Our Beliefs

Clay Center Christian’s Uncreed

Clay Center Christian Church does not require that members subscribe to a formal creed. In a very real sense, “we have no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible.” The twin bases of our unity are our faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and our adherence to the Bible as the inspired text for our teaching and the one sufficient constitution for governing congregational life.

Unity
We seek a unity of understandings in the essentials of our faith, yet we do not suggest that we must agree on all things pertaining to our walk in Christ. On many issues we have the freedom to disagree. We do ask, however, that all who accept and hold a leadership or teaching position at Clay Center Christian respect the following guidelines and resist any temptation to use their position as a forum from which to teach other views. Unity in the body depends upon harmony and mutual trust in the leadership.

Who is God? The Bible teaches that God is Creator of our world and Sustainer and Lord of our lives. The Trinity of God is three in one (Father, Spirit and Son), one essence and three persons. Each one is equal in importance to the other two due to the intimate nature that is continually giving and serving to the rest of the Godhead. This is a mysterious relationship but very real none the less. The mysteries of God is what should move us in the continual pursuit of knowing Him while at the same time offer a continual reminder of His worthiness of our worship. God is also the living standard of Holiness.

What about Jesus? Jesus Christ is the one and only living Son of God and our Savior. Through Jesus, God opened the way of abundant and eternal life through His death, burial, and resurrection to all who call on Christ’s name by faith and their obedience to His commands where we declare Him as our Lord. Jesus is the method, message and meaning for all people (the way, the truth and the life). John 14:6

Who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is God Himself regenerating, renewing, encouraging, guiding, and transforming us in the way of Christ. The work and function of the Holy Spirit today is more complete and more intimate due to the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. We now have the blessing of being the dwelling place for the Spirit of God. God is now able, by the gracious sacrifice of Christ, to do imeassurably more with us by working from the inside out

Salvation God’s word is clear that we are saved by the Grace of God. We are called however to claim this grace through our faith in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and our obedience to the giving of all of who we are to the Lordship of Jesus.

The Bible The Bible is the inherent and inspired Word of God. It is the authoritative rule of faith and practice for Christians and the Church. Jesus instituted a new covenant with God that succeeded and transcended His former covenant with the people of Israel; hence, we accept the Old Testament as preparatory to the New Testament and we rejoice that we are related to God through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and not through the law.

Church Membership
We are a free and independent church under Christ. Guided by a board of elders, we determine our own policies and practices in light of biblical expectations, and we voluntarily cooperate with other Christian groups in fulfilling our Lord’s Great Commission. Our Church membership requires of you:
One must be a believer in Jesus Christ as the only Son of God, be willing to confess sin and  turn away from the lifestyle of sin, to confess this faith and their need of Jesus as their Savior before others, to be submissive to immersion  into Christ and continue in faithful discipleship and obedience to His Word.

Baptism
We practice baptism of the repentant believer by immersion in water, confident that this expresses the form and purposes of the New Testament precedent. The New Testament teaches that all believers recieve the gifts of the Holy Spirit in relation to their faith, repentance and baptism.

Ministry & Service
The New Testament teaches the ministry and service of all believers, recognizing that the Holy Spirit gives various gifts to members of the body so that ever member can make a contribution to the effective work of the entire church. We have many ministries and areas of service waiting for you to get involved and be an active part of the body.
We are, therefore, a Spirit-filled church seeking to do God’s will and to become more like His Son, Jesus Christ.

Prayer
We are a praying Church. We daily lift before God fervent prayers of praise, confession, thanksgiving and petition. We realize that prayer is a significant part of our daily walk with Christ. Prayer is not our way of moving God but rather our moment to declare we are ready to be moved by God.

Missions
We are a mission-minded church. We send and support evangelistic and benevolent missions thoroughout the world. We encourage our finest people to accept the call to a greater Kingdom service, and we support them through faithful mission offerings.All persons of all races have been created in the image of God and stand in need of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. The church exists to serve the world by being a reflection of the love our Savior. Therefore, we send evangelists to rescue the perishing of the world. We participate in efforts to improve community life. We want to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, offer hospitality to the stranger, clothe the naked, minister to the sick, and visit the imprisoned as Jesus has instructed.

The Future
God, who created the heavens and the earth, will one day bring life on earth to a conclusion. While accepting various understandings of how God will bring this about, we trust that Christ will come again and will call His own to Himself.

Communion
We celebrate the Lord’s Supper each Sunday, as we find the New Testament Christians did. In partaking of the bread and the wine, we remember our Lord’s sacrifice for us and we strengthen our relationship with Him. We do this in remembrance of Him.

Resources
God expects wise management of our money and other resources in both our personal and our congregations lives. We encourage that the tithe (ten percent) as the minimum the Bible teaches us to return to the Lord. In fact, we understand the governing principles to be that everything we have and are belongs to God. We do not hesitate to teach principles of Christian stewardship, agreeing with Jesus that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”.

Continued Maturity
We believe that maturity is the process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others.