Beliefs

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As United Methodist Christians we share some basic Christian beliefs with churches of various backgrounds and add a few touches of our own.

The Trinity: We believe that God is known and understood in three ways or forms. The traditional wording is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity can also be described as Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. While we know God in these three ways God is still one. The essence of the trinity is that God is relational.

Father/Creator: God is the creator of the world and all that is in it; God rules over all and above all God is love.

Jesus Christ: Jesus was fully human and fully divine. This paradox teaches us that the man Jesus shared our humanity from birth to death, and that Jesus was also God's only begotten Child. Jesus was God's truest self expression and came among us to show us the depth of God's love for us, bring us forgiveness for our sins and the opportunity for eternal life.

Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is God with us now as the Spirit has been operative in the world from creation on. The Spirit comforts, convicts, and inspires us.

Salvation: The Greek root of the word salvation means wholeness or health. Salvation is both our eternal destiny after our bodies die and it is the wholeness with which we can live life here on earth. Such wholeness depends on God's presence among us.
Our forebear in the faith, John Wesley, taught us to think about salvation with four special phrases:

Prevenient Grace: This is the grace that goes before, God loving us and searching for us before we even begin to think about God. It is the pathway into the house of God's salvation.

Justifying Grace: This is God's gift to us which assures us of forgiveness, making it "just-as-if-I'd –never-sinned." It is the doorway into the house of God's salvation.

Sanctifying Grace: Salvation is not a one time experience but rather a process by which we become more and more like God. This is living in the house of salvation.

Perfection in Love: This does not mean freedom from physical, mental, or emotional flaws, whether those might be a bum leg or forgetting to do an errand. Rather as we live in God's house we begin to love more and more as God loves. The emphasis here is more on the process than on the end.

Guidelines for Faith:
There are many things which guide our faith. As United Methodists we look in particular at four things to help us understand God and grow in our relationship with God.

Scripture: is the primary source of our faith. The 66 books of the Old and New Testament contain all that is necessary for salvation. We believe that Scripture is best interpreted in the believing community.

Tradition: the wisdom of those who have gone before us, though not 100% true for our day, is another useful guide in our faith.

Experience: our individual experiences of God 's grace and the cumulative experiences of our lives which give each person a unique and valued insight into faith.

Reason: God gave us minds and expects us to use them and to think through not only what the Bible tells us in light of the world in which we live but also how to live out that faith.

All holiness is social holiness: As United Methodists we believe that our faith is to be lived out in the community of the world and in the local communities in which we find ourselves. Faith is what we do every bit as much as what we say or believe.

Worship: Gathering together with other Christians to pray, sing, and praise God is an important expression of our faith and avenue for growth. At Moscow First United Methodist Church worship is both casual and informal, traditional and contemporary, reflective and passionate. You will find people here in suits and dresses, and in t-shirts and jeans. You will hear classical, gospel, jazz, and light rock music. You will hear our pipe organ, the piano, and banjo and guitar.

Sacraments: We observe two sacraments in which Jesus himself participated. Baptism is the primary sacrament of initiation into the church, offered once in a lifetime to people of any age. We typically baptize with sprinkling, though other methods are options on discussion with the pastor. Holy Communion is the sacrament of nurture in which bread and juice are eaten recalling Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. We usually celebrate Communion on the first Sunday of the month, and/or the first Sunday of a liturgical season (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost) as well as on Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and Christmas Eve. Normally we use intinction in which a small piece of bread is dipped into a common cup of grape juice, with a gluten free option available. Consistent with United Methodist tradition, at Moscow First United Methodist, one need not be a member to participate in either of these sacraments.
More information can be found at umc.org under the Our Faith link.