What We Believe

God the Father

We believe in the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God the Father is the creator of all things, including humanity. God made us in His image, male and female, and gave us the mandate to govern the earth and be co-creators with Him. God demonstrated His love for us by making the world and sending His Son to save us.

Genesis 1:1; Genesis 1:27–28; Luke 15:20–24; John 3:16

God the Son

Jesus Christ is fully divine and fully human. Jesus was God incarnate, meaning God in the flesh. He came to earth to save us and show the way to the Father. He lived a perfect life, died for our sins, and was raised to life on the third day.

It was Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that made us right with God. Therefore, Jesus is the only way to eternal life. Finally, we believe that Jesus will one day return to judge the living and the dead, destroy sin, death, and evil once and for all, and live forever with God’s people in a new heaven and a new earth.

John 1:14; John 3:16; John 14:6; Romans 10:9; Matthew 16:27; Revelation 21

God the Holy Spirit

God the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He was sent by Jesus to guide, comfort, and empower us for witnessing, growing in holiness, and living the Christian life. The Holy Spirit equips us for ministry through the giving of spiritual gifts, which enable us to effectively serve God and serve others.

John 14:16–17; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 12

Salvation is a gift of God’s grace. We cannot earn it; we accept it as a gift by believing Jesus came to save us from sin and death.

God’s Prevenient Grace is at work in our lives before we even realize it, lovingly wooing us to faith. Through faith in Jesus, we experience Justifying Grace, the gift of forgiveness of our sins and the privilege of becoming His children.

Through Sanctifying Grace, we become more like Christ, growing in holiness as we exhibit more of the fruit of the Spirit. Finally, through Glorifying Grace, we will one day receive a resurrected body and live forever with God.

Ephesians 2:8–9; Romans 5:1; Romans 8:14–17; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22–23; 1 Corinthians 15:51–52; John 14:1–3

Christians are those who not only believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but who also love, worship, imitate, and obey Him. We live by Jesus’ ethic to love God and love our neighbor.

We follow Jesus’ command to go into the world to share about God’s love with others and to teach them how to follow Christ. We are those who seek to grow in our relationship with God and our love for others by reading Scripture, praying, fellowshipping, worshiping with other Christians, receiving the sacraments, and fasting.

And we are those who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, seek to join Jesus in His mission, to seek and to save the world and to advance His rule and reign on the earth.

Luke 10:27; John 14:21; Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 2:42–47; Luke 19:10

Jesus is Lord over the Church, the Body of Christ and the community of believers. God did not intend for us to be alone. We are made to be in relationship with God and with others.

FMC calls this Life. Better. Together. because together we worship, grow, serve, give, and witness to God’s love and work in our lives.

Romans 12:4–5; Acts 2:42–47

Baptism + Holy Communion

The Church worships the triune God to express our appreciation for all God has done for us and to experience His grace. In worship, the Church celebrates two sacraments, Baptism and Holy Communion, just as Jesus has commanded us.

Baptism is a visible sign through water that we are united with God through Jesus Christ and the Church. Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, is a sacramental meal involving the sharing of bread and juice, symbolizing Jesus’ sacrifice of His body and blood for our sins. Through this holy meal we remember and receive God’s love, forgiveness, and grace.

Matthew 28:9; Ephesians 4:4–6; Luke 22:19–20

The Mission of the Church

We believe that Christ is continually at work in the world to build His Church, and that believers can participate in that work by living like Christ in the world, serving others, and inviting people to follow Jesus.

Matthew 28:19–20; 1 John 3:17–18

The Bible contains the story of God and His people: how God created us, how we fell into sin, and the lengths that God went through to save us.

We believe the Bible is set apart from other books because it is inspired by God. In 2 Timothy 3:16 we read, “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable to teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training.”

Because the Bible is inspired, it is authoritative. It tells us how to live and how to please God, and what is true spiritually and morally.

As Wesleyans, we believe the Bible is the Word of God, but to properly interpret it, we need the great creeds of the Church, the benefit of our intellect, and the riches of Christian experience to fully and rightly understand God’s Word.

Ultimately, the Bible is the primary rule and authority for faith, morals, and service, against which all other claims must be measured.

Lastly, we seek to not only be hearers of God’s Word, but also doers. When we live by God’s Word, we not only show our love to God, but it also has the power to change us and grow us up into maturity in Christ.

James 1:22; John 14:15; 1 Peter 2:2