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Beliefs

Wesleyans believe in one God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the Savior of all men and women who put their faith in Him alone for eternal life. We believe that those who receive new life in Christ are called to be holy in character and conduct, and can only live this way by being filled with the Lord's Spirit. We believe in the Bible and seek to establish our faith and actions on its teaching. We believe God wills for people everywhere to know Him and that the purpose of the Church is to tell the world about Christ through its worship, witness, and loving deeds.

Accountability

Faith Church is under the oversight of the Florida Disctrict of The Wesleyan Church. The leadership at Faith is licensed / ordained under their spiritual authority. We are governed by a Local Board of Administration made up of members of Faith Church.

Every church group has its "distinctives" - the 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?" While some would call this "division", in most cases it is more accurately labeled "diversity." While division is a bad thing, diversity is a good thing.

Perhaps we should focus on the fact that different denominations show forth the beautiful diversity there is in the church, which is a strength rather than a weakness. And we believe that when you step back and look at the church as a whole, you get a fuller, clearer picture of the depth and breadth of what the Bible calls "the Body of Christ."

We are even optimistic enough to believe that with all this diversity in belief and practice, most churches still agree on 90-95% of Christian teaching, and the other 5-10% we do not agree on falls in this category of "distinctives." We share many things in common with other believers. So, what in the world is a Wesleyan?

Well...

Like the Baptists, we believe in calling people to repentance and encouraging new believers to give witness to their new life in Christ through public baptism. Like the Presbyterians, we believe in the power of preaching the Word of God to bring about changes in people's lives. Like the Lutherans, we believe in salvation through Jesus Christ on the authority of Scripture alone. Like Catholics, we believe in the seriousness of sin and in the need of a Savior. Like the Pentecostals or Charismastics, we believe in the life-empowering moving of the Spirit of God in the church and the personal power and purity that He alone gives believers who desire to live a life truly dedicated to Christ. Like the pietistic groups, such as Quakers, Moravians, or Mennonites, we believe in living a careful life that testifies to the watching world that we belong to the family of God. Like the Methodists and Nazarenes, we grew out of John Wesley's revival movement in the 1700 and 1800's and identify with Wesley's emphasis on honoring God through holiness.

At the core, we are a warm and friendly group of people who try, with God's help, to live the kind of life that brings honor to Him. 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 the opportunity to put their faith into practice through any number of 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. In a community known for its transient nature, where many are not close to their natural families, we have come together to be a family for each other.

And we want you to know there is always room for you at Faith.

As part of The Wesleyan Church (a Bible-believing network of outreach-minded churches) we adhere to orthodox positions regarding the nature of God, Christ, the Trinity and Christ's birth, death, resurrection, ascension, and imminent return.

We are confident in the Bible as our written source for spiritual guidance. We believe that personal faith in Christ is our only hope for salvation. We look to Christ and his Word for our example for life. And we believe that we need each other for effective spiritual growth, encouragement and maturity in our daily Christian walk.

Here are some core beliefs:

We believe that the Bible is fully inspired by God...that it is accurate and that it is our trustworthy guide for faith and practice.

We believe in one God (beside whom there is no other) who has chosen to reveal himself to us in many ways as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We believe that people are made in the image of God, but because of our fall into sin we display the universal tendency toward rebellion, active or passive, against God.

We believe that because of our sin, man is separated from God.

We believe that Jesus Christ lived the perfect life that we could not live...and then accepted the punishment that we deserve...death. By accepting the punishment for our sins on our behalf, He offers us a pardon of forgiveness.

We believe that the only way to accept this pardon is by confessing our sins to God, believing that He is sufficient to give us forgiveness, and then inviting Him to become the Master of our life.

We believe that Christians (or 'Christ-followers') are called to holy living as a daily lifestyle, which is made possible through the power and sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life.

We believe that Faith Church exists to glorify God by 'Sharing the Hope' of Jesus Christ within the community. This is accomplished by our commitment to fulfilling the PURPOSES of Faith.