FMC Minden: WHAT WE BELIEVE

We believe in God, one and only, who is an eternal relationship of love between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.


We believe that God created the universe and radically entered human history in his Son, Jesus Christ, fully God and fully human.  In God's unrelenting love for all people, Jesus came among us as God's Son to freely offer his whole live for the salvation and healing of the world.  God's un-earned love and favor toward us is called "Grace."


We believe that all people are created in God's image and that all people are loved by our Lord.  This means God calls us to love all people.


We believe that all people are born into the condition of sin.  Without God's grace, we all fall prey to pride, arrogance, self-centeredness, and other idolatrous ways of being in the world.  Our sinful decisions lead to breakdown in our relationships with God, with each other, within ourselves, and with the natural creation.  Thus, we need salvation - spiritual wholeness and healing from the sickness of sin.


We believe that we receive God's saving grace, forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and a living relationship with Christ by faith: by freely trusting him with our whole lives.  Humans are free to embrace or reject God's grace, and all works we do stem from our love and praise for the One who saved us FROM eternal death and FOR abundant life.


We believe that God's Holy Spirit fills the life of believers, empowering us to love and serve others as Jesus teaches us to do.


We believe that Jesus' willingness to show love in all circumstances was the example what it means to carry the cross in life.


We believe the Bible teaches us how to know God and live faithful lives, containing all that is necessary to receive salvation.  When reading any passage of Scripture, we use the rest of Scripture, the Tradition of the Church, logical Reasoning, and spiritual Experience to help us understand it.


We believe that Christ is spiritually present in a unique and mysterious way, to feed and nourish our souls, when we celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion (also called The Lord's Supper or The Eucharist).


We believe that all who are baptized in the Father, Son, and Spirit are spiritually united together in Christ and in his Body, the universal (or "catholic") Church.


We believe that God uses spiritual practices such as worship, prayer, Bible reading, fasting, the sacraments, service to others, and Christian community to help us grow closer to God and become more like Christ.  These spiritual disciplines help us to train our lives in ways that receive God's grace abundantly and share God's love most effectively.


We believe that living, studying, serving, and worshipping in community with other active Christian disciples is vital for spiritual growth.


We believe that our mission is to witness with our words and our lives the loving Lordship of Jesus Christ so that others enter into active discipleship of Jesus as well.


We believe that Christ is Lord of all and will one day bring God's reign of love to finally and fully renew God's broken creation.