Christians believe that we were created by an intelligent being (God), outside the boundaries of the known universe. We believe that God is a personal being and not impersonal matter. We believe that He wants to have a personla relationship with His creation.

We believe that he created us in his own image in the sense we are moral beings who have the capacity to make moral ethical choices. He gave us the gift of free will, meaning that we are free to choose to do or not do what He wants us to. We believe that God has made clear how He would like us to behave, and that He has revealed that to us in the Bible. We believe that a being who is capable of creating this complex world and creating each of us individually, is certainly capable of making His desires and counsel known to us by inspiring the writers of the Bible.

We believe that we are inclined to rebel against God, primarily by putting ourselves at the center of the universe rather than Him. This inclination to put ourselves first and to decide for ourselves what is right or wrong, rather than to look to see what God has said, is what Christians refer to as "original sin". Christians beleve that sin causes separation from God. We separate ourselves from Him when we ignore His counsel and head off on our own.

There are consequences of sin. First, we alienate ourselves from God and disobey His wishtes. Second, by sinning, we create havoc in our lives. I believe that God tells us how we should behave, not because He is a strict disciplinarian, but because He knows that if we don't follow His advice, we'll get into a lot of trouble.

As man sinned more and more, he became futher and further separated from God. In order to reestablish a relationship with His creation, God entered the world in the form of His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus' incarnation as a man, into this universe, served three purposes. First, it made clear just how much God wanted to be reconciled with His creation, even to the point of allowing His own Son to be killed. Second, Jesus suffered death as the price that had to be paid to a just God for man's disobedience to His will. Third, Jesus tells us more about how we should behave in relation to God and to each other than had been previously revealed in the Old Testament portion of the Bible, and He serves as the role model for the kindds of creatres God wants each of us to become.

Christians believe that we are all flawed creatures, inclined to ignore God's will for us, and strike off on our own with the result that we often create enormous problems for ourselves and for others. We learn that our only way out is to turn to God, surrender our will to Him and try hard to become the kind of creature He envisions us to be; that is, to become more Christlike. In the end, it is not as much a matter of following a bunch of rules as it is building a relationship with our Creator.

Once we have figured this our for ourselves, and are enjoying God's blessings, we understandably want to share this wonderful news with other people. Sometimes we do that in a loving way. Sometimes we try to take a short cut and tell otehrs they should just live like God wants them to. We can spend too much time telling other people they should just follow God's rules. We shouldn't be surprised when people rebel against this advice, after all, that's just the kind of rebellion the original sin represents. As Christians, we should be talking about RELATIONSHIP, not rules.

Speaking of rules, we tend to think of them as something very restricting and that take all the fun out of life. We want to set the rules for ourselves. That is the rational thing to do, right? Of course, that means that everyone else can set the rules for themselves, too. That seems like the tolerant thing to do.

But, maybe there is another way to look at this. Think of a football game with its rules and boundaries; spatial and time. Without them, players would run around all over the place, accomplishing nothing. Chaos would reign and participants would soon tire of its meaninglessness. With the rules and boundaries, the beauty of the game evolves; spectacular sideline and end zone catches, last minute heroics and exciting offensive and defensive strategies. The players are motivated and rewarded to work to become the best they possibly can be. Because fo the structure provided by the rules and boundaries, players efforts have purpose and meaning.

Christians believe life is the same way. When we stumble around, blindly making up the rules as we go or, even worse, listen to someone else who is making up the rules as they go, we get frustrated and hurt by the chaos that results when too many people are making up their own rules.

Christians believe that if we would end our rebellion against God, and attempt to follow the rules He has provided for our benefit, we will become the kind of incredibly gifted creatures He created us to be, and we will enjoy a life full of meaning and purpose as we strive to use the varied gifts He has given us, while trying to become more and more Christlike.

The Bible is full of religious practices that either (1) point us to God or (2) help us to express our relationship to Him. Both Old and New Testaments are full of religious law, principle, belief, and ritual. If we think of religion as action or conduct indicating belief in, reverance for, and a desire to please God, then it is clear that this religion provides: