What I Believe
This is my personal confession of faith and the foundation from which A Holy Start was created. You do not need to affirm these beliefs to use A Holy Start or to feel welcome here.
I share them because I believe you deserve to know the faith, convictions, and understanding of Scripture that shape what I create.
God
I believe in one God, YHWH, Creator of heaven and earth and the source of all life.
I believe God has made Himself known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
I believe Yeshua, Jesus Christ, is the Son of God, fully divine and fully human. Through Him, we see the character and heart of the Father made known.
Jesus and Grace
I believe I am a sinner in need of grace, unable to earn reconciliation with God through goodness, effort, or religious performance.
I believe Jesus willingly entered our humanity, lived without sin, and showed us how to love, serve, worship the Father, care for others, and walk faithfully with God.
I believe He was crucified as a criminal though He was innocent, giving His life in my place. Through His death and shed blood, my sin is atoned for; through His resurrection, death does not have the final word.
I believe salvation is a gift of grace received through faith in Christ, not something I can achieve for myself.
Because of Him, I believe I have been redeemed, adopted as a child of God, and welcomed into an inheritance and a hope that extend beyond this present life.
I look forward to the restoration of all things and life with God in His renewed creation.
The Holy Spirit
I believe the Holy Spirit is given to those who belong to Christ, not as a reward for spiritual achievement but as the presence and gift of God.
I believe the Spirit leads, comforts, convicts, teaches, strengthens, and produces fruit in us as we learn to walk with God.
I believe the freedom and life offered through the Spirit became mine when I believed. Baptism was then my public act of obedience: an outward declaration of the faith I had received.
Prayer
I believe God hears me when I pray.
I believe the Holy Spirit helps me in my weakness and intercedes when I do not have words for what is happening within me. I believe Jesus intercedes for me and has made it possible for me to approach the Father directly and with confidence.
Jesus taught His followers to pray to the Father, and so I do.
I believe I can bring God my gratitude, grief, confusion, repentance, longing, questions, and requests without pretending.
And I trust that prayer offered in Jesus’ name and surrendered to God’s will is heard, even when God’s answer does not look like the one I imagined.
Scripture
I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God.
I believe Scripture is living and active and that, through it, God continues to teach, correct, encourage, convict, and give wisdom to His people.
I believe Scripture deserves to be read carefully, prayerfully, humbly, and in context.
I also believe the Holy Spirit helps us understand what we read and continually points us toward Jesus.
This conviction is why Scripture comes first in A Holy Start. Nothing I write, create, or offer here is intended to replace the Bible itself.
Life With God
I believe relationship with God requires attention.
Stillness, prayer, worship, listening, Scripture, and honest conversation with God are not tasks I complete to earn His affection. They are ways I make room to know and enjoy the God who already loves me.
These practices are essential to my spiritual and emotional health and to the ongoing formation of my life.
I believe faith was never intended to be practiced entirely alone.
I need the humility and encouragement that come from worshipping, serving, learning, grieving, celebrating, and growing alongside other believers. We are members of one body, and life in Christian community continually reminds me that faith is larger than my own experience.
How I Hope to Live
I believe my life should bear witness to the grace I have received.
That means telling the truth about both God’s faithfulness and my own weakness.
I want to share my testimony, confess where I fall short, serve others, practice mercy, pursue humility, and allow the fruit of the Spirit to become increasingly visible in the way I live and love.
Not so that anyone will think I have mastered faith.
Quite the opposite.
I want my life to point toward the God who has met me with grace again and again, so that someone else might discover that they are not alone and that hope, freedom, belonging, and joy are available to them too.
You are welcome here.
These are my beliefs. They shape the Scripture, language, reflections, and rhythms you will encounter in A Holy Start.
They are not a statement you are required to sign, affirm, or agree with in order to enter.
Whether you have followed Jesus for decades, are returning after time away, are carrying questions or doubts, or are simply curious, you are welcome to open the gate, spend time in Scripture, and seek God here.
My hope is not that A Holy Start becomes the destination.
My hope is that it continually points beyond itself toward Him.
By Liz Byler Shea · Founder, A Holy Start