And we believe in the City. God has a passion for the city. At history's earliest moment, God spoke to our first parents and called them to establish human civilization upon the earth (Gen 1:28). This is what theologians historically called the Cultural Mandate. At history's end, John tells us, all the kings of the earth will bring their cultural treasures into a great city to offer them to God. Every nationality will offer their greatest riches to adorn the City of God (Rev 21:24-26). Jesus Christ doesn't save us so we can escape from the city. He saves the city itself--including people who turn to him. He's renewing us at Memorial individually and collectively, and is renewing our various relationships and callings through us. We're committed to the city. We believe in it. And we want God to use us to love St. Louis, to revitalize its institutions, and to renew its neighborhoods and culture. |
We believe in the Church as the Community of Christ. The Church is not the Savior, but it is the community of the Savior. The Church is not optional for the sincere Christian, but is essential to any authentic walk with God. Christians need each other as they struggle together to live lives of love, humility and worship. Paul explains that the members of the Church are like a body: "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you!'" (1 Cor 12:21). In any grace-driven church, Scripture tells us, Christians will devote themselves to the fellowship, will be together, will meet together, and will eat together in their homes (Acts 2:42-47). The Church remains the last truly authentic community. |
We believe God is real. He's not just a concept used to manipulate people or an impersonal force that can't think or love or communicate. God is a reality we have come to know. And we're convinced that we can't live without God. If God isn't there, everything we are and do and love becomes arbitrary and meaningless. As a point of intellectual integrity, there simply cannot be ultimate law--ultimate right or wrong--without an ultimate Lawgiver. Without a purposeful creation, we have no purpose. Without an infinite point of reference, our human aspirations become pointless. If our belief in human significance and the rightness of love are to have any meaning, it's because God is really there. This God, we believe, is the one who created everything, sovereignly directing the course of history. We owe him all worship, faith and obedience. He is the one for whom we were made, our purpose and goal in life. In Him alone can humanity find its satisfaction. |
We believe God is real. He's not just a concept used to manipulate people or an impersonal force that can't think or love or communicate. God is a reality we have come to know. And we're convinced that we can't live without God. If God isn't there, everything we are and do and love becomes arbitrary and meaningless. As a point of intellectual integrity, there simply cannot be ultimate law--ultimate right or wrong--without an ultimate Lawgiver. Without a purposeful creation, we have no purpose. Without an infinite point of reference, our human aspirations become pointless. If our belief in human significance and the rightness of love are to have any meaning, it's because God is really there. This God, we believe, is the one who created everything, sovereignly directing the course of history. We owe him all worship, faith and obedience. He is the one for whom we were made, our purpose and goal in life. In Him alone can humanity find its satisfaction. |
an urban evangelical church seeking to renew the city socially, spiritually and culturally |
p r e s b y t e r i a n c h u r c h ( s a i n t l o u i s ) |
p r e s b y t e r i a n c h u r c h i n a m e r i c a |
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We believe in the Church as the Community of Christ. The Church is not the Savior, but it is the community of the Savior. The Church is not optional for the sincere Christian, but is essential to any authentic walk with God. Christians need each other as they struggle together to live lives of love, humility and worship. Paul explains that the members of the Church are like a body: "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you!'" (1 Cor 12:21). In any grace-driven church, Scripture tells us, Christians will devote themselves to the fellowship, will be together, will meet together, and will eat together in their homes (Acts 2:42-47). The Church remains the last truly authentic community. |
And we believe in the City. God has a passion for the city. At history's earliest moment, God spoke to our first parents and called them to establish human civilization upon the earth (Gen 1:28). This is what theologians historically called the Cultural Mandate. At history's end, John tells us, all the kings of the earth will bring their cultural treasures into a great city to offer them to God. Every nationality will offer their greatest riches to adorn the City of God (Rev 21:24-26). Jesus Christ doesn't save us so we can escape from the city. He saves the city itself--including people who turn to him. He's renewing us at Memorial individually and collectively, and is renewing our various relationships and callings through us. We're committed to the city. We believe in it. And we want God to use us to love St. Louis, to revitalize its institutions, and to renew its neighborhoods and culture. |
We believe God can be encountered in Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible is not a book of rules to tell us how to come to God. It's about God coming to us. We call this grace. The Bible is a (true) story about God claiming a people for himself, culminating in the coming of his Son to earth. Jesus is real and alive. He lived a righteous life in our place, and died under God's judgment in our place. When we turn to him, we receive peace with God, become his children, and are counted as righteous before him, even when we continue to fail. God has obligated himself to receive any sinner who turns to him in Christ. The Son of God has promised to return at history's end to judge all nations and restore creation to its original splendor. |
We believe God has spoken. We believe God communicated to his people throughout history in the books we now call the Bible. These Scriptures don't merely express the perspective of their human authors, but God used them to communicate reliably to us. Peter reminds us, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pe 1:20-21). The Scriptures give our Creator's perspective on life, showing us what life was intended to be, how sin has defiled it, and how God is restoring it. |
m e m o r i a l p r e s b y t e r i a n c h u r c h a n u r b a n e v a n g e l i c a l c h u r c h s e e k i n g t o r e n e w t h e c i t y s o c i a l l y , s p i r i t u a l l y & c u l t u r a l l y |
c o n v i c t i o n s |
