New Life United Methodist Core Beliefs

THE BIBLE

GOD

We believe there is one true God, eternally existing in three perons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Genesis 1;1; Matthew 28:19; John 10:30)

We believe that God hears and answers prayer and we should pray continually expecting God to hear and answer as we pray to the Father in Jesus Name. (1 John 5:14-15)

JESUS CHRIST

We believe that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, and is the only begotten Son of God, both fully human and fully God without sin, and that He died and rose from the dead on the third day and is sitting at the right hand of God the Father making intercession for us. (John 3:16; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 10:12; 1 Corinthians 15:4)

We believe that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forevermore and His healing power through His name and Spirit is still active today. ( Hebrews 13:8; 1 Peter 2:24)

THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity who draws men and women to Jesus and re-creates their unregenerate spirit so that they can be born again through their repentance of sins and confessing a belief in Jesus the Christ.

(Romans 10:9-10; John 3:3; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 6:44)

We believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for all times and still exist today in accordance with 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. All believers receive gifts of the Holy Spirt to edify, exhort, and build up the church.

SALVATION

We believe  that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and are therefore in need of salvation according to Romans 3:23. We were created by God to live in fellowship with Him.  Salvation is not earned through good works, but is a result of God's grace towards us.

GRACE

 We believe that the teaching of Grace is integral to a healthy church and healthy believers. All that we are as believers and as a church is because of the mercy of God poured out on us so extravagantly. We do not earn salvation, nor do we in any way merit God’s favor except through our relationship with Jesus Christ. A great way to remember what GRACE means to us as believers is the acronym G.R.A.C.E. = God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. 

THE CHURCH

We believe that the Church is the spiritual body of which Christ is the head and includes all who have been born again. Its mission is to gather as believers in serving God faithfully through worship, prayer, the observance of the sacraments of baptism and communion, and fulfilling the Great Commission in spreading the Gospel to make disciples of all nations. The local church is the best expression of the Body of Christ. We encourage everyone to be involved locally!

The Sacraments

BAPTISM

We believe that baptism is available to people of all ages. We baptize through sprinkling or immersion. We do not equate baptism with salvation, but rather, as a means of grace that reminds us to die to self and live for God. Baptism is the entrance into the universal church. Through Jesus, we are born anew. Prior to being baptized, the person or their parents must sit down and talk/pray with the pastor.

COMMUNION

We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the remembrance of Jesus' last meal with His disciples, where He taught them and us that His sacrificial death would be the atoning work that washes away our sin and grants us new life. 

We believe that the bread and juice are symbols of Christ’s body and blood that were broken and shed for us.