What We Believe

WHAT WE BELIEVE

We believe in a God who has always been ‘Father’ to His children, whom He created in His image. We believe in a God who sent His Son, Jesus, to earth to make it possible for us to be adopted into the Father’s family (salvation) and heal the brokenness of this world. We believe in a God whose Spirit lives within us, brings us closer to Him and empowers us to be agents of transformation in this world.

We are part of God’s family that exists across time, culture and geography, and we work with Him to bring about the full renewal and redemption of creation. We wait in hope for His Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven.

Learn More

WHAT WE BELIEVE

Jesus, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was both fully human and fully God. His life provides us with the example of what true humanity ought to look like, and his defeat of death accomplished what only God could accomplish for us: abundant life on earth and freedom from death. His life, death and physical resurrection from the dead communicated both the depth of God’s love and the breadth of His expansive desire to invite the whole world into His family. He is the Bread of Life who nourishes our souls, Light of the world especially in our darkest seasons and the Word of God incarnate. He shows us the Way home, the Truth about God and ourselves, and Life abundant.

God created us in His image and saw that His creation was good. Christians sometimes forget that our story does not begin with our sinfulness; rather our story begins with God’s goodness in creation. Yet, in our brokenness we rebelled against the One who created us; in spite of our best efforts, we continue to hurt each other and ourselves, and we fail to live up to the life God calls us to live. We stand incapable of taking even the first step toward God. Nonetheless, God has been pursuing us since we were born so that we might return home to the God who made us, wants us and loves us

Because God first loved us, He sent his Son Jesus to teach us how to live, to die for our rebellion against Him and to defeat even death itself so that we might all have the possibility to return home to God. The offering Christ freely made on the cross is the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, redeeming humanity from all sin. This invitation to salvation is open to all people, without exception. It cannot be earned because it was given freely to all people. God’s gift of salvation has only to be received and accepted in order to be made effective in our lives.

Too many of us have made Christianity more complicated than God intended it to be. We believe in a simple, clear approach to living our faith that is built on Jesus’s teaching. He said that the greatest commandment was to “Love the Lord your God…and love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37). Methodist Christians have long lived according to this commandment, sometimes articulating it as John Wesley (founder of the Methodist movement) did in this manner: “First, by doing no harm…secondly, by doing all good of every possible sort…and thirdly, by attending upon all the ordinances of God” (in other words, engaging spiritual disciplines like worship, prayer, scripture, fasting etc.). Christian living is not about proving our value or worth to God (He already loves us), nor is it about proving how much holier we are than the world around us (we’re all sinful and in the same proverbial boat). Rather, Christian living is working with God and the Body of Christ (the Church) to transform the world around us, helping to be as God intended it to be.