Christ Church Midland

"For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, which ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake."

Our faith centers on the saving death and glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. The authority for our belief is the Bible, which records the redeeming acts of God in history. The Old Testament looks forward to the coming of Jesus, the Messiah (Christ). The New Testament recounts His life, death, and resurrection and promises His return to establish His perfect Kingdom. Our Church teaches that Holy Scripture contains all things necessary to salvation; therefore, we teach as essential to salvation nothing that is not clearly set forth in the Bible.

The Good News of the Christian faith is that even though all have sinned and fallen short of what God asks of us , Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross makes our forgiveness possible. We who are separated from God can know Him personally as we accept His free, undeserved offer of forgiveness and new birth. It is not possible for us ever to be "good enough" to earn our own salvation, but we rejoice that we receive assurance of eternal life in Christ when we put our trust in Him. The Holy Spirit, given to all who confess that Jesus is Lord, seeks to change us and develop in us Christ-like characteristics of love, joy, peace, patience, and others . The Holy Spirit also gives us gifts for ministry, specific abilities that enable us to do the work God has called us to do. We believe that the ministries of the Holy Spirit seen in the New Testament Church are good gifts that God still gives to Christians today. We are open to all the Spirit's gifts if they are exercised in humility and love for the benefit of the whole Church.

Christ Church Midland is part of he world-wide Anglican Communion. Our faith, rooted in Scripture, can be summarized in the ancient Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. These beliefs find expression in the Anglican Church in congregations with widely differing styles and emphases. As a result, people from many cultures and traditions find Christ Church to be a welcoming and supportive Christian community. We have never claimed to be the only true Church, and we openly affirm the vital Christian expression in other traditions.

Because we are called to grow in our knowledge and love of God, we place a high priority on Christian education for all ages. We expect that all those who are part of the Christ Church Midland family will nurture their own spiritual growth by participating in the education offerings of the congregation and that parents will ensure that their children are able to join the classes and programs that will help them come to Know Christ for themselves and grow in the knowledge and love of Him so that they can make Him known to others.

A key element in our discovering and carrying out the ministry God has for us is participating in a Christian small group. We urge all parishioners to join a small group for Bible study, prayer and mutual support.

Our ministries lead us outward to serve and transform the world for which Christ died. We are committed to twin expressions of compassion: evangelism and outreach. Evangelism (Mission) is our personal and corporate witness to the truth of the Gospel and the accepting love of the Christian community. As a congregation we have valued sensitive, caring evangelism with those we know. Because of our congregations growth, we must continually seek to maintain a warm, embracing church family that responds to the needs of each person who comes here.

Outreach (Ministry) is our many-faceted ministry of service to those in need in our community and beyond. We are committed and beyond. We are committed to giving the whole of our plate offering each Sunday for outreach purposes. We also seek to be directly involved in local and global ministries though our volunteer efforts.

Because we know that all that we have comes from God, we are committed to returning to Him in thankfulness according to what we have received. We offer to God our time and talents for His work as we serve as His ministers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at home, at work and at play. In our managing of money, we affirm the Biblical tithe (10% of one's income) as the standard for our giving to God for the spread of Christ's Kingdom. We do not engage in "fundraising" to "meet the budget." Our response to God is to be a free and joyful offering of ourselves to the Lord.