Who We Are

Who We Are

Take a moment and hear about our heart as a church and how we hope to make a difference in the lives of individuals and our community. 

How We Practice Our Faith

A lot of churches have similar beliefs and even use a lot of the same language. What really matters though is how a church practices those beliefs. Read below to find out what makes us, us!

Love Without Fear

We believe a church community should be the safest place for everyone and any topic. This means we love everyone who walks through our doors. Are you skeptical of church, spiritually disillusioned, believe the church has no place for you, or healing from past church hurt and religious trauma? Our goal is to follow the way of Jesus and love people where they are. You don't have to come believing certain things, living a certain lifestyle, or ready to embrace everything we teach. We simply want to love people without fear.

Build Wells Not Fences

When people think of church, they tend to think of a group of people who police boundaries. "Don't do that, don't go there, don't think like this." But Jesus wasn't interested in policing boundaries. Jesus invited people to the well. Jesus drew people toward himself, the source of eternal, living water. At Redemption Orlando we want to build wells of welcome where people are free to experience the way of Jesus as they are. We believe by sitting at the well people can rethink and reconnect with faith and rediscover the beauty of Jesus. We believe that once people experience the life giving way of Jesus, they don't venture too far from Him! 

Practice The Way

We don't want to attach man made rules to the way of Jesus and we don’t need to give people a list of things to do for Jesus. Rather, we want to provide people with practices to help people be with Jesus. We believe that when people spend time with Jesus they will become like Jesus, and as they become more like Jesus they will do the things Jesus did. We are all in process. Jesus is good with that, so we’re good with that. We simply invite people to follow the way of Jesus with us and discover what the good life truly is.

Core Beliefs FAQ

The ancient church father St. Augustine offers a helpful statement on any church’s shared beliefs, “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In everything, love.” The essentials are the anchors that hold us. The non-essentials are vital, extremely important, but the most loving, dignifying way to hold these teachings in the Christian Church is by liberty. The best way to express our essential beliefs is the same the church has done since its earliest days expressed in the Apostles Creed: 

We 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 into hell.
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.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic (universal) church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.

These are the core beliefs the church has considered essential for 2,000 years, and the core beliefs we hold as well. 

The Gospel story, which spans the full biblical narrative, can be most succinctly summarized in 4 major episodes: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Renewal. We are invited to become part of this story through following the way of Jesus. 

Creation
God’s creation was an uncorrupted place of human flourishing through union with God and one another.

Fall
Humanity rebelled against God, rejecting God's wisdom for our own, resulting in the corruption of creation.

Redemption 
Beginning with Abraham and Sarah, God began a long story of redemption. The Old Testament is a story in search of an ending, and finds its culmination in Jesus, who fulfilled the promise of blessing all nations by making a way for all people to be redeemed through his death and resurrection.

Renewal
God’s plan is for the renewal of all creation, and the Scripture ends with heaven and earth restored as one.

Theologian N.T Wright articulates the gospel simply as, "The gospel is the good news that the crucified and risen Jesus is Lord. This means that through him, God’s new creation has begun, and we are invited to be part of it."


Most churches, when responding to this question, say something to the effect of, "We believe the Bible (all 66 books) is divinely inspired, and therefore totally true and trustworthy." We agree with this, but also recognize that this response does not answer the heart of the question. Most people when asking this are not looking for a concise and precise theological answer, but want to know where we believe in a way that helps them understand how we approach the Bible. (i.e. How do you read and apply the Bible? Is the Bible still relevant today, and if so, how does it shape your views on faith, morality, and life?). Therefore, we feel it is better to describe our approach to the Bible. 

The Bible is Human and Divine Literature
The Bible was written in collaboration with human beings and God's Spirit. God used human means to produce and preserve what we intended to reveal about Himself and His world. 

The Bible is Ancient Literature  
Every book of the Bible was written to a particular people, in a particular time, in a particular place, and none of those people were 21st century Americans. Therefore, we need to recognize and understand the historical and cultural context in which the BIble was written to apply it to our lives today. 

The Bible is Communal Literature
The Bible was designed to be read within a community of people who seek to be transformed by its teaching and message. 

The Bible is Meditation Literature
The Bible was designed to reveal deeper truth and insight when read and re-read over the course of a lifetime. 

The Bible is Transformative Literature 
The Bible does not intend for us to learn new facts and memorize religious doctrines. Rather it invites us to go on a journey of character transformation that leads to wise living.

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