HUMC – What We Believe | Hallsville UMC

NextSteps are the proactive decisions to keep moving toward Christ and community no matter where you’re at on the journey.

DISCOVER (SEEK)
Discover who you are in the bigger picture of God’s plan. Seek out who Jesus is, find His call on your life and learn about your spiritual gifts, talents and abilities.

CONNECT (HUMC GROUPS)
Connect with others in similar life stages, interests and group settings. HUMC Groups encourage people to meet regularly and engage in discipleship, studies, mentoring and social gatherings.

GROW (STRONG FOUNDATIONS)
Grow even deeper by building your faith with structured classes, groups and foundational studies. Developing strong foundations is at the core of living out your faith well.

SERVE (FAITH PUT TO ACTION)
Serve within your local church and community. Live out your faith by volunteering with kids ministry, hospitality, missions, greeting and other various ministries around our church.

1. Reach The Unchurched
God has us on this earth to see people meet Jesus. We strive to make the most of every opportunity to invite people to encounter God's grace.

2. Life Applicable Preaching
Our church is transformed by the living and enduring Word of God. We preach regularly from the Scriptures as it encourages, challenges, strengthens and guides our everyday lives.

3. Prayer & Worship
Connecting with God through prayer, meditation and worship is absolutely essential. They are vital to the health of our Christian community, enabling us to connect deeply with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, providing the Christian believer with greater peace and confidence.

4. Discipleship
Every Christian has an opportunity to be growing in their walk with Jesus. We seek to equip and encourage believers as they become fully-devoted followers of Christ.

5. Strong Families
We are an intergenerational church seeking to honor and connect all generations of Christians together. We strive in our worship and community settings to develop strong family ties under one Father.

The family is the very essence of our faith and church. We are committed to partnering with parents as we help our children and youth learn the importance of Christian faith and values.

6. Involve People In Ministry
Our church is strengthened when people get involved. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians that everyone has their own gifts and abilities to be used for the encouragement of all believers. We encourage every person in the church to find your calling.

God
There is one, true, holy God, who exists eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and are one God in being, character, power, and eternal qualities. In the beginning, God created the universe out of nothing. By God’s sovereign power, creation is continually sustained, and God’s redemptive purposes are being fulfilled.

Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God. He is co-equal with the Father and Holy Spirit. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary by miraculous conception, lived a sinless human life, and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all by dying on the cross. He physically rose from the dead after three days, demonstrating God’s power over sin and death. He ascended into heaven, where He rules as our Lord and mediates between God and people. He will return again to earth in the future to establish God’s perfect peace and justice for all time.

Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and Son, and is present in the world to make people aware of their sin and their need for Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation, providing the Christian with power for living, knowledge of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing God’s will. The Holy Spirit is involved in progressively transforming each follower into the image of Christ, and is actively working within the Christian community to bring about God’s plan of redemption for all people and all creation.

Humanity
Human beings are the supreme object of God’s creation, made in the image of God to be like God in character. Although we have tremendous potential for good, everyone is marred by an attitude of rebellion toward God called sin, which separates people from God. Human beings are incapable of beginning or maintaining a relationship with God through our own knowledge or effort.

Salvation
Salvation is a gift from God to all people. Human beings can never make up for their sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of forgiveness can a person be saved from sin’s penalty and enjoy the blessing of a personal relationship with God.

Eternity
People are created to exist forever. Every person will either exist eternally in union with God through the salvation offered through Jesus Christ, or exist eternally separated from God by sin.

Bible
The Bible, comprised of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, is God’s Word to all. It was written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. The scriptures are inspired by God, and they are infallible in the original manuscripts. They contain the blueprint for the Christian life, and they are the unique and final authority on all matters of faith and practice. There are no other writings similarly inspired by God.

Church
The Church is the Body of Christ present in the world today, comprised of all those who have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, who is the head of the Church. The Church exists to glorify God, edify believers, declare and demonstrate God’s justice and mercy for all, and share the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ with the world. Every believer is equipped with at least one spiritual gift, and called and empowered to serve in God’s mission to the world.

Faith and Practice
Scripture is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. This church recognizes that it cannot bind the conscience of individual members in areas where Scripture is silent. Rather, each believer is to be led in those areas by the Holy Spirit, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, to whom the believer is ultimately responsible.

Wesley understood grace as God’s active presence in our lives. This presence is not dependent on human actions or human response. It is a gift — a gift that is always available, but that can be refused. God’s grace stirs up within us a desire to know God and empowers us to respond to God’s invitation to be in relationship with God. God’s grace enables us to discern differences between good and evil and makes it possible for us to choose good…. God takes the initiative in relating to humanity. We do not have to beg and plead for God’s love and grace. God actively seeks us!

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 Christian living, on putting faith and love into action. This emphasis on what Wesley referred to as “practical divinity” has continued 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. Although Wesley shared with many other Christians a belief in grace, justification, assurance, and sanctification, he combined them in a powerful manner to create distinctive emphases for living the full Christian life. The Evangelical United Brethren tradition, particularly as expressed by Phillip William Otterbein from a Reformed background, gave similar distinctive emphases. Grace pervades our understanding of Christian faith and life. By grace we mean the undeserved, unmerited, and loving action of God in human existence through the ever-present Holy Spirit. While the grace of God is undivided, it precedes salvation as “prevenient grace,” continues in “justifying grace,” and is brought to fruition in “sanctifying grace.” We assert that God’s grace is manifest in all creation even though suffering, violence, and evil are everywhere present. The goodness of creation is fulfilled in human beings, who are called to covenant partnership with God. God has endowed us with dignity and freedom and has summoned us to responsibility for our lives and the life of the world. In God’s self-revelation, Jesus Christ, we see the splendor of our true humanity. Even our sin, with its destructive consequences for all creation, does not alter God’s intention for us—holiness and happiness of heart. Nor does it diminish our accountability for the way we live. Despite our brokenness, we remain creatures brought into being by a just and merciful God. The restoration of God’s image in our lives requires divine grace to renew our fallen nature.