The Bible is the Foundation of our Beliefs
The Bible is the inspired word of God. It is our authority for Christian faith and standards for life. United Methodist Christians use reason, experience and tradition in understanding the Bible and its meaning for today. Underneath the interpretations, the Bible itself is the foundation for our beliefs. We need help from God's Spirit to understand it appropriately, and power from the Holy Spirit to integrate it into our lives.
- God is bigger and better and closer than we can imagine.
- The Bible is God’s perfect guidebook for living.
- Jesus is God showing himself to us.
- Through His Holy Spirit, God lives in and through us now.
- Nothing in creation “just happened.” God made it all.
- Grace is the only way to have a relationship with God.
- God wants to have a relationship with you!
- Faith is the only way to grow in our relationship with God.
- God has allowed evil to provide us with a choice, God can bring good even out of evil events and God promises victory over evil to those who choose him.
- Heaven and hell are real places. Death is a beginning, not the end.
- The church is to serve people like Jesus served people.
- Jesus is coming again.
- We can become more like Jesus.
Tha Apostles Creed
This historic confession of Christian faith and belief unites Christians all over the world. It reads as follows:
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
* Means "universal"