and place throughout history ]
WE LOVE THE CHURCH IN ALL OF ITS FAITHFUL EXPRESSIONS
At Redeemer we celebrate the diversity of traditions in the Church throughout the world, yet we lament the divisions that exist. This doesn't mean we celebrate every practice or expression, but it does mean we don't simply celebrate our own. The body of Christ is bigger than our church, our denomination, and our particular tradition.
We look forward to the day when Christ will finally and completely "unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Ephesians 1:10). Come, Lord Jesus!
We are missional.
JESUS GAVE US THE GREAT COMMISSION, NOT THE GREAT SUGGESTION
We are a church on mission. Sure, we could have all of our theological ducks in a row, yet without mission, we’re bad theologians.
We believe that embedded into our theology is God’s heart for the world. To learn about who God is and what he has done in Christ is to learn of his love for sinners and desire for redemption. Taking Christ to the world is our calling as Christians, but also a privilege, because in doing so, we too share in God’s heart for the world.
Whether it’s local missions or global, the glory of God in Christ will cover the earth like the waters cover the sea – what a gift to participate in extending Christ’s kingdom in this world.