FMC Bryan

through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as redeemer and savior, all people might receive the gift of salvation. As Holy Spirit, we believe God is present with us to guide us, correct us, inspire us, teach us, forgive us, convict us, and love us. It is through the Holy Spirit that both individuals and the Church discover their mission and calling in God's creation. We believe that the Bible, the Word of God, contains everything necessary for salvation. We believe the scripture is the primary guide for Christians in living out their call to be disciples of Jesus Christ.We believe God expresses Himself through the tradition of the church. Looking back through history, God has worked through the church to bring about His will and we can learn from successes and mistakes, challenges and opportunities embraced by Christians throughout history. We believe in the personal experience of all people. God reveals Himself in unique and dynamic ways to men, women, youth, and children. This is why we recognize and accept Christians learning from other denominations, for we believe the experiences in Christ that people have help us to more fully understand God's will for all. Your personal experience in Christ is valued at our church. We believe in the gift of reason. Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). We believe God gave us the intellectual capacity to process our faith and beliefs as we struggle with the challenges of being Christians in the twenty-first century. We believe in prayer as a "divine gift" that enables people of faith to wrestle, to seek guidance, and to be comforted as they face their daily lives. We believe God answers prayers and prayer is critical as an element of Christian faith and practice. We believe God reveals himself through the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. Through baptism we are initiated into the Body of Christ. The symbol of water is symbolic of cleansing, burial, and new life. God is the primary personality at the moment of baptism, offering His grace and including the recipient into the Body of Christ, the Church. Our primary means of baptism is through sprinkling; however, we both recognize and offer any form of baptism a person desires. The Lord's Supper, Holy Communion or the Eucharist, is a "means of grace." Through the sacrament we participate and remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as we receive the body (bread) and blood (wine). All persons are invited and welcome to receive Holy Communion in the United Methodist Church. It is not a requirement to be a member of our congregation for we believe it is God's table and not the Methodists' table. Through Holy Communion, we not only experience God's grace, we are then challenged to go forward and share that grace.