OUR BELIEF AS A UNITED METHODIST:

Our Mission

To seek as a church body to be devoted followers of Jesus Christ and to love others

as God commanded.

OUR PURPOSE

To win people to Christ and membership in His church.

To disciple people to maturity in Christ.

To be a church where ALL are welcome.

To serve others through our church ministries.

To be a fellowship that celebrates the Grace of God through joyful worship.

Wesley’s Covenant Prayer

I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee.

exalted for thee or brought low by thee.

Let me full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely, and heartily yield all things

to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

The Ten Commandments (EXODUS 20:1-17 & Deuteronomy 5)

I. You shall have no other gods before me.

II. You shall not make for yourself a carved image...you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.

III. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

IV. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

V. Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land...

VI. You shall not murder.

VII. You shall not commit adultery.

VIII. You shall not steal.

IX. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

X. You shall not covet your neighbor's house...nor anything that is your neighbor's.

The Lord's Prayer (MATTHEW 6:9-13 & Luke 11)

Our Father which are in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespasse against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The Sacraments

We believe the Sacraments, ordained by Christ, are symbols and pledges of the Christian's profession and of God's love toward us. They are the means of grace by which God works invisibly in us, quickening, strengthening and confirming our faith in him. Two Sacraments are ordained by Christ our Lord, namely Baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Baptism

The baptismal covenant is God's initiating word to us, proclaiming our adoption by grace, and our word to God, promising our response of faith and love.

Baptism brings us into union with Christ, with each other, and with the Church in every time and place. (Romans 6:3-11, 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27-28). Because baptism initiates us into Christ's whole Church and not only into a denomination, United Methodists recognize all Christian baptisms and look upon baptism as something that should unite, rather than divide. Holy baptism is administered once, but may be reaffirmed each time we partake of the Sacrament of Holy Communion or in services of "Reaffirmation of the Baptismal Covenant."

Read more on the church's teaching on baptism (By Water and the Spirit from the General Board of Discipleship site)
Additional Resources

Communion

Holy Communion is a sacred meal in which the community of faith, the Church, thankfully proclaims and enacts all that God has done, is doing, and will continue to do for us in Christ. In communion we remember, with thanksgiving, the grace given to us in our baptism and partake of the spiritual food necessary for sustaining and fulfilling the promises of salvation. The Thanksgiving and communion, commonly called the Lord's Supper, is a Christian adaptation of Jewish worship at family meal tables--as Jesus and his disciples ate together during his preaching and teaching ministry, as Jesus transformed it when he instituted the Lord's Supper on the night before his death, and as his disciples experienced it in the breaking of bread with their risen Lord. (Luke 24:30-35; John 21:13).

Early Methodism continued the New Testament church's empahsis on Word and Table, taking the gospel into the world by preaching and singing and by celebrating of the holy meal. Today The United Methodist Church is reclaiming our biblical and historical heritage, as we seek to worship God "in spirit and in truth."

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jresus Christ, his only Son our Lord; who was conceive by the Holy Ghost; 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 on 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 Ghost, the holy catholic* church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

*Universal

23rd Psalm

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still water.

He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5)

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meeki: for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which sere before you.

Matthew 8:23-27. Jesus Stills the Storm 23And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being, swamped by the waves, but he was asleep. 25And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a dead calm. 27They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”

For more information click on this address: http://umc.org/abouttheumc/beliefs/

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AL/WFL Conference | Chipley Bugle | Foster Folly

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