OUR UNITED METHODIST BELIEFS

United Methodists share a common heritage with Christians of every age and nation:

1.  God created humanity to live in covenant with God.  As sinful creatures, we have broken that covenant and stand in need of redemption.  Because God truly loves us, God acted through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to bring us salvation and the hope of eternal life.
2.  God's love comes alive in us by the work of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit works in both our personal experience and in the common life of the church.
3.  We are part of Christ's universal church.  We enter the church through baptism.  In Holy Communion, we celebrate the presence of Christ and find strength for Christian living.
4.  We believe the reign of God is both a present and future reality.  This prospect gives us hope in our present actions.
5.  We believe that Scripture contains everything necessary for salvation.  We believe in justification by grace through faith in Christ and in the general ministry of all Christians.
6.  We believe the church is one in Jesus Christ.  We express our unity in hymns and liturgy, in the historic creeds and in the belief in one holy, catholic and apostolic church.

United Methodists also have distinctive emphases, a legacy of our founder, John Wesley:

1.  Prevenient grace.  God's love surrounds us even before we are aware of it.  It leads us to want to please God, to discover God's will and to an awareness of our sin.
2.  Justification and assurance.  God reaches out to the repentant believer with accepting and pardoning love.  Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are justified - forgiven and restored to God's favor.  This experience of conversion can be sudden and dramatic or gradual.  Wesleyan theology emphasizes that we can know we are saved.
3.  Sanctification and perfection.  God's sanctifying grace helps us to grow more loving toward God and neighbor, drawing us toward God's gift of Christian perfection, being perfect in love.
4.  Faith and good works.  Faith in God's redeeming work in Jesus Christ is the only response to God's love we need.  However, we express our salvation in good works, sharing God's love with others.
5.  Mission and service.  Salvation always involves Christian mission and service to the world.  Personal religion, evangelical witness and social action go hand in hand and build on each other.
6.  Nurture and mission of the church.  The church nurtures our personal faith and equips us for mission and service in the world.

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