About First Church
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Welcome to the web page of First Church in Canandaigua, New York. We believe that baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordained by the Lord Jesus himself - baptism as a symbol of entrance into the body of Christ and the Lord's Supper a regular reminder of the death, resurrection, and return of Christ. Baptism symbolizes the believer's death to sin and new life in Christ. Those baptized are done so in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Together they are simultaneously God's pledge to us, divinely ordained means of grace, our public vows of submission to the once crucified and now resurrected Christ, and anticipations of his return and of the consummation of all things.
Here at First Church, we believe that good works constitute indispensable evidence of saving grace. Living as salt in a world that is decaying and light in a world that is dark, believers should neither withdraw into seclusion from the world, nor become indistinguishable from it: rather, we are to do good to the city, for all the glory and honor of the nations is to be offered up to the living God. Recognizing whose created order this is, and because we are citizens of God's kingdom, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, doing good to all, especially to those who belong to the household of God.
About One God: We believe in one God who exists as a Trinity. He is infinite, invisible, omnipotent, omniscient, unchanging, sovereign, and holy. He is eternal, without beginning or end. He is the source and sustainer of all that exists. We believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
About Generosity: Give it away - You can give without living, but you can't love without giving. 'The son of God... loved me and gave himself for me.' - Galatians 2:20