Making Diciples of Jesus Christ by Growing, Reaching and Serving
We believe the Scriptures reveal that God wants us as individuals and as a congregation to be reaching, growing, and serving.
Every Christmas we celebrate that God saw us in our spiritual need and sent Jesus, fully God and fully human, to save us from our sins and to renew our relationship with God. (Rom 5:8). We believe God makes us new people, giving us a fresh start (2 Cor 5:17). Paul goes on:
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be Reconciled to God.
Therefore we believe that every Christian is God’s witness, with the the privilege of telling others how they can know God and belong to His family, the church.
Growing deeper in our relationships with God and one another.
We find in the book of Acts the early church was committed to each other and to growing deeper with God. Luke writes in Acts 2:42 that,
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Giving your life to God is just the beginning. Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 13:9 that,
Our greatest wish and prayer is that you will become mature Christians.
We believe that every Christian should be a growing Christian. God wants every disciple of His to become like Jesus and help others become like Him.
The Bible teaches that every Christian has spiritual gifts to use to build up the body of Christ. Each of us is unique and is gifted in different ways. Paul said in 1Peter 4:10 (NIV) that,
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.
We believe that every Christian is a minister. We are all called to use our gifts, talents, and financial resources to meet the needs of others.
Therefore, if you are a member of First United Methodist Church, we desire our members to engage primarily in four things:
1. Reach out to people with Christ’s love and participate regularly in worship.
2. Find a small group to grow deeper in your walk with God and with other Christians.
3. Find your place to serve in ministry based on your spiritual gifts, abilities, passions, and personality.
4. Support the work of God by contributing financially to the church.
Our members come from many backgrounds. Some have never attended church before, others have previously attended another United Methodist church, and some of us have come from other denominations. To learn more about our beliefs as United Methodists.