We Believe in the Power of Love at Jubilee!
LINK: https://vimeo.com/712992531/c5aa2fc244
It's probably important to start by making it clear that we're not the ones who "finally got the Bible right." Neither do we possess the secret to life, exclusive access to GOD, or boast about "Seven Steps to Satisfaction." We are, however, powerfully drawn to the person of Jesus, his teaching and even more so, his life. So we are experimenting, and failing, and building a community that collectively follows his Way; hoping, trusting and even doubting [sometimes] that it might seed something beautiful in the world, namely, full and abundant life for all creation. We think the TRUTH about LIFE may just be LOVE, and LOVE may just be the WAY1.
What Do We Believe It Means to be a Christian?
We think the world is tired of religious people who claim to believe a list of ideas when those very ideas do not translate into any kind of personal (or social) transformation. Plus, we see "belief" as an interesting dynamic lived out in reality, which does not translate well into a few paragraphs on a website. We have discovered with Bryan Stevenson (Equal Justice Initiative, Just Mercy) that "each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done."
We believe "the way" of Jesus is a lifestyle of holistic healing for individuals, families, neighborhoods and nations. To follow this "way" is the countercultural road of limitless forgiveness, radical acceptance, nonviolent peacemaking, abundant generosity and sacrificial Love. Salvation isn't a contractual relationship of filling in the right theological answers or behaving the correct way, but an ongoing covenantal relationship with our Creator. This understanding can move us away from religious systems as our pathway to God; [we slowly, but surely begin to appreciate that our union with God is simply] because of Jesus. In this way, salvation is about your NOW life, not your afterlife. God's Kingdom is about Love and Service, and "everybody can be great, because everybody can serve" (Martin L. King).
As a community of Jesus followers, we welcome ALL persons, regardless of gender, race, enthnicity, age, physical or mental capacity, education, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic or marital status. God doesn't cause suffering, but redeems it. And [God] calls us to join in the work of renewing and reconciling and redeeming all things. The future is open and full of possibilities. We must embrace the awesome role we are invited to play in it2.
- Snippets of Reprint (along with a few editorial comments), East Lake Community Church; Bothell, Washington
UMC Basic Christian Affirmations
With Christians of other communions we confess belief in the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This confession embraces the biblical witness to God's activity in creation, encompasses God's gracious self-involvement in the dramas of history, and anticipates the consummation of God's reign.
The created order is designed for the well-being of all creatures and as the place of human dwelling in covenant with God. As sinful creatures, however, we have broken that covenant, become estranged from God, wounded ourselves and one another, and wreaked havoc throughout the natural order. We stand in need of redemption.
We hold in common with all Christians a faith in the mystery of salvation in and through Jesus Christ. At the heart of the gospel of salvation is God's incarnation in Jesus of Nazareth. Scripture witnesses to the redeeming love of God in Jesus' life and teachings, his atoning death, his resurrection, his sovereign presence in history, his triumph over the powers of evil and death, and his promised return. Because God truly loves us in spite of our willful sin, God judges us, summons us to repentance, pardons us, receives us by that grace given to us in Jesus Christ, and gives us hope of life eternal.
We share the Christian belief that God's redemptive love is realized in human life by the activity of the Holy Spirit, both in personal experience and in the community of believers. This community is the church, which the Spirit has brought into existence for the healing of the nations.
Through faith in Jesus Christ we are forgiven, reconciled to God, and transformed as people of the new covenant.
"Life in the Spirit" involves diligent use of the means of grace such as praying, fasting, attending upon the sacraments, and inward searching in solitude. It also encompasses the communal life of the church in worship, mission, evangelism, service, and social witness.
We understand ourselves to be part of Christ's universal church when by adoration, proclamation, and service we become conformed to Christ. We are initiated and incorporated into this community of faith by Baptism, receiving the promise of the Spirit that re-creates and transforms us. Through the regular celebration of Holy Communion, we participate in the risen presence of Jesus Christ and are thereby nourished for faithful discipleship.
We pray and work for the coming of God's realm and reign to the world and rejoice in the promise of everlasting life that overcomes death and the forces of evil.
With other Christians we recognize that the reign of God is both a present and future reality. The church is called to be that place where the first signs of the reign of God are identified and acknowledged in the world. Wherever persons are being made new creatures in Christ, wherever the insights and resources of the gospel are brought to bear on the life of the world, God's reign is already effective in its healing and renewing power.
We also look to the end time in which God's work will be fulfilled. This prospect gives us hope in our present actions as individuals and as the Church. This expectation saves us from resignation and motivates our continuing witness and service.
We share with many Christian communions a recognition of the authority of Scripture in matters of faith, the confession that our justification as sinners is by grace through faith, and the sober realization that the church is in need of continual reformation and renewal.
We affirm the general ministry of all baptized Christians who share responsibility for building up the church and reaching out in mission and service to the world.
With other Christians, we declare the essential oneness of the church in Christ Jesus. This rich heritage of shared Christian belief finds expression in our hymnody and liturgies. Our unity is affirmed in the historic creeds as we confess one holy, catholic, and apostolic church. It is also experienced in joint ventures of ministry and in various forms of ecumenical cooperation.
Nourished by common roots of this shared Christian heritage, the branches of Christ's church have developed diverse traditions that enlarge our store of shared understandings. Our avowed ecumenical commitment as United Methodists is to gather our own doctrinal emphases into the larger Christian unity, there to be made more meaningful in a richer whole.
If we are to offer our best gifts to the common Christian treasury, we must make a deliberate effort as a church to strive for critical self-understanding. It is as Christians involved in ecumenical partnership that we embrace and examine our distinctive heritage.
From The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church - 2004. Copyright 2004 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.
