What We Believe
As a congregation affiliated with the Global Methodist Church, we profess a Christian faith, established on the confession of Jesus the Messiah. We confess the ancient creeds which were formulated by scripture; the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Definition of Chalcedon. You can learn more about our doctrines and polity at https://globalmethodist.org/what-we-believe/
We believe in one God. We also believe in the Doctrine of Trinity which states that God is one in essence, but that he exists in three Persons who are equal, eternal, inseparable, and interdependent. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Father created all things and planned redemption for his people, The Son accomplished that redemption on the cross, and the Holy Spirit applies the benefits of that eternal redemption to all believers.
(Genesis 3:14-15; Ephesians 1:3-12; Romans 3:21-24; Galatians 3:13-14; John 3:5-8; Titus 3:4-7)
God
Mission
Bible
We believe the Bible, the Old and New Testaments are God inspired, inerrant, and contain everything necessary for all matters of faith and Christian living. The Bible is inspired by God implying that it is authoritative, it should be received as the word of God. We acknowledge that the witness of the Holy Spirit is necessary for interpreting the Bible (1 Corinthians 2:10-11). The Bible is errant meaning it contains no error or defect. (Galatians 3:16; Matthew 22:32). The bible is sufficient for all matters of faith and practice. Meaning it should be our primary authority in all matters as we seek to live our Christian faith (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3
Vision
Salvation
We believe the truth of salvation is revealed progressively through out the Bible. God created us to be in relationship with him, but it was broken by sin. God sends his son, Jesus, to take our punishment that we deserved (Romans 3:25-26). Salvation is not a single event but is experienced in the past, present, and future. Salvation is dependent upon the work of God who must give us new life before we can repent and exercise faith. We are given new hearts to freely respond to the truth of the gospel in faith (Romans 3:23-24). Our salvation not only includes Christ dying for us, but also Christ living in us. Through the Holy Spirit Christ seeks to reign in our hearts (Romans 8:3-14). While obedience merits nothing to our salvation, it is a necessary result of the Spirit's presence in our lives (Romans 6:1-7; James 2:24-26). Lastly we look forward to time we will be completely saved in glory. When Christ returns and we will be glorified with him (Romans 8:11-25; 1 Corinthians 15:40-44; 55-57; Romans 8:28-30; Philippians 1:6).
Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit inhabits God's people and works tirelessly in our salvation. The Spirit is the primary mover throughout the process of our salvation. He regenerates believers by turning them away from sin, exercising faith in Christ (John 3:5-8; Titus 3:5-7). The Spirit also seeks to sanctify us throughout out our lives, making us holy (2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:13). He leads us into truth, illuminating our minds and hearts to understand God's word (John 14:26; 1 John 2:20, 27; Ephesians 1:17-18). He produces obedience in us (1 Peter 1:1-2). Because the Spirit dwells in us we believe Christians will inevitably bear the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:13-18). All Christians manifest the gifts of the Spirit for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). We do reject the implication that certain gifts such as tongues are a necessary or expected as initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Church
We believe the New Testament teaches that the Church is made up of all who profess faith in Christ. God created his Church by pouring out his Spirit to inhabit his people. The church which is described as the body of Christ, is made up of individuals who seek to serve one another through gifts and ministries, which are a reflection of the interdependent relationship of the Trinity. As a congregation we are characterized as protestant holding the five principles the reformers declared: Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sol Fide, Solus Christus, & Soli Deo Gloria. We are characterized as evangelical meaning we hold the centrality and exclusivity of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the inerrancy and sufficiency of scripture. Specifically we seek to do greater justice to the soicial implications of the Gosple without compromising the prioirty of the message of eternal salvation. we seek to avoid moralistic legalism, without neglecting to promote true holiness and Christ-like wholeness. We seek to avoid anti-intellectualism. We seek to not be literalistic with the biblical text, recognizing the different types of literature found in the Bible. Lastly we seek to "major on majors" as to not isolate ourselves from fellow believers whom we may not entirely agree.
Sacraments
We believe and recognize two sacraments; Baptism and the Lord's Supper. A sacrament is a sign and seal of righteousness that we have by faith in our covenant relationship with God (Romans 4:11). A sacrament is a visible sign of an inward grace; is a visual aid of the grace we have received through Christ.
Baptism
The New Testament teaches that the washing with water symbolizes the washing away of our sins (Acts 22:16; 2:38). We hold a reformed position on baptism meaning we recognize both believer's baptism and infant baptism. We see the correspondence of baptism with circumcision. In the Old Testament circumcision was a sign of the covenant relationship with God. In the same way baptism is seen as the sign of the new covenant and is not to be considered as salvific, meaning baptism does not determine salvation.
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Lord's Supper
Being an act of worship, this ceremonial meal acts as a way to remember and renew our covenantal relationship with God and with one another. We believe in receiving the Lord's Supper weekly, recommitting our lives to the Lord as we seek to be his Church.