We are the
people of The United
Methodist Church
1.
We believe in:
- Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the
transformation of the world.
2.
We live by two kinds of holiness:
3.
We follow three simples rules:
- Do no harm
- Do good
- Stay in love with God
4.
We work in four areas of focus:
- Developing leaders
- Creating places for new people
- Eliminating poverty
- Improving health globally
We are the people of The United Methodist Church
umc.org/1234
Theological Framework
Traditional United Methodist Tenets
-
United
Methodists share a common heritage with Christians of every age and nation:
- God
created humanity to live in covenant with God.
- As
sinful creatures, we have broken that covenant and stand in need of redemption.
-
Because
God truly loves us, God acted through the life, death, and resurrection of
Jesus Christ to bring us salvation and the hope of eternal life.
- God's
love comes alive in us by the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit works in both
our personal experience and the common life of the church.
- We
are part of Christ's universal church. We enter the church through Baptism. In
Holy Communion, we celebrate the presence of Christ and
find strength for
Christian living.
-
We
believe that the reign of God is a present and future reality. This prospect
gives us hope in our present actions.
-
We
believe that Scripture containseverything necessary for salvation.
- We
believe in justification by grace through faith in Christ and in the general
ministry of all Christians.
- We
believe the church is one in Jesus Christ. We express our unity in hymns and
liturgy, in the historic creeds, and in the belief in one holy, catholic, and
apostolic church
Faith and Deeds
James
2:14-26
"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have
faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister
is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish
you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs,
what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied
by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, 'You have faith; I have deeds.'
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and
shudder. 20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is
useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did
when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his
actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was
credited to him as righteousness,' and he was called God's friend. 24 You see
that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. 25 In the
same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did
when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?
26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."
Pastor Karl Eastlac
Eastern Hills Wesleyan
Church
(
www.easternhillschurch.org
)
The meaning of the term
"discipleship" for members of this church would evoke many different
ideas with varying levels of commitment. This is a church that, like most
United Methodist Churches, finds it preferable to express their discipleship
through action rather than through words, through mission rather than through
evangelism.
On Saturday evening, at the
Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church (
www.easternhillschurch.org
), Pastor Karl Eastlack preached
the second in a three-part series on "Both/And." The first message was Truth
and Love. (Truth without love is harsh. Love without truth is cruel.) The
message I heard was Faith and Deeds from James 2:14-26. ("It is a kind
of good deed to say well, but words are not deeds." - William Shakespeare)
The nuggets from the message
were:
1. Real faith isn't just
something you say. (v. 14)
2. Real faith isn't just
something you feel. (v. 15)
3. Real faith isn't just
something you think. (v. 18)
4. Real faith isn't just
something you believe. (v. 19)
5. Real faith is just something
you do.
The examples of Abraham and Rahab
that James uses are examples that real faith is "not determined by what
I do, but is demonstrated by what I do."
This controversy or the tension, or some would say Scriptural paradox,
between faith and deeds has been around for awhile. In fact, many scholars
have felt that Paul and James absolutely contradict each other in this area. I
am reminded that my Asbury Seminary professor. Dr. Joseph Wang, wrote his
doctoral dissertation (Emory University/Candler) on the consistency of Paul and
James on faith and love. He shared with us that when he submitted his topic to
the committee, he was told that what he was attempting to do was impossible and
was warned as he proceeded that if he failed to make the case, he would not get
the degree. Well, the Ph. D. behind his name is the rest of the story.
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