Who We Are...
We don't just go to church, we are the church. But what does that mean? The Church is not just a building. The Church is the people in the building, And those people are looking to encounter God. But Church isn’t the only place to meet God. When we're at our very best, Church is where we learn how to meet God everywhere else. It's where we learn how to be other-oriented - to lay down our lives for the common good and the glory of God. The Good News of God gives us a vibrant life and asks us to step into the neighborhood where we live and tell others about God and His amazing gifts of mercy, forgiveness and redemption. This is who we, as a Church, strive to be each and every day.
Our Mission Statement...
Christ First United Methodist Church exists to make disciples and serve the Lord.
We worship and glorify God by preaching the Word, teaching the Truth and reaching the lost.
We worship and glorify God by preaching the Word, teaching the Truth and reaching the lost.
Methodist Beliefs...
United Methodists share a common heritage with Christians of every age and nation.
United Methodists also have distinctive emphases, a legacy of our founder, John Wesley:
- God created humaity 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- We Believe that the reign of God is both a present and future reality. This prospect gives us hope in our present actions.
- 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.
- We believe that 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:
- 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.
- 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.
- Sanctification and Perfection: God's sanctifying grace helps us grow more loving toward God and neighbor, drawing us toward God's gift of Christian perfection, being perfect in love.
- 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.
- Mission and Service: Salvation always involves Christian misssion and service to the world. Personal religion, evangelical witness, and social action go hand-in-hand and build on each other.
- Nurture and Mission of the Church: The church nurtures our personal faith and equips us for mission and service in the world.