Eden Church’s Foundational Beliefs:
We firmly believe in the Bible:
- The Holy Word of God our Heavenly Father
- The infallible rule of life
- The ultimate authority for faith and practice
We passionately love Jesus Christ:
- He is the head of our church family
- He is our Savior, the Son of God
- He provides our direction and purpose
- He cares for and carries us
We eagerly seek to know Christ better:
- Through scripture
- Through prayer
- Through the presence of the Holy Spirit
- Through community with His People
We faithfully obey Christ in all things:
- By following His commandments
- By sharing His Gospel
- By loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength
- By loving our neighbors as ourselves
We define our Church Mission statement as follows:
Eden Church is called by the Gospel to belong to the one true and triune God, actively participate in Christ’s community, and join Christ in His work of restoring the world.
Eden Church’s mission is a summary of our God given duty as we listen to and respond to the preaching of the Gospel or Good News about Jesus Christ and his entrance into the world. As Eden hears God’s call through the Gospel, we understand and respond to the Gospel in how we relate to God, to each other in our church family and as a faith community to the world.
Belong to God
God has revealed Himself in nature and in the sacred writings of Holy Scripture to be one God revealed in the three persons of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In agreement with Christians around the world, we affirm that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each distinct persons within the one true God and that they are coequal and coeternal in their relationship to each other. It is to this God that the members of Eden Church belong.
In one sense everything belongs to God as God is the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth (Psalm 24:1), but a careful read of the scriptures shows us that God chooses a special people for Himself and for His redemptive purposes in the world. In the Old Testament, God chose Abraham and his descendants, the people of Israel to be a special people, uniquely belonging to Him (Deuteronomy 7:6-11). This call was both a privilege and a responsibility as God called the Israelites into a new way of life where God was to be at the center of their lives and their community.
Likewise in the New Testament Jesus, the Son of God and the Savior of humankind, has come into the world to build a new community, the Church. Jesus is calling people throughout the world to believe in Him, to receive the blessings of His sacrifice, and to follow Him (Romans 1:6, 1 Peter 2:9-10).
The call to belong to God has a beginning point when we first understand the Gospel and trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is at this point that we receive Jesus Christ as Lord (Colossians 2:6-7). However, the call to belong to God is an ongoing process of rehearing God’s claim on our lives and responding with repentance, faith, and obedience. Belonging to God is both a great comfort and a responsibility. A comfort because our lives are in his eternal care (1 Corinthians 3:23, Galatians 5:24), but also a responsibility because we are now obligated to live for Christ (Romans 7:4,1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Matthew 10:38-39).
Participate in Christ’s community
When we belong to God our lives fit together into the redemptive plans God has for all God’s people. God is building a community that belongs to Christ, the Church, and we are each called to take an active role in this community. (Matthew 16:18, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13) The Church is the Christian community where we support each other (Galatians 6:2), serve each other (1 Peter 4:10-11), help each other grow (Ephesians 4:15-16), and hold each other accountable to live as God intends. (Galatians 6:1-2) The Church’s call is to become a community of people serving God, loving one another, and bearing witness to the world the message of Jesus Christ (John 13:34-35, Acts 1:8, Matthew 5:13-16).
In one sense a person enters into God’s community at the moment they receive Jesus Christ as Lord (1 Corinthians 12:13). The Holy Spirit within them unites them to believers around the world, but it is the duty of every Christian to make that union a reality by seeking out a church community to share in the life of faith. Regular participation in the local church becomes a part of the life of the believer and often leads to church membership. Membership in the local church is the formal process whereby a person who belongs to God enters into covenant with the other members of a congregation for the spiritual well-being of the body of Christ.
As followers of God, the regular attenders and members of Eden Church pledge themselves to active participation in the life of the faith community as outlined in scripture (Acts 2:42-47). We are expected to worship regularly together and to participate often in the Lord’s supper. As God’s people, we are committed to pursue spiritual maturity and are called to live in a way that is honoring to Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:6-7; Philippians 1:27). We are expected to serve the needs of the local Church through the use of our spiritual gifts (1 Peter 4:10-11), our talents and our time. As followers of the Lord, we are expected to financially support the ministries of Eden Church as well as its ministries of benevolence to the world and we are obligated to work for the unity of the local church (Ephesians 4:1-3). We share in the responsibility to spur one another on to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24) as well as to help our fellow members turn away from sin and fully live as Jesus intended (James 5:19-20).
Join Christ in His work of restoring the world
In the scriptures, we see four major themes that define the scope of life from the beginning of time until eternity. God created the heavens and the earth and declared God’s creation was good (Genesis 1& 2). God’s creation was corrupted by the entrance of sin and its destructive consequences in the world (Romans 5:12-21; Romans 8:19-23). This led to brokenness between God and people, between humans with each other, and even led to a disruption of the whole created order. Shortly after this corruption entered the world, God began working out a plan to bring Jesus Christ into the world in the fullness of time to correct this problem (Genesis 3:14-15; Luke 4:16-21). Jesus, the God-man, through his death and resurrection, was able to redeem his people from the penalty of sin and offer them the hope of eternal life. Jesus left for heaven with a promise to return to complete the process of redemption and restore the world to a place of harmony, righteousness, and glory (Revelation 21:1-5).
Christ invites us to share in that restoring work of Jesus Christ, primarily by bringing the world to a saving knowledge and relationship with the one true and triune God. Eden Church is called to make Christ known in our community, in our nation and in the world (Mark 16:15). Eden shares in this ministry of reconciliation primarily by proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ in word and in deed. We are called to a ministry of prayer and compassion for the world (Matthew 9:35-38; Jeremiah 29:7), to go into the world and bear witness to Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:14), to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20), and to perform good deeds in His name (Matthew 5:14-16; Ephesians 2:10), so that the world may come to see God in and through us. These good deeds include but are not limited to caring for the members of society who have been impacted by the brokenness of sin. We are to care for those in need, advocate for those who are treated unjustly and advance the values of God’s Kingdom on earth.
In keeping with the words of the Apostle Paul, we are tasked to be ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18-21) as we live out our common faith. By God’s grace and with the aid of the Holy Spirit this will be our aim!
Eden Church’s Affiliation
Eden Church is a non-denominational church affiliated with the Evangelical Association of Reformed and Congregational Christian Churches. You can learn more about the Evangelical Association here: https://evangelicalassociation.org/