Who is God?

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• God is one, eternally existing in a Trinity of three persons, co-equal in power, divinity, and love. God’s oneness is not challenged by His threeness, and His threeness does not defy His oneness. Rather, there is one God who is in His preeminence and power these three persons, referred to by scriptural revelation as God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

• The Triune God created everything that is, was or will ever be. As such we understand Him as omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, which means He is all-powerful, present with us at all times, and all-knowing. God is holy, in Him there is no sin or darkness. He is love, justice and power in their truest form. God has chosen to reveal himself to mankind through his power, his Son and the Holy Spirit, and through his written word.

• God the Father is the means by which the Son is begotten and from which the Spirit proceeds. He is the one who is on the throne, and is the God of Abraham, David and Paul. He is co-eternal, and of the same divine reality with the Son and the Spirit. He is a Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, but should not be defined by our experiences of men on earth. Father God is not a Father as we may understand it. Rather, our understanding of what mankind could be should be defined by our Father: A Father who is loving, present, and providing.

• The Son, the Word of God, is called Jesus in His incarnation. Jesus is the Messiah, the long awaited one. By becoming human, He taught us what it means to be truly human by living a sinless life. He was crucified, died and was buried. In His death He took on the sins of the world, and was the perfect sacrifice for sin, despite having never committed sins himself. Three days after his death, Jesus rose to life and ascended, returning to the Father. He has promised us that we will rise from the dead in resurrection with him in the fullness of time. The Son now dwells on the Throne as the Lamb of God.

• The Holy Spirit is God and is united in the Godhead, distinct from the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit dwells in all believers and enables them to navigate the challenges of life within the mercy of God. The Holy Spirit also enables those who are in rebellion of God to be conformed to God’s way by His convicting them of their sinful ways. Without the Holy Spirit’s prompting and enabling, none can believe. The Spirit is also the seal of our salvation, assuring us of our faith and our belonging to God.

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Who are we? 

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• Humanity is created by God and would cease to exist if God did not want this to be so. We all bear the image of God, meaning that we bear worth and value, and have a call to stewardship and care of the earth and those in it. 

• All people sin against God, and in so doing are irreversibly affected by death, decay, and destruction. To sin is to act in such a way that is contrary to the nature of who God is, something all humans do at some point. This also means that we fail to live according to the purpose that God has for us. 

• Sin has multiple consequences. Firstly, when sin came into the world, the primary consequence was broken relationships. Our relationships with God, each other and Creation are affected so that we are not at peace, but rather in conflict due to sin. Secondly, death came along with these broken relationships. As sinners, all of humanity is faced with the reality of dying at some point in our lives.

• But, through the grace of God, Jesus the Son - incarnate in human flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit, took on our sin. Christ paid our debt through dying as a sacrifice for the sinners of the world, even as He lived a sinless life. Christ then rose again, enabling anyone who believes to have victory over death and to be raised from the dead upon Jesus’ return. Jesus has given his church the authority and ability to share his Gospel, to care for people who need care, and advocate for justice as Christ leads us.

• Upon Christ’s return, the world will be changed. Believers will be glorified, and the forces of darkness will have their days numbered. After Christ’s return, the world will be made new, sin will be no longer, and all will know the presence of God. We do not know the hour or the means by which Christ will return, but we trust he shall and wait for that day.

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What do we do?

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• We read and maintain belief in the Holy Bible. The Bible is divinely inspired and without error in all matters which it seeks to be authoritative on. God has given us the Bible to encourage, instruct, and to remind us of His grace. All matters of faith are bound by God’s revelation of Himself and His ways in the Bible.

• While humanity carries the burden of sin, which includes death and separation from our God and our hope, the church believes in hope. Jesus Christ died for our sins and promises us life to its fullest. We can access this life when we place our belief in Jesus as our saviour and creator. This change occurs in the heart.

• Every authentic believer, after being brought to believe in Jesus through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, will walk a path of Sanctification. This is the step-by-step process of growing deeper in our faith, and stronger in our God enabled resistance to our sinful patterns. At Pathway - Cambrian, we believe that this side of the resurrection, believers are not fully reformed, we are all walking a path next to our saviour, growing each day in obedience.

• At Pathway Church - Camrbian we practice the Lord’s Supper, a meal where we commemorate Jesus’ words, deeds, and promises. We believe you do not have to be a member of our church to partake, but you do have to have an understanding of Christ’s saving work. Nothing else is required in terms of public confession or membership, and we hope you will join us at the table.

• We practice Believer’s Baptism. This is the practice of any consenting person publicly announcing their belief in Jesus and their being set on the path of sanctification. Furthermore, we believe that Baptism is a sign that the one practicing it is being accepted and grafted into the believing people of God, the Church. We practice Baptism by immersion, in public, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in the presence of the Church Family. Baptism is not a saving act, but it is an imperative act of obedience that every believer should desire to do. We reject any form of imposed or state Baptism, as Baptism is intended to be the action of a confessing believer and cannot be done on any one’s behalf.

• Marriage is an agreement between a loving man and woman in which they have exclusively committed themselves to one another, under the grace of God. They are expected to work in their marriage to have a pleasing relationship of sacrifice that resembles Christ’s love for the Church. Marriage is intended to be a lifelong commitment, but failed marriages do not prohibit people from seeking and finding the grace of God and from being a member of Pathway Church - Cambrian. 

• Pathway Church - Cambrian recognizes the diversity of our nation and world. We seek to be Gospel-bearers in our communities and to love and serve the lost. While we seek to love and care for all, including members of the LGBTQ2i community, Pathway Church - Cambrian affirms its commitment to heterosexual marriage as God’s intention for humanity. Those who feel attraction to members of the same sex have as much of a claim to the mercy of Christ as anyone, but living out of these attractions is against God’s purpose for humanity. We believe that God does not err when he knits us inside our mother’s wombs, but we will not condemn anyone who seeks to obey Jesus as their identity.

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