Mercy Christian Church - Beliefs

The Bible is God-breathed and the basis of all our beliefs.

Our Beliefs

Mercy Church is a member of the Canadian Reformed Federation of churches.
We believe that the Bible is God-breathed and therefore the authoritative Word of God. This Word is the basis of all our other beliefs.
We believe that God is the creator and sustainer of all things. He created us in His image to have a loving relationship with Him and to worship and enjoy Him forever.
We believe we have sinned with our first parents, Adam and Eve, who disobeyed God and went their own way. Having ruined their — and no less our– perfect relationship with God, we live in a fallen world deserving God’s judgement. The penalty for our sin is death, and this penalty is owed by each and every person from the fall into sin until the present time.
We believe that God did not leave us to die in our sin and misery, but instead, He immediately began to work out a way for our relationship with Him to be restored. He sent His only son, Jesus Christ, who is fully man and fully God, to take our penalty and satisfy the debt we owe God. Jesus did this through His death on the cross.
We believe that faith (belief) in Jesus Christ as our Saviour is the only way to salvation. God calls us to repent and believe in Him, and therefore we must confess our sins, turn from them, and hold on to Christ alone for salvation.
We believe that Jesus, in His mercy and great love, sends the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Him. We are unable to truly repent and walk with Jesus unless the Holy Spirit lives in our hearts and strengthens guides, and motivates us.

CREEDS

What is a creed? A creed is simply a concise statement of faith. It comes from the Latin word ‘credo’, which means ‘I believe’.

Christian churches throughout history have expressed their unity with the early church of the New Testament through creeds that summarize and articulate the basic tenets of the Christian faith.

These creeds are accepted only because they express Biblical truths. Our church stands in unity with believers around the world by believing the Scriptural content found in the Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.

CONFESSIONS

The substance of our faith is in Jesus Christ.

As Mercy Christian Church is a member of a broader community of reformed churches, we use a set of confessions known as “the Three Forms of Unity”. These include the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort.

It is important to remember that our confessions do not add anything to the Word of God. We hold to these confessions only because they faithfully summarize the Bible’s core doctrines and therefore serve an important role in developing the maturity of our Christian faith.

For an introduction to these confessions we recommend:

Heidelberg-Catechism.com is a website with many resources that will help familiarize yourself with this confession.

New City Catechism is a modern adaptation of the catechism that is great for teaching.

BAPTISM

Mercy Christian church believes that all members, including infants, should be baptized as a sign of God’s covenant promises.

Baptism is one of the two sacraments instituted by Jesus Christ as a way to strengthen our faith, along with Lord’s Supper.

We believe that the Bible teaches us to baptize infants of believing parents because they are included in God’s covenant and should therefore receive the sign of the covenant. This covenant is an agreement between God and His people. It is more binding than a friendship and more relational than a contract. With this covenant, God makes promises to his people that require a response.

In the Old Testament, God made a covenant with Abraham where He promised, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you…all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12: 2,3). God then asked Abraham to respond to this promise by circumcising every male in his family. This circumcision was more than just an outward sign of response – it was given to Abraham “as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised” (Romans 4:11). Because of Abraham’s faith, the promise was given to him and his children – a promise that is repeated in the New Testament (Acts 2:39).

We believe that in the New Testament, baptism replaced circumcision (Col 2:11-12)and was also given on account of faith to both the believer and their children. In Acts 16, we read of two instances where a new believer’s entire household was baptized: first Lydia came to faith and “she was baptized, and her household as well…” (Acts 16:15), and then later the Philippian jailer “was baptized at once, he and all his family” (Acts 16:33). The children of these new believers were included in the promises of baptism and therefore welcomed along with their parents as members of the early church. This was also confirmed by Origen, one of the earliest Christian authors, who wrote, “The Church has received from the apostles the custom of administering baptism even to infants.”

While we love and deeply respect our Baptist brothers and sisters, we believe the correct interpretation of God’s Word is to continue giving the sign of baptism to our infant children, and to the children of any new believer who is also baptized. This does not mean that we believe that the waters of baptism have any power to save baptized children; it does mean, however, that God has extended His covenant promises to these children and has given their parents the responsibility to teach them about Him. It is the prayer of every parent who presents their child for baptism that this child will respond with faith and obedience to Jesus!

For further confirmation of the belief in infant baptism, we recommend:

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/a-brief-defense-of-infant-baptism/

LORD'S SUPPER

Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. (1 Cor 10:17)

The Lord’s Supper is the second of the two sacraments instituted by Jesus for the church (baptism being the first). It is participated in as a means to strengthen our faith and remind us of the promises of Christ to his church, as well as the spilled blood and broken body of Jesus for our sins. (1 Cor 11:23-25)

We do not believe there is anything special about the bread and wine we consume. It does not turn into Christ’s body or blood but serves solely as a reminder to us of those things. These elements are shared together by the congregation throughout the year in memory of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.