What We Believe
Christ Methodist Church is a member of the Global Methodist Church
Statement of Faith
The Christ Methodist Church Statement of Faith is taken from the Holy Scriptures, the Nicene Creed, the Articles of Religion, and the Confession of Faith.
We believe in God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. God is the one true, holy, and living God, the Eternal Spirit, the Holy Trinity. He is Father, Son, and Holy Sprit, distinct but inseparable, eternally one in essence and power. God is infinite in power, wisdom, justice, goodness, and love. He is the Creator, Sovereign, and Preserver of all things, and rules with gracious regard for the well-being and salvation of all, to the glory of his name.
GOD THe FATHER
Jesus Christ
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. Through him all things were created. He became truly human for us and for our salvation by coming down from heaven incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin. The Son of God and the Lord Jesus Christ are one person in whom the divine and human natures are perfectly and inseparably united.
God reconciles us to himself through the death of Christ upon the cross. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood and is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. The Spirit is fully God, proceeding from the Father and the Son, and with the Father and Son is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets. He leads us to repentance by convincing the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Salvation is not possible without the Holy Spirit, who leads us through a faithful response to the gospel and into the fellowship of the church. The Spirit works in the church by comforting, sustaining, and empowering the faithful, and guiding into all truth.
the Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Bible, Old and New Testaments, reveals the Word of God so far as it is necessary for our salvation. The Holy Bible is to be received through the Holy Spirit as the true rule and guide for our salvation. Reason, tradition, or experience are not sufficient guides for Christian doctrine; only what is revealed in or established by the Holy Scriptures is to be made an article of faith or taught as essential to salvation.
The Scriptures
We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. The Christian church is the community of all true believers under the lordship of Christ. It is the redemptive fellowship in which the Word of God is preached by those divinely called, and the sacraments are duly administered according to Christ’s own appointment. Under the discipline of the Holy Spirit, it exists for the maintenance of worship, edification of believers, and redemption of the world.
In the life of the church, two sacraments are ordained by Christ our Lord; namely baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are symbols and pledges of the Christian’s profession, and of God’s love toward us. We believe that they are more than mere symbols; they are means of grace by which God works invisibly in us, quickening, strengthening, and confirming our faith in him.
The CHurch
We believe that all stand under the righteous judgment of Jesus Christ, both now and in the last day. We cannot be made righteous inwardly or accounted righteous before God through our works or merit. God justifies, or accounts righteous, penitent sinners who confess faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. God saves us by grace- his preventing, convincing, justifying, sanctifying, and glorifying grace.
By salvation, we mean more than the promise of eternal life, but a present deliverance from sin, a restoration of the soul to its original purity; a recovery of the divine nature in righteousness and true holiness, in justice, mercy, and truth.
Salvation
We believe that Jesus will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. The righteous will rise to eternal life, and the wicked to eternal condemnation. In glorification, our souls and bodies will be perfectly restored. This is our ultimate and greatest hope: the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.