First Presbyterian Church of New Bern recognizes that our beliefs were shaped by three great Christian traditions:
- The catholic (universal) Christian tradition taught us about the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ and the mystery of the triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- The Protestant tradition taught us about the authority of Scripture and the justification by grace through faith.
- Our Reformed heritage taught us about the sovereignty of God, election to service and salvation, the covenant life of the church, and faithful stewardship of God’s creation.
And so, we believe that …
The one living God externally exists in three divine persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God through which God reveals himself and his will for our lives. Scripture is our supreme authority in matters of faith and life practice.
God created humankind in his image to enjoy fellowship with him, but we have become alienated from God by sinfully going our own way. We are incapable of regaining a right relationship with God by ourselves and need a Savior.
The Son of God became human to be the world’s Savior and to show us the path back to a right relationship with God. Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross revealed the depth of God’s love for us and shattered the powers of sin and death.
We are saved solely by the grace of God who intervenes in our lives and enables us to turn from sin and personally put our faith in Christ.
The Holy Spirit is sent by God to be our teacher and comforter. The Holy Spirit draws us to Christ and transforms our lives so that we increasingly become like Jesus Christ and live a life pleasing to God.
The Great Ends of the Church
In 1910, the United Presbyterian Church of North America — one of the forbears of PC(USA) — framed a mission statement for the Church as a whole that also applies to individual churches.
The great ends of the church are:
- The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind
- The shelter, nurture and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
- The maintenance of divine worship
- The preservation of the truth
- The promotion of social righteousness
- The exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.