What We Believe
Saturate Church holds to the following seven core theological beliefs:
God
We believe there is one true God who exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We believe that God is infinitely perfect and eternally existing. God is the Creator and Lord of the world who governs all things according to the purpose of his will. Because of who God is and what He has done, He is owed our trust, obedience, love, and worship. God is holy, just, and loves the world He created desiring for all people to come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
The Bible
We believe the Bible is the inspired and authoritative word of God to all people. We believe in the divine inspiration, truthfulness and authority of both Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety as the only written word of God, without error in all that it affirms, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice. We believe the Bible is the story of God's grace, power, and love for all people and not merely a collection of fables that teach life principles.
People
We believe that all people are created in the image of God, therefore they have inherent and equal dignity and worth. We believe that people were created to build their life and find their meaning in God. When people find their life and meaning in anything other than God, the result is sin. We believe every person has sinned, resulting in a broken relationship with God. This sin has corrupted every aspect of our human nature (physically, emotionally, and spiritually) leaving us guilty before a just and holy God and in need of a Savior to rescue us from alienation and punishment from and to restore our relationship with God.
Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and lived a sinless life in complete obedience to the Father. Jesus came to earth to reveal God to all people and restore the relationship between God and all people that was broken because of sin. He fulfilled his purpose by receiving the punishment we were owed for our sin against God. Through faith in his life, death, and resurrection we are declared righteous and justified by God, our relationship with God is restored by being adopted into God's family, and we receive the gift of eternal life with Him.
The Gospel
The Gospel is the good news that God, himself, has come to rescue and redeem all people. This was graciously accomplished through the sinless life, sacrificial death, and bodily resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. It is through faith in Jesus Christ that we can experience the forgiveness for our sins, receive righteousness, and be declared justified; opening the door for us to have a restored and renewed relationship with God, our Father. The salvation offered in this gospel message is received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone; there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. We believe the Gospel is the key to all doctrine and to our view of our lives in this world. We find the gospel is best summed up in the following quote by Timothy Keller, "We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”
Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is God's personal presence and the third person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is on a mission to bring glory to Jesus Christ, convict people of their sin and their need for saving faith in Jesus Christ. The Spirit resides within all people who have saving faith in Jesus Christ, providing them with spiritual life, bestowing spiritual gifts for the work of ministry, and helping them to become more like Christ. The Holy Spirit lovingly leads and empowers all believers for worship, service, and mission. The power of the Holy Spirit raised Jesus Christ from the grave and now that same Spirit indwells all believers.
The Church
We believe the church is made up of all people who have saving faith in Jesus Christ. It is explained through different word pictures found in the Bible. One is the “body of Christ” which describes our relationship to Christ as our head and how each person has a role in the church, another is “family” which describes how we see each other in light of all believers being adopted into the family of God. The church is not a building or event you attend regularly, rather it is the family of God who are sent as disciples by their Father out into the world to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and work alongside the Holy Spirit to bring others to saving faith in Jesus Christ and to help them grow into disciples. Following the example of Jesus, we live as servants in the world. We care for one another, seek justice for the oppressed, and serve the poor. As Jesus served, so we too should serve.