Wednesday, June 20, 2007

5 Core United Methodist beliefs...

What are 5 central United Methodist beliefs that you think that every United Methodist should know about? Just curious...

7 comments:

Eric Park said...

1. Salvation is a journey in God's grace, not a reliance upon our accomplishments.

2. Jesus is the self-emptied God through whose life, death, and resurrection God was at work to reconcile the world to himself. An ever-deepening relationship with this Jesus is ultimately what life is all about.

3. Old and New Testament Scripture is the inspired and authoritative Word of God and is best read and interpreted though the following lenses:
-the church's time-tested teaching (i.e., tradition);
-critical thought (i.e., reason); and,
-the lessons learned in the human pilgrimage (i.e., experience).

4. A healthy relationship with Jesus will manifest itself in both inward spiritual disciplines (piety) and outward spiritual disciplines (mercy). Piety generates personal intimacy with the living Christ while mercy enables us to see his face in even the faces of the least and the lost, the marginalized and the disenfranchised.

5. Having enough of Jesus to be saved from sin
(justified) is only the beginning of things. Such a salvation experience will come to fruition only when it unfolds into a transformed (sanctified) life--a life in which the Lordship of Jesus becomes the governing priority in every segment of our living.

Bob Zilhaver said...

These have served me well since my candidancy questions.

1. All have sinned and because of that have been separated from God and that this separation leads to spiritual death.

2. Christ, the Son of God incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, came to earth lived and died on the cross to save us from sin to repatriate us to God.

3. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ transforms us into a new creation.

4. Jesus Christ calls us to follow him and minister by the power of the Holy Spirit to the world; adding the salt to the world to make it bearable, through the body of the church, which has Christ at its head.

5. Jesus Christ has gone ahead to prepare a palce for us and so he will come again and bring us to himself, where we will be in everlasting communion with God.

Randy Roda said...

1. Apostle's Creed.

2. I am a sinner.

3. I am saved by grace.

4. The church is Holy.

5. The Bible is truth.

I like to keep things simple...

Keith H. McIlwain said...

1) Prevenient grace (though the term itself isn't essential)...God's work precedes all we do

2) Justifying grace (though the term itself isn't essential)...saved by God's grace through faith

3) Trinity / Christology (though a full understanding is impossible, the journey should be evident)...God revealed as Father, Son, Holy Spirit; Jesus as God incarnate in human flesh who lived, taught, suffered, died, rose, and lives to reconcile God and the creation

4) Sanctifying & Perfecting grace (this includes the elements of the journey such as Church, worship, sacraments, Bible reading, prayer, etc.)...the journey of and to holiness and perfection in love

5) In essentials unity; in all else charity

6) Admiring the music of the Beatles (not essential for salvation, but absolutely essential for good taste)

Randy Roda said...

Keith...can't you count?

Matt said...

Keith struggles with counting...and I don't think that he realizes that Dylan is really really better than the Beatles.

Randy Roda said...

A humorous 5 core beliefs

1. church dinners

2. sitting in the same pew each Sunday.

3. never applaud in church

4. Rummage sales

5. saying "good sermon, pastor.