What We Believe

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever.

Amen.

Our beliefs are summarized within the two historic creeds of the Christian faith,

the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed.

Apostle’s 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 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 Spirit;

the holy catholic Church;

the communion of saints;

the forgiveness of sins;

the resurrection of the body;

and the life everlasting. AMEN.

Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen. 

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end. 

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen. 

The Bible

We believe the Bible is the God’s Word which guides us in who God is and how we are to be in relationship with him as well as how we are to be in relationship with ourselves and with other people.

Holy Communion

Communion is celebrated at Levi’s House in its most basic way.  There is very little ritual.  Each person is handed a bite-sized piece of bread.  And then a cup of wine or juice is passed in front of each person so that the bread is dipped slightly into the wine and then eaten.  Some people might not wish to take communion … that’s okay.  Just keep your hands folded when one of us comes by with the bread.  You have your reasons and unless you tell us, we won’t pry.  If you decide later to take communion on another Sunday, just lift your hand up and let one of us put the piece of bread in your hand.  No big drama.  It’s between you and God. 

Communion has been observed by Christians since the night before Jesus was crucified.  Jesus said that the bread is his body.  He said that the wine is his blood.  When we take the bread and wine, we are taking Christ into our lives as a sign of our faith in him and in the belief that he will strengthen us in our walk with him and the living out of our faith.  We are declaring by this simple act that Jesus died for our sins, that he was raised from the dead and that he will return someday to establish an everlasting kingdom.  Communion is not magic.  It is an act of faith in Christ.  You do not have to be a “member” of Levi’s House or any other church to take communion.  You are not required to have been baptized to take communion.  You simply need to believe that Jesus is Lord.

Holy Baptism

Baptism has been observed for over two-thousand years, even before the time of Christ.  Essentially, it is an outward demonstration of one’s faith in Christ that he has removed or forgiven or “washed away” one’s sins.  Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by his cousin, John.  He was immersed in the water…dunked, dipped, however you want to describe it and the Spirit of God came upon him. 

A person who decides to follow Christ, being baptized in this manner, is taken to a pool or a river or a lake or even to another church that has a pool for this purpose.  The pastor gets into the water with the new Christian and holds him as he is lowered briefly into the water, covering their whole body and then quickly lifted up out of the water. 

The pastor does this after saying the following words:

“(Name), I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of

the Holy Spirit. Amen"

Throughout the history of the Christian church, two other modes of baptism have been observed: sprinkling and pouring.  In each, a small amount of water is simply sprinkled or poured on the head of the new Christian. 

If you wish to be baptized or you have questions about being baptized, speak with Phil or Matt.