Our Beliefs

We believe that God, through infinite love for people, is actively working throughout history and in our lives in order to reestablish a state of enduring goodness and grace. We believe God wants human beings to flourish, but that human beings are individually and collectively unable to flourish fully without help from God.

At Grace Chicago Church, our beliefs begin with the same core beliefs that Jesus' first followers held as stated in the Apostle’s Creed:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth. I believe in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended in to  Hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into Heaven. He is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. 

It all starts (and ends) with the love of God for those created in God’s image, people like you and me.

One theologian of the Middle Ages put it this way: human beings are God’s obsession. Another early Christian thinker said it this way: the joy of God is a human being made fully alive. Jesus put it this way: “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of (John 10:10 The Message translation).

It is often asked, why would someone need Jesus for this kind of full throttled humanity?  The simple answer, according to Jesus and his early followers, is that we simply can’t get there on our own. We need to benefit from what only Jesus can give us. Human beings need God's love living inside of them and this is what Jesus brings us through his life, death, and resurrection. We hope you might explore the richness and layers that lie behind this briefest of introductions to what we believe. 

Grace Chicago is affiliated with the Reformed Church in America (RCA).