What We Believe

Open Table Community Church is a community organized by and around the Word of God, to cooperate in the Mission of God of furthering the Kingdom of God.  We accomplish this by gathering in worship together around a common teaching and a common table, by living in fidelity to Christ and one another, and by working together to bring reconciliation to the four relationships broken by sin in the Fall.

 At Open Table Community Church, we align with the  earliest Christian creeds.  We  recognize that countless Christians have faithfully followed Jesus throughout the ages holding  a variety of interpretations on matters of faith and scripture. Spanning that time, the creeds have  served as an anchor, holding the Church firm amidst a constantly changing cultural context.  As  we place our faith in the Jesus we see outlined in the Bible, the Nicene Creed assures us that we have not wandered far from those who first followed our Lord.   

    “We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.”

At OTCC we affirm that God is the source and maker of all things.   He made the visible things, the mountains, the rivers, the stars, and flowers.  He also made the invisible things like love, courage, longing, and hope.  God is where we turn for fulfillment as He is the source of all things good.  

 
“And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father.  Through him all things were made.”

OTCC like the ancient creeds is trinitarian.  This means we believe Jesus is God.  He is more than a prophet, more than a moral teacher, more than the founder of a world religion.  He was not made from pre-existing  material,  but rather was eternally present with the father and was  the agent through which all things came to be.   

For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven;  he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,  and was made human.  He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried.   The third day he rose  again, according to the Scriptures.   He ascended to heaven  and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  He will come again with glory  to judge the living and  the dead.   His kingdom will never end. 

We believe the incarnation, life, work, death, resurrection, ascension, eminent return, and ultimate reign of Jesus was and is FOR us. Motivated by His great love for us,  Jesus came to save us. We believe this love motivates us to love as recklessly.  We love because He first loved us. 

And we believe in the Holy Spirit,  the Lord, the giver of life.  He proceeds from the Father and the Son,  and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.  He spoke through the prophets. 

OTCC believes that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity, is God, and is the agent  of our salvation, our very life. Our only reasonable response to the trinity is a life of faithful  worship. 

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

OTCC believes that the entire worldwide church, as it holds true to the teachings of the apostles, is the Body of Christ, the earthly ambassadors of the Kingdom of God.  We affirm that there would be no church if not for the Word of God, both the Old Testament, spoken by the Holy Spirit through prophets, which the apostles quoted, and the New Testament as the teachings of the Holy Spirit through the apostles themselves.  OTCC believes an apostolic church is a church oriented on the Bible, and bound together by the sacrament of Communion.  We affirm that baptism is the sacramental entrance to God's kingdom, the church, the end result of which is life, beyond physical death and even through eternity.