The vision and mission of Oaks Church is encapsulated in the primary ways we perceive and articulate the gospel of Jesus Christ. No singular point of emphasis can contain the enormity of this concept. We find it most useful to articulate the gospel as a statement and a story.

THE GOSPEL AS STATEMENT

The gospel is the good news that the triune God, the Creator: made all things interconnected and whole; endured the rejection and disrepair of his good creation; and has come to renew all things; free us substitutionally from sin and death; and reestablish his eternal earthly Kingdom, through his people, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Of the vast ways the gospel can be understood, we receive it to be, in particular:

  • Invitational: Throughout the scriptures, the kingdom of God is analogized as a banquet table. As such, we see the gospel as our invitation to dine with Jesus, and our responsibility to invite and prepare room for others, particularly the most vulnerable, to join.

  • Communal: We believe the gospel to be best understood, experienced, and shared within community.

  • Reconciling: We hold the gospel as the active unifying agent of the peace of God.

  • Liberating: We understand the gospel as that which frees us from sin, death, and all which seeks to deform us as image bearers of God.

  • Personal: We receive the gospel as intimate and satisfying to each individual who receives it.

  • Holistic: We believe the gospel to be concerned beyond the spiritual, but touching all parts of human existence and creation.

  • Generative: We believe that the defining attribute of the gospel is that it produces and perpetuates life.

At Oaks Church Brooklyn, we aspire to hold a generous orthodoxy that embodies the motto of historical Christian Irenics, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity (love).” Our essential points of consensus are currently limited to The Bible and the creeds below.

APOSTLES' CREED

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.

 

NICENE
CREED

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of the Father before all worlds;
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God;
begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, 
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered and was buried;
and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;
and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father;
and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead;
whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life;
who proceeds from the Father and the Son;
who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified;
who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; 
and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

 

NAE STATEMENT
OF BELIEF

We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.

We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.

We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.

We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.

We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.

We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ

THE GOSPEL AS STORY

Alasdair MacIntyre in After Virtue writes, ”I can only answer the question ‘What am I to do?’ if I can answer the prior question ‘Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?’” At Oaks Church Brooklyn we understand the narrative arc of creation and redemption to be: Creation, Fall, Redemption and Renewal. You can listen to more of this story through our Story of God sermon series, available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.