Theological Grounding
While Reality Ministries’ Statement of Faith is reflected in the ancient creeds below, people of any faith and no faith are boundlessly welcome!
Statement of Faith
The Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God the Father, the Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him, all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was made truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day, he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father. With the Father and the Son, he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Theological Grounding
By Jeff McSwain, Founder
Reality Ministries is centered around the life-changing reality of Christ’s love.
Jeff (right) and Chris at the Kings and Queens Dance. They’ve been friends since the beginning of Reality and currently do Meals on Wheels together every week!
A Christ-Centered View of Reality
Reality Ministries is founded on the scriptural precept that the Creator and God/human Jesus Christ is the central truth of the cosmos (Col 1:16-17).
A Christ-Centered Unconditional Love
As proven in Christ’s sacrificial death, God loves us more than he loves himself (1 John 3:16). God’s good creatures fall into sinful self-destruction, but in his life, death and resurrection, Jesus Christ has embraced all persons at their worst to rescue and redeem them for a renewed relationship with the triune God (Rom 5:5-10, Col 1:13-14).
A Christ-Centered Inclusion
The exclusive claim of Jesus Christ (Jn 14:6) excludes no one. Jesus Christ is the most inclusive person there is (Jn 12:32)! We are all implicated in the Second Adam even more than in the first (Rom 5:18).
A Christ-Centered Belonging
We belong to God by grace alone. Not by what we have done, but because of who Christ is and what he has done (Rom 3:23-24). Repentance and belief occur inside of belonging (Rom 2:4). Jesus Christ is the Savior of all people (1 Tim 4:10) and the Lord of all people (Phil 2:10).
A Christ-Centered Human Dignity
Each person is created in the Image of God, who is Jesus Christ (Col 1:15, Eph 2:10). No one is outside of the blessing (Rom 11:32). No one, therefore, has more value than another. In Christ all people have dignity, integrity, and intrinsic worth.
A Christ-Centered Grasp of Community
Humans are made for community. Through the Son of God, we are by grace adopted children of God, created to share the relational love eternally going on between Trinitarian Persons (Eph 1:3-10). We are therefore called to communion with God, and to kinship and mutuality with one another, all in the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:17).
A Christ-Centered Human Response to God
Unless we were united with Christ, we could not know God or respond to God (Mt 11:27, Jn 15:5). As God, Jesus Christ shares his true knowledge of God with us, and as a human being, his true response to God for us. Within his response for us, we discover our most particularized and personalized response! (Col 3:4, Mt 16:25)
A Christ-Centered Approach to Hospitality
We welcome each other unconditionally because of the way Christ has welcomed every one of us (Rom 15:7). Because Christ has forgiven us before we ask, we desire to do the same (Eph 4:32, Lk 23:34, Mt 18:22). Hospitality also involves providing a safe place where people can thrive in unity and peace (Col 3:15, Rom 14:19).
A Christ-Centered Reading of Scripture
The written word of God is not to be conflated with, or separated from, the Living Word of God. The highest view of the Bible is one which submits to the Word (Jn 1:1).
A Christ-Centered Transformation
We have been given a right relationship with God! Living into the truth of who we are and whose we are, we are reoriented by God’s transformational grace in Christ (Rom 12:1-2). To reject our relationship with the Lord and Savior to whom we belong is inherently self-destructive and ripples with myriad consequences (2 Peter 2:1-2).
A Christ-Centered Reality of Reconciliation
A Christ-Centered Reality of Reconciliation: In light of the truth of Jesus Christ for all human beings, we refuse to be satisfied with a world-view that separates humanity from God or human beings from one another. In Christ our true humanity resides, and there is no “us and them.” We belong to each other. That is the REALITY of reconciliation in which we may participate (2 Cor 5:19).
Experience Reality! is a conference and study center network committed to the furthering of theological formation in the vein of the above.
For more information go to jeffmcswain.org and experiencereality.org