What We Believe

The following are the core beliefs of First United Methodist Church | Cleburne, TX based on the foundational truths taught in the bible. All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.

God is revealed to us in three distinct ways as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We describe God as everlasting and infinite in power, wisdom, justice, goodness, and love. To imagine who God is and how we can relate to God, we must remember that in Jesus we see God.

We believe in the mystery of salvation through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Son of God, God manifested in the world in the form of a human being, Jesus of Nazareth. We proclaim Jesus as our Savior who, through His death and resurrection, has given us the gift of whole life, eternity with God, and salvation from sin.

The Holy Spirit is God's gift to us of a personal helper, guide and comforter. When we experience God's leading, God's challenge, or God's support, it's the Holy Spirit at work.

We've been made in the image of the Creator. Like God, we have the capacity to love and care, to communicate, and to create. However, we have the freedom to accept or reject a relationship with God. We believe that all humans need to be in a relationship with God in order to be fully whole.

The church is the body of Christ, a living extension of His life and ministry in the world today. We are a community united by a shared purpose and a calling to impact our world as an outreach of our faith.

We believe the Bible is our primary guide for daily living and faith. It is not just an ancient text; it is a way God speaks to us today, leading us and helping us to understand God’s grace and salvation.

We believe the Kingdom of God is both a present reality and future hope. God is always moving ahead of us, inviting us to join in the life of the world that is already unfolding.

As a United Methodist Church, we use four foundational tools to guide our faith, thinking, and understanding of God. Together, these are known as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral:
Scripture, Tradition, Experience, and Reason.
Scripture is primary, so we understand our primary theological task as the disciplined study of the Bible. While Scripture always comes first, the other three sources—Tradition, Experience, and Reason—work together to help us live out biblical truths in the modern world.