Scripture
is full of praise of God and God’s mighty acts. Primarily, God is love. God’s
love is the foundation for God’s action in the world and in our lives, and
God’s grace is the way this love is freely given to us. Scripture begins with a
sharing of God’s grace in creation, shows God’s grace in the in reconciling of
the world through Christ, and in between is full of examples of God’s grace in
action, giving us a framework by which to understand God’s action in our own
lives.
God’s
most amazing gift of grace was offered to us through his son, Jesus
Christ.
We
believe in Jesus as Savior, as the one through whom God has freed us of our sin
and has given us the gift of whole life, eternal life, and salvation. We speak
of this gift as the atonement, our "at-oneness" or reconciliation
with God. We believe that in ways we cannot fully explain, God has done this through
the mystery of Jesus' self-giving sacrifice on the cross and his victory over
sin and death in the Resurrection.
Our Faith Journey
Christian faith is grounding our lives in the living God as
revealed especially in Jesus Christ. It’s both a gift we receive within the
Christian community and a choice we make. It’s trusting in God and relying on
God as the source and destiny of our lives. Faith is believing in God, giving
God our devoted loyalty and allegiance. Faith is following Jesus, answering the
call to be his disciples in the world. Faith is hoping for God’s future,
leaning into the coming kingdom that God has promised. Faith-as-belief is
active; it involves trusting, believing, following, hoping.
Scripture
In thinking about our faith, we put primary reliance on the
Bible. It’s the unique testimony to God’s self-disclosure in the life of
Israel; in the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ; and in
the Spirit’s work in the early church. It’s our sacred canon and, thus, the
decisive source of our Christian witness and the authoritative measure of the
truth in our beliefs.
In our theological journey we study the Bible
within the believing community. Even when we study it alone, we’re guided and
corrected through dialogue with other Christians. We interpret individual texts
in light of their place in the Bible as a whole. We use concordances,
commentaries, and other aids prepared by the scholars. With the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, we try to discern both the original intention of the text and its meaning
for our own faith and life.
Some excerpts from "United Methodist Member’s Handbook,
Revised," George Koehler (Discipleship Resources, 2006),