The mission of Cherokee United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

The mission of Cherokee United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ by proclaiming the good news of God's grace and thus seeking the fulfillment of God's reign and realm in the world. The fulfillment of God's reign and realm in the world is the vision Scripture holds before us. Cherokee United Methodist Church affirms that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, and the Lord of all. We respect persons of all religious faiths and we defend religious freedom for all persons. Jesus' words in Matthew 28:19-20 provide the Church with our mission: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you."

This mission is our grace-filled response to the reign of God in the world announced by Jesus. God's grace is active everywhere, at all times, carrying out this purpose as revealed in the Bible. It is expressed in God's covenant with Abraham and Sarah, in the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, and in the ministry of the prophets. It is fully embodied in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is experienced in the ongoing creation of a new people by the Holy Spirit.

Whenever United Methodism has had a clear sense of mission, God has used our Church to save persons, heal relationships, transform social structures, and spread scriptural holiness, thereby changing the world. In order to be truly alive, we embrace Jesus' mandate to make disciples of all peoples.

• WIN some to faith in Jesus Christ through
  • Proclaiming the gospel
  • Seeking, welcoming, and gathering persons into the body of Christ
  • Leading persons to commit their lives to God through baptism and profession of faith in Jesus Christ
• DISCIPLE and nurture persons in the faith through Christian living in:
  • Worship
  • The sacraments
  • Spiritual disciplines Other means of grace, such as Christian Education
• SEND persons into the world to live lovingly and justly as servants of Christ by
  • Healing the sick
  • Feeding the hungry
  • Caring for the stranger
  • Freeing the oppressed
  • Working to develop social structures that are consistent with the gospel
• GLORIFY God in the process of making disciples.

Cherokee United Methodist Church seeks to fulfill its global mission through the Spirit-given servant ministries of all Christians, both lay and clergy. Faithfulness and effectiveness demand that the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ shape all ministries in the Church.

God's self-revelation in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ summons the church to ministry in the world through witness by word and deed in light of the church's mission. The visible church of Christ as a faithful community of persons affirms the worth of all humanity and the value of interrelationship in all of God's creation. In the midst of a sinful world, through the grace of God, we are brought to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. We become aware of the presence and life-giving power of God's Holy Spirit. We live in confident expectation of the ultimate fulfillment of God's purpose.

We are called together for worship and fellowship and for the up building of the Christian community. We advocate and work for the unity of the Christian church. We call all persons into discipleship under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. As servants of Christ we are sent into the world to engage in the struggle for justice and reconciliation. We seek to reveal the love of God for men, women, and children of all ethnic, racial, cultural, and national backgrounds and to demonstrate the healing power of the gospel with those who suffer.

1. God created humanity to live in covenant with God. As sinful creatures, we have broken that covenant and stand in need of redemption. Because God truly loves us, God acted through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to bring us salvation and the hope of eternal life.
2. God's love comes alive in us by the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit works in both our personal experience and in the common life of the church.
3. We are part of Christ's universal church. We enter the church through baptism. In Holy Communion, we celebrate the presence of Christ and find strength for Christian living.
4. We believe that the reign of God is both a present and future reality. This prospect gives us hope in our present actions.
5. We believe that Scripture contains everything necessary for salvation. We believe in justification by grace through faith in Christ and in the general ministry of all Christians.
6. We believe that the church is one in Jesus Christ. We express our unity in hymns and liturgy, in the historic creeds, and in the belief in one holy, catholic, and apostolic church.

1. Prevenient Grace God's love surrounds us even before we are aware of it. It leads us to want to please God, to discover God's will, and to an awareness of our sin.
2. Justification and Assurance God reaches out to the repentant believer with accepting and pardoning love. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are justified-forgiven and restored to God's favor. This experience of conversion can be sudden and dramatic or gradual. Wesleyan theology emphasizes that we can know we are saved.
3. Sanctification and Perfection God's sanctifying grace helps us grow more loving toward God and neighbor, drawing us toward God's gift of Christian perfection, being perfect in love.
4. Faith and Good Works Faith in God's redeeming work in Jesus Christ is the only response to God's love we need. However, we express our salvation in good works, sharing God's love with others.
5. Mission and Service Salvation always involves Christian mission and service to the world. Personal religion, evangelical witness, and social action go hand in hand and build on each other.
6. Nurture and Mission of the Church The church nurtures our personal faith and equips us for service in the world.