Sun Lakes United Methodist Church
We Believe
What We Believe
The preaching and teaching at Sun Lakes United Methodist Church is grounded in Scriptures, informed by Christian tradition, enlivened in personal experience, and tested by reason. As United Methodists, we have an obligation to bear a faithful Christian witness to Jesus Christ, the living reality at the center of the Church’s life and witness. To fulfill this obligation, we reflect critically on our biblical and theological inheritance, striving to express faithfully the witness we make in our own time.
We believe in a God of grace. God loves us unconditionally. There is nothing we have done or can do to earn that love, and nothing will ever separate us from it.
God’s grace was revealed fully in Jesus Christ, who lived, died and was raised from the dead. His life, death and resurrection set us free from sin and empowers us to love as God loves.
Jesus is present to all God’s children through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The final word in matters of Christian belief and practice is Holy Scripture as found in the Old and New Testaments.
Holy Scripture requires interpretation informed by reason, experience and Christian tradition.
The church is the Body of Christ in the world, meant to do as Jesus did by, among many things; feeding the hungry, welcoming the outcast, sharing our possessions, offering healing and hope to the lost, and sharing the witness of faith.
Our Wesleyan Heritage
Wesley and the early Methodists were particularly concerned about inviting people to experience God’s grace and to grow in their knowledge and love of God through disciplined Christian living. They placed primary emphasis on what Wesley referred to as “practical divinity” which continues to be a hallmark of United Methodism today.
The distinctive shape of our theological heritage can be seen not only in this emphasis on Christian living, but also in Wesley’s distinctive understanding of God’s saving grace. Although Wesley shared with many other Christians a belief in salvation by grace, he combined them in a powerful way to create distinctive emphases for living the full Christian life.
For more information about our beliefs and basics of our faith – please go to The United Methodist website at: https://www.umc.org/what-we-believe
