What We Believe
Belief in the Scriptures is about action. In one of Jesus’ most famous parables (see Matthew 7:24-29), He teaches that it’s what we put into practice that’s the real key to weathering life’s storms and pain.
Beliefs aren’t meant to be argued about. (Debated, sure. An occasion for division and hate, no.) They are meant to be lived. Great theology is important, but only becomes great when it’s lived out.
Faith in the Bible is described as confidence and trust in God rather than simply ideas about God (see Hebrews 11:1-2 for an articulation of this). Below is a simple statement of our confidence in God.
A more formal statement of belief can be found here.
We are confident that following Jesus is the solid path you can take in life. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life for every child, woman, and man.
We are confident that we are loved by a good Father who created us and wants goodness, righteousness, and beauty for us.
We are confident that we are forgiven and healed from the brokenness of human sin by Jesus’ redemptive death on the cross.
We are confident that our lives matter because of Jesus’ resurrection, physically, from the dead.
We are confident that God has a part for us to play in His redemption of our hurting world. We have a purpose.
We are confident that it is God’s Spirit who guides and empowers us today in our work, our relationships, and our desire to meet the needs of our world.
We are confident that we want to get better at loving people because people are for loving.
We are confident that we want to give every part of our life over to God’s care and leadership and follow his way and word completely. Jesus is Lord.
We are confident that we want to make a significant difference in the lives of our friends, neighbors, Wichita, and the world and that this is God’s will.
We are confident that God heals, transforms, and then empowers ordinary people to do extraordinary acts of love and service.
We are confident that we need every ounce of God’s Spirit and power to make that happen.
We are confident that God’s table always has room for one more.
We are confident that we’ll need to keep learning all of this from Jesus for the rest of our lives.
We are confident that Jesus is right now reigning over the universe and will return for his people and restore all things. So we have hope.
Our Tribe
Wichita First Church is a part of the Church of the Nazarene. The Church of the Nazarene is a Protestant Christian church in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. Organized in 1908, the Church is now home to more than 2.5 million members worshiping in over 30,000 local congregations in 160 world areas.