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OUR MISSION
Our Mission is simple and based on the Great commandment (Matthew
22: 37-39) and Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) of Jesus.
Central United Methodist Church exist to: Love God, Love others and Serve the world
We seek to fulfill our mission by meeting all where they are
in order to make all fully committed disciples of Jesus Christ.
A fully committed disciple of Jesus Christ demonstrates an
increasing love of God and others by:
- Drawing others to Christ
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Maintaining a list of unchurched friends with whom he or she relates in order
to bring them to Christ and the church
- Participating in community with other Disciples
of Christ
– worships God weekly
– participates regularly in a small group
- Living to Serve others
– serves people in the church
– serves people in the community
– serves people in the world
- Knowing and obeying Scripture
– is involved in a disciplined and ongoing
study of the Bible
– can cite a recent change in thoughts,
attitudes or behavior as a result of his or her Bible study
BELIEFS OVERVIEW
In his book Why I Am a United Methodist, our Bishop William Willimon writes:
I find that United Methodism has five great gifts to offer our troubled, but still blessed and beloved-by-God world:
(1) Stress on the need for a personal, experienced relationship with Christ.
(We can know Christ, not just know about him.)
(2)
The need for structure, discipline, and form in meeting the challenges
of living a Christian life today.
(Some things are too important to be
left to chance.)
(3) The importance of lifelong journey and self-examination, assisted by others, in developing our lives in Christ.
(We can grow and be better people than we are right now.)
(4) The refusal to separate spiritual needs from human, material needs.
(God loves whole persons, not just detached "souls".)
(5)
The stress upon the church, its proclamation, sacraments, and other
"ordinary means of grace" against our rampant individualism and
subjectivism.
(Religion — the Christian one, that is — is not a private affair.)
Here’s another summary of Methodist beliefs by our former pastor Mitchell Williams:
WE BELIEVE IN
... the Living God – Christianity is a vital relationship with God through Christ made real in us by the Holy Spirit.
...God's love –
first as a gift rather than a wage that is earned; then as a demand to
respond with love toward God and others; and finally as a power to
become more like Jesus.
...Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord – Christ
not only saves us from anything that would enslave or destroy our
inmost selves, he is also our "boss," the one we want to please.
...a balance of heart and head – The
love of God does move us emotionally. But we do not accept everything
that “feels” right, nor are we asked to believe in nonsense. God gave us
a heart and brains. We strive to use both.
...the Bible as the guide of our lives – We strive for the Bible to connect us with THE Word of God — Jesus.
...certain means of grace – That
is, we find that God continually uses the Lord’s Supper and Baptism to
give us gifts of the Spirit. Yes, God is in everything, but we are more
likely to encounter God when we are praying (for instance) than when we
are not.
...disciplined living – We “press on”
to ever more faithful lives. If we fail to be committed, we remain
shallow and fearful. We don’t try to be Christian, we train to be
apprentices. We want to be less a part of the problem and more a part of
the solution.
...doing this together – We are stronger and wiser in union with others who can encourage and challenge us in following Jesus.
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