What is a Nazarene?
Like many of you, there was a time in my life when I did not know about the Church of the Nazarene. The Bible tells us that Jesus grew up in the town of Nazareth so he was called a Nazarene like someone might be called a Philadelphian. The simplest answer to this question is that a Church of the Nazarene is a church that follows the practices and teachings of Jesus. A more comprehensive answer for "What is a Nazarene?" is that we are a church that is Christian, Holiness, and Missional. Holiness and Missional can be confusing without some explanation, so let me talk about each concept briefly.
As members of the Church Universal, we join with all true believers in proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ and in embracing the historic Trinitarian creedal statements of Christian faith. For an example of the specifics of what we believe click on the link Articles of Faith.
We are also a church that believes that Jesus calls us to a life of whole-hearted obedience; made possible by the purification and power of the Holy Spirit. For many, Christianity has become about a belief system that determines where one spends eternity. Jesus said that to "know God" was eternal life. Many in the Christian world have taken the result of knowing God - Heaven and made it the focus with little interest in how a relationship with God impacts one's life. The Church of the Nazarene takes very seriously the call of Jesus to "lay down our life and follow him." To be holy means to be like Jesus. This may seem impossible to many, but with God's Spirit dwelling within us, and our willing participation, God is capable of transforming our hearts.
Of the three words I used to describe the Church of the Nazarene, Missional seems most difficult to understand. A word we do understand is Mission. I happen to be a big sports fan, and sometimes we talk about athletes by saying "they were on a mission." This means that they knew what they needed to do and they were not going to let anyone or anything stop them. This is the type of church we strive to be. We are on a mission to glorify God and we do this most effectively through our obedience. While Christians may not be perfect, they should be people who constantly strive to honor God through their obedience. We are also on a mission to tell people about the love and kindness of God expressed in the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that "because God loved us" we should love others. Our denomination started over 100 years ago with a strong commitment to love our neighbor. This manifested itself in a strong concern for the less fortunate and was manifest in our stands against social practices that destroyed families. We are still striving to be a missional church today. Please take a moment and visit www.ncm.org to see some of the things our church is doing around the world.
As members of the Church Universal, we join with all true believers in proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ and in embracing the historic Trinitarian creedal statements of Christian faith. For an example of the specifics of what we believe click on the link Articles of Faith.
We are also a church that believes that Jesus calls us to a life of whole-hearted obedience; made possible by the purification and power of the Holy Spirit. For many, Christianity has become about a belief system that determines where one spends eternity. Jesus said that to "know God" was eternal life. Many in the Christian world have taken the result of knowing God - Heaven and made it the focus with little interest in how a relationship with God impacts one's life. The Church of the Nazarene takes very seriously the call of Jesus to "lay down our life and follow him." To be holy means to be like Jesus. This may seem impossible to many, but with God's Spirit dwelling within us, and our willing participation, God is capable of transforming our hearts.
Of the three words I used to describe the Church of the Nazarene, Missional seems most difficult to understand. A word we do understand is Mission. I happen to be a big sports fan, and sometimes we talk about athletes by saying "they were on a mission." This means that they knew what they needed to do and they were not going to let anyone or anything stop them. This is the type of church we strive to be. We are on a mission to glorify God and we do this most effectively through our obedience. While Christians may not be perfect, they should be people who constantly strive to honor God through their obedience. We are also on a mission to tell people about the love and kindness of God expressed in the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that "because God loved us" we should love others. Our denomination started over 100 years ago with a strong commitment to love our neighbor. This manifested itself in a strong concern for the less fortunate and was manifest in our stands against social practices that destroyed families. We are still striving to be a missional church today. Please take a moment and visit www.ncm.org to see some of the things our church is doing around the world.