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What We Believe

• Our Core Beliefs
• Our Approach to Theology

Our Core Beliefs

The sole basis of our belief is the Bible,comprising the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments. The Bible was given through the inspiration of God, who used men to pen His words. Therefore, the Bible is the final authority in matters of faith and practice for the believer in Jesus Christ and for His Church.

There is only one true, holy and just God, externally existing in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. He is all powerful, all knowing and has set in place a plan to save those who trust in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God.He came to earth, became flesh and was completely God and man. Jesus died upon a cross to bring salvation and forgiveness of sins to those who choose to follow Him. He arose from the grave and is alive and working in His kingdom, the Church. Jesus will come to earth again to bring judgement.

The Holy Spirit was sent by the Father following Jesus' return to Heaven. The Holy Spirit is here to convict men and women's hearts of sin and to provide guidance, assurance, comfort and wisdom to those who believe. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control are outward signs of the presence of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5).

The central purpose of God's revelation through Scripture is to call people into fellowship with Himself.This is made possible through the death of Jesus, and His being raised again to life. The free gift of salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone. God's Word gives the following instruction to those accepting Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord:

• Acknowledge you are a sinner and in need of a Saviour.
   (Romans 3:23, Act 2:37-38, Ephesians 2:1-3)

• Believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only way for salvation.
   (1 Peter 3:18, Colossians 1:19-20, Ephesians 2:4-9, Mark 16:16)

• Confess that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead.
   (Matthew 10:32, Luke 12:8, Romans 10:9-10)

• Turn from your sin and embrace God's way for your life.
   (Luke 3:8, Acts 2:38, 3:19, Romans 6:1-2, 2 Corinthians 7:10)

• Be baptised in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
   (Romans 6:3-10, Colossians 2:11-12, Acts 2:38, 22:16)

All those who continue to live by faith under the Lordship of Jesus Christ can be assured of their Salvation and the promise of eternal life with God.

Our Approach to Theology

At Shore, our approach to theology can be expressed in this statement: “our theology should reflect God’s nature—unity in diversity. We unite around the central story of Scripture, while giving each other the freedom to differ on non-essentials.” This statement articulates two ideas—theological unity and diversity—both of which we strive to keep in balance.

In the first instance, we unite around the central narrative of the Christian faith, the great drama of God’s redemptive activity told in the Scriptures. As a Word-centred church, we hold unswervingly to the Bible as our primary authority and the foundation of our identity and practice. The revelation of the triune God as witnessed in the Bible is the theological centre around which we gather as the people of God.

This theological centre is captured in our statement of faith (our core beliefs). This statement summarises the overarching narrative of the Scriptures, expressing core biblical truths that form the foundation of Christian theology. Centring on the person and work of Jesus Christ, these convictions have been shared by Christ-followers throughout the history of the church. They are the centre of Christian orthodoxy and provide the common ground on which we stand as a body of believers.

As we unite around God’s redeeming story in the Scriptures, we must also recognise that there is a lot of diversity among Christians outside this theological centre. There are many biblical and theological issues which have been debated and contested among Christ-followers for centuries (such as end-times theories, charismatic gifts, divine sovereignty vs human free will, gender roles, views on divorce and remarriage, precise meaning and mode of baptism, etc). Sometimes, churches feel they must ‘take a stand’ on each of these issues by establishing a fixed doctrinal ruling on them. But this tends to produce a theology which is stiflingly rigid, resulting in “cookie-cutter” Christians who think in uniformity rather than unity.

In contrast, at Shore we believe theological diversity (outside the centre of Christian orthodoxy) is to be affirmed and celebrated. As we unite around central story of Scripture, there is much room for dialogue and conversation over issues on which we may have different perspectives. These differences are not negative or dangerous, and need not be feared. Rather, they reflect our diversity as God’s creatures, each of us having walked different paths, having been raised in varying contexts, and having had our minds and hearts shaped in diverse ways. Diversity of thinking and perspective reflects God’s nature as a triune being, and we do him a disservice by forcing everyone into exactly the same theological mould. So we value and encourage different theological perspectives on non-essential issues as we learn to love, listen to and learn from those who think differently to us.

Through keeping to these principles we can navigate a course for Shore that upholds unity at the theological centre of the Christian faith, and diversity at the outskirts. In this way our theology will truly reflect God’s triune nature—unity in diversity.