Our Beliefs

The Identity and Beliefs of A Church Without Walls are comprised of both our understanding of God and His ways found in His Word and also through the doctrine of the Free Methodist Church outlined in the Book of Discipline of the Free Methodist Church of North America.  We corporately desire to walk in God’s truth and seek to make the A Church Without Walls ministry the most effective in our understanding of God and how we can best serve Him.

Outlined in the following points are some basics that make up our Identity and Beliefs of A Church Without Walls.

God

There is only one living God with whom He seeks to have relationship with us and us with Him.  In the unity of the Godhead there is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Not three gods, but one God.

Salvation

The belief that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the whole world.  Therefore, it is our responsibility to recognize that our sins have separated us from our relationship with God and that we are in need of repenting of our selfish ways and restoring our relationship with God.  We are not saved by anything we can do, but in faith recognizing the forgiveness that comes with choosing to be in relationship with God, being obedient to Him, and living eternally with our Creator in Heaven.

Bible
God’s Word was given to us to help us know how to live in relationship with God and with our fellow man.  We believe that God has given us the Bible in it’s complete form of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, that God inspired the writers in what was written, and that  the Bible is the infallible and final authority for us to understand God and how to walk in His Ways.  Whatever cannot be proven by Scripture should not be as truth and therefore cannot be required as an article of belief, practice, or necessary for salvation.

Sanctification

Sanctification is the process by which the Holy Spirit convicts Christians of their sin and encourages us to walk in holiness before God.  Sanctification is the process of walking with the God in all our ways and shedding all the sinful desires we have because of our love for the God who first loved us.

Church

Church is not a building or institution.  God created church for humans to come together to worship Him and to grow in their relationship with Him and their fellow man.  The church also serves as a safe haven for people to come together to learn, equip, and train others to go and make disciples for the Kingdom of God.

Last Things

Our hopeful expectation that Jesus will return again to be the final judge of both the living and the dead of those who put their faith in Him or decided to follow their own sinful ways and reject Him.  Jesus return will mark that His Kingdom will reign for all eternity and that those who put their faith in Him will have everlasting life with Him in Heaven.

Humanity

Humans are God’s creation and were created to be in relationship with God.  God created humans with a free-will to choose to be in relationship with Him and follow His ways or choose their own sinful ways.  Because of our tendencies to go our own ways, we have all sinned and need to repent of our sinful ways and choose to follow God and His ways as we know in His Word.

Discipleship

Process of teaching people the ways of the Lord, having people put their faith in God, showing people how to live and minister and having people in turn go out and multiply disciples for the Kingdom of God.

Faith

The first of the Christian virtues.  Faith is the act of trusting that God is who He says He is and trusting that His ways are the ways in which we should live.  Faith deals with God’s salvation for humanity in that we come to know our sinful place before a holy God and that because of Jesus’ death on the cross, we now can have forgiveness for our sins if we put our trust in God and turn from our sinful ways.

Hope  

The second of the Christian virtues.  Hope is the trust in the promises of God that no matter what circumstances we may have here on earth, we trust that God continues to love us and desires us to walk with Him in relationship and remain faithful to His commands.  Hope is also the expectancy that Jesus will return to judge both the living and the dead; those that chose to put their faith in Him, the reward of Heaven, and those that chose to put their faith in other things, the discipline of Hell.

Love
The third of the Christian virtues.  Love God with all our heart, soul, and strength and also to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23 outlines the Fruit of the Spirit where it says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.”  As Christians, these characteristics should be seen in our daily lives.

Integrity
Who we are when no one else is around.  In other words, keeping the faith and walking in the ways of the Lord, even if no one is watching.

Works of Service

Is not a means of salvation, but rather out of faith and love for God, we seek to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.  This means taking care of the physical and spiritual needs of people around us, as well as not looking for retribution or recognition for the things we have done.

Baptism

Sacrament that serves as a symbol to both the new believer and to the community of believers that a person has put their faith and hope in Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  Baptism does not serve as a means of salvation, rather the commitment made to be a follower of the Lord.

The Lord’s Supper or Communion

Sacrament that serves as a symbol of remembrance for the Body of Christ.  Those who confess Jesus as Lord and Savior may partake in taking the bread, which reminds us of the body of Jesus, and may also partake in the wine or juice, which reminds us of the blood Jesus shed for the forgiveness of our sins.  The elements do not change; the bread and wine, or juice, is not literally the body and blood of Jesus, nor is the body and blood of Jesus literally present with the elements.  Therefore, the Lord’s Supper or Communion is a symbolic reminder of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Child Dedication
A new child is a joy to all the believers.  Therefore, as a Body of Christ, we would like to make a commitment in the presence of God and the believers to help the parents raise the child in the ways of the Lord and help them to come to know the Lord.  Child Dedication does not serve as a means of salvation, rather a unified commitment of believers to help the parents raise the child in the ways of the Lord and help them to come to know the Lord.