The name “Seventh-Day Adventist” holds some of our core beliefs. “Adventist” refers to our belief that Jesus will come again soon; we are waiting hopefully for the day when all mourning and crying and pain will stop, when people will no longer suffer, and God will live with us and we will live with God. The “Seventh-Day” is the Sabbath – a weekly day of rest that God has given to bless us and centre our lives around God’s love for each one of us.
We believe God
loves
God is love, power and splendour – and God is a mystery. God’s ways are far beyond us, but God still reaches out to us. God is infinite yet intimate, three yet one, all-knowing yet all-forgiving. We will spend eternity cherishing an ever-deepening relationship with God, our Parent, Saviour and Life.
We believe God Creates & Transforms
God made our world with brilliant creativity and tender care, and made humanity to take care of it, with rest and recreation perfectly balanced. This beauty is fractured by sin and took a perfect Saviour to reconcile us. Now, we are daily transformed and restored to God’s reflection within us, by the Spirit, so that God can work through us.
We believe God
Saves
Once, all creation sang the same glorious song of love, harmony and perfection. But disharmony erupted when Satan, “the accuser,” chose self-centredness and deception over truth and love. We’ve all experienced this disharmony; between expectations and reality, between hopes and disappointment, between loved ones and heartbreak. But the good news is: Jesus came to save us. As we connect with Jesus, the Holy Spirit calms our hearts and transforms our outlook, so that we can experience peace again and look forward to full salvation where no pain can ever touch us again.
We believe God Inhabits Us
God lives in us and with us, enabling us to be ambassadors for light, love and goodness in the world around us. This is what the Church should be. Jesus left his followers with an epic mission: to tell the world of his love and his promise to return. As Christ’s followers, we should also love people the way Christ did. Entrusting humans with this message was a bold and risky move. But even though God knew people would often fail and even distort the truth, God wanted to work with us. When we invite God into our lives, we can faithfully attempt this work of loving others as God does.
We believe God cares about Wholeness
We were created for a whole life: to be fully alive and not just getting by. God desires us to live in wholeness and balance, caring for our bodies, refining our minds, maintaining our mental health and nourishing our spirits. God’s Law in the Ten Commandments shows us how to live and makes clear our need for Jesus. Though the Law shows us the path to follow and convicts us of sin, it’s about far more than just toeing the line. The Commandments’ principles outline a holistic relationship with God, self and others.
We believe God Restores
The ancient Hebrew sanctuary rituals were a reflection of Jesus’ work in heaven, who offers the merits of his sacrifice to all who accept God’s grace. This grace comes to us to restore the relationship we can all have with God. And because Jesus endured temptation on earth as we do, we can trust that he understands our struggles and will strengthen us when we need help. Once all those who trust this grace are saved, sin can be destroyed forever. As God then recreates the Earth, love, joy and harmony will at last be restored to the universe.
* Content adapted from What do Seventh Day Adventists Really Believe? – Adventist.org
If you’d like to know more and want to talk to someone about what we believe, let us know in the form below and we’ll get in touch!