What We Believe* :: What Is a Nazarene
1. We believe in one eternally existent, infinite God, He, as God is Holy, and is triune in essential being and revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
2. Jesus Christ — became incarnate by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, so that two whole and perfect natures, are united in one person the God-man. He died for our sins, and He rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven and there He intercedes for us.
3. Holy Spirit — ever present and efficiently active in and with the Church convincing the world of sin, regenerating those who repent & believe, sanctifying believers and guiding into all truth as it is in Jesus.
4. Holy Scriptures — we believe in plenary inspiration. The Bible, inerrantly reveals the will of God concerning all things necessary to salvation.
5. Sin — came into the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve. Actual and Personal sin is a voluntary violation of a known law of God, by a morally responsible person.
6. Atonement — Jesus by His suffering and the shedding of blood, made a full atonement for all human sin.
7. Free Agency — God created the human race with the ability to choose between right and wrong. We believe God’s grace is freely bestowed on all enabling all who will to turn from sin to righteousness. We believe that all persons may fall from grace and apostatize and unless they repent be hopelessly and eternally lost.
8. Repentance — a sincere and thorough change of heart in regard to sin, is required of all who have sinned.
9. Justification, Regeneration, Adoption — are simultaneous in the experience of seekers after God.
10. Entire Sanctification — is the act of God, by which believers are made free from original sin, and brought into a state of entire devotion to God, and the obedience of love made perfect.
11. The Church — the community that confesses Jesus Christ as Lord. It is called by God to worship, and abide in unity. It is to continue the work of Christ, in the world.
12. We believe in Christian Baptism
13. We believe in and celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
14. Divine Healing — while we believe in medicine, we seek healing as God’s gift. We encourage the anointing with oil and prayer for the healing of the sick.
15. Second Coming — we believe Christ is coming again. He will take those who believe home to heaven.
* These statements are abridged from the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene
Every church has its distinctives — practices or beliefs that set it apart from other groups. Sometimes this is confusing to people. They say, “If the Bible is true and Jesus was who He claimed to be, why are there so many different churches with so many different beliefs?” We are optimistic enough to believe that will all the differences in beliefs and practices, most Christian congregations still agree on 90-95% of Christian teaching, and that the other 5-10% we do not agree on falls in this category of “distinctive”.
While we get our name from Jesus of Nazareth, you might be asking what in the world is a modern-day Nazarene? Well…
¤ We are not Baptists, but like the Baptists, we believe in calling people to repentance and to witnessing to their new life in Christ through public baptism.
¤ We are not Presbyterians, but like the Presbyterians, we believe in the power of the preaching of the Word Of God to bring about change in people’s lives.
¤ We are not Lutherans, but like the Lutherans, we believe in salvation through Jesus Christ on the authority of Scripture alone, in salvation by faith alone and in salvation as gift of God’s grace alone.
¤ We are not Charismatics — No, we do not “speak in tongues” — but like the Charismatics we believe in the gifts of the Spirit, who gives people the power to live a Christ-like life and to make a real difference in their world.
¤ We are not Episcopalians — although John Wesley was a lifelong Anglican — but like the Episcopalians we take worship seriously (we just choose to be a little less “formal” in our worship services).
¤ We are not Quakers or Moravians, but like these pietistic groups, we believe in living a careful life that testifies to the watching world that we belong to the Family Of God.
¤ We are not United Methodists, although we have our roots in the Methodist tradition that grew out of John Wesley’s revival movement in the 1700’s. We have good fellowship with our United Methodist “cousins”, but we are organizationally separate for historical reasons.
We are a warm and friendly group of people who desire, with God’s help, to live holy lives that bring honor and glory to Him. In three words our theology is “JESUS IS LORD!”
We look to the Bible as our primary source for direction in our worship and our lifestyles.
We are life-centered in our teaching and sensitive to the needs and concerns of others.
We give people opportunities to put their faith in to action through various avenues of service.
We are honored to take our place among the many who are called Christians.
We laugh and cry together, rejoice and grieve together, grow together, and walk in faith together.
We aim to be a family for all who love Jesus, the Nazarene.
We want you to know there is room for you in the Canton First Church of the Nazarene family of faith. Our mission is to be a beacon of hope to the community. We can only be a big beacon as we join our little lights together. Come help us.
