The Church at Quail Creek, in seeking to be a non-denominational Christian church, has accepted as its statement of faith the Apostles’ Creed.  We believe this creed summarizes succinctly the message of the Scriptures - those things which “all Christians have believed at all times.”  Following is a statement of the creed, along with our specific understanding of it as a church, both of which together are to be considered our statement of faith.

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 Ghost,

born of the Virgin Mary, 

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, dead, and buried. 

He descended into hell.* 

The third day he rose again from the dead. 

He ascended into heaven,

and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty. 

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost,

the holy Christian Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. . .

Everything that exists, from the smallest sub-atomic particle to the largest super-galaxy, is the result of creation by the One God, who is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-wise.  He is also, according to the Scripture, the essence of love.  He is also the Creator of all that exists outside the realm of our senses:  the spiritual world.  We dare call him Father because He has chosen to relate to us as a Father through His Son, Jesus Christ.

 The Father has made Himself known to us through His Son, who is therefore also called “the Word of the Father.”  This Living Word, Jesus Christ, and His gospel, the good news of salvation, are given to us in the Scriptures.  We hold the Scriptures, including the thirty-nine books of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, and the twenty-seven books of the New Covenant, or New Testament, to be the recorded revelation of God to man.  They are the written record of the Apostles and Prophets, and by them we may know the Living Word, Jesus Christ, through the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. 

 We believe it is inconsistent and dishonest to profess a belief in Christ while denying the authority of Scripture, since our knowledge of Christ, his words, his deeds, and most importantly, his sacrifice for our sins, are known to us only through the record of Holy Scripture.  All that is necessary for salvation can be found in Holy Scripture, which we accept as our all-sufficient rule of faith and conduct.

Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God.  As the Son, He shares the Father’s deity.  He also shared in the Father’s work of creation.  Yet, because of His love for the Father and His love for us, His creatures, He freely chose to “make himself nothing”. 

We believe He was born of the virgin Mary, and by virtue of his incarnation, though fully God, He became also fully man.  He suffered crucifixion under the 1^st-Century Roman governor Pontius Pilate and was buried in a tomb.  Through the shedding of His blood, His death was the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice offered to God the Father for the sins of the world.  His victory over death was completed when He rose bodily from the dead.  This redemptive act is the only means available for our salvation.  We access this salvation by God’s grace, through faith, with no merit of our own deeds of righteousness. 

He ascended into heaven and now sits at the right-hand of the Father, interceding to the Father as a High Priest.  He will come again to earth as the righteous judge of all who have ever lived.

We believe in the Holy Spirit. . .

God is Spirit, and according to Christ, He must be worshipped “in spirit and in truth.”  The Holy Spirit, like the Father and the Son, is Divine and Personal.  He is the life-giving Spirit who empowers and enables the Church, God’s people in Christ, to do the work of Christ in the world. 

Although there are many churches, we believe there is only one Church - not an institution - but the family of God made up of those who have been regenerated by the Spirit and adopted as sons and daughters.  We believe that God has designed for His people to be nourished and strengthened in the Spirit through local churches that are expressions of His universal Church in particular places. 

The local church is also the community in which we participate together in the ordinances of the Lord, which are Baptism and the Lords’ Supper.  Through Baptism, we identify with Christ’s death and resurrection and publicly profess ourselves to be His disciples.  In the Lord’s Supper, we participate together spiritually in the body and blood of Christ by remembering his sacrifice for us and by giving thanks to Him.

The Spirit also communicates with our spirits that our sins have been forgiven in Christ, that we are children of God, and that therefore we can call God “Abba, Father.” 

We look forward to the day when Christ returns for His people and the Spirit resurrects our bodies just as He did Christ’s on the first Easter Sunday.  Then, we shall dwell with Him forever, sharing
in the life and love of the Father, Son, and Spirit for all eternity.