First Presbyterian Church of Bishop, California

Statement of Faith

The Bible is a collection of sixty-six books written by intelligent people who were inspired by God and who knew what they were talking about.  The bible is therefore, the word of God written - a reliable source of information regarding all matters involving what we should believe and how we should live.

God is and makes himself known as, three distinct persons; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

God's essential nature is love; love is not something God does, it's what God  is.  God's love is extravagant; God cherishes and loves all people everywhere, not just Christians, and not just citizens of this country.

All human beings throughout the earth are not what God created them to be, but live in a broken relationship with God.  They fail to do what they ought to do and consistently do what they shouldn't do.  The Bible refers to this tragic condition as "sin".

Sin causes men and women to be 'dead' to God; that is, it causes them to be disinterested in God as well as indifferent toward, and unaffected by, God's intention and desires.

God provides deliverance from sin's consequences and freedom from sin's destructive power by means of Jesus; companionship, teaching, death and resurrection.

In order to enoy the new life God has made available, an additional birth is required (one gives spiritual life, just as physical life); this addition birth causes us to become alive to God.

This new life is not something we earn by doing good deeds or being 'good enough'; it is a gift won for us, and offered to us by God.

It is God's desire for all men and women, in all place and all ages, to have a lasting relationship with Jesus Christ.  God created human beings with free will, enabling them to accept or reject that relationship.

Jesus calls all those who trust him to be his student-apprecentices (disciples); as such, they are to spend as much time with hime as they can, in order to learn from him to become like him.

God the Holy Spirit invests every one of Christ's people with various talents and spiritual abilities, which are to be used in the service of God and others. All of God's people, male and female, young and old, are called to creative work and leadership, in the church and the world.

Even though evil exists in this world, God is in control of life the universe, and in the end God's good and loving triumph will be complete.

Aproved by the Session of the First Presbyterian Church of Bishop on November 17, 2002.