What We United Methodists Believe
United Methodists believe the “usual” orthodox Christian beliefs that should be found in every Christian church:
1. God is our Creator and has made himself known to the world in three ways:
a. God the Father to whom we pray.
b. God the Son who was punished for our sins on the cross.
c. God the Spirit who comforts, guides, convicts and teaches
us today.
2. People have always, and will always, go against God's will
for our lives. The punishment for this sin is eternal life in Hell.
3. God does not want any person to perish in Hell, so he sent Jesus to take the
punishment for our sins upon Himself.
4. The Church is the "body of Jesus" in the world today,
as we do His work and speak for him.
Beyond these orthodox Christian beliefs, United Methodists have eight particular beliefs that other Christian churches may, or may not, also share.
We believe that:
1. We can know God’s will on any subject by looking at:
Scripture, Tradition, Experience and Reason
2. Jesus is the way that God has given us to be saved from
our sins. We insist on this belief. But on all other religious
questions we feel free to “agree to disagree”. (This attitude is
called "pluralism".)
3. We should care about a person’s salvation (heart/soul) and the
needs of their body. This holistic approach to ministry was
taught to us by Jesus himself.
4. If we ever have to choose between emphasizing God’s
forgiveness & mercy, OR God’s laws & judgment, we will
choose God’s forgiveness & mercy every time.
5. Each person much decide for themselves whether they will
believe in Jesus and live a holy life and go to heaven, OR not
believe in Jesus and go to hell when they die. In other words,
this isn't something that your parents, spouse or best friend can
decide for you. Have you made this decision about Jesus yet?
6. A person’s faith in Jesus must be followed by their good
works, or it is not yet a real faith.
7. A Christian’s goal in life is to allow God to totally eliminate all
deliberate sin in their life. This is called the goal of
"sanctification". Is this your goal in life?
8. We receive the power (grace) to live a sanctified life by using
the means of grace which God has given to us. They include:
prayer, Bible study, worship, Christian fellowship, baptism,
communion, fasting and tithing.
COMMUNION
As United Methodists we believe that communion was given to us by God as a "means of grace", a way to receive God's power in our lives. We believe that the bread and grape juice used in communion are symbolic of the body and blood of Jesus, which is the only substitute for the sins of the world.
United Methodists practice "open communion", which means that any Christian, or anyone who would like to become a Christian, is welcome and encouraged to receive communion in our church.
We offer communion on about eight Sundays throughout the year.
To learn more about the beliefs of United Methodists, and to read the teachings of our founder, John Wesley, go to: http://gbgm-umc.org/UMW/wesley/index.html