About Us
Our Story
The history of Messiah United Methodist Church begins in 1964 when new homes, businesses and schools were transforming West Springfield from a rural outpost into the Washington suburb we know today. Over the six decades, with the guidance of God’s the Holy Spirit and following Jesus’ example, Messiah has done extraordinary things. There are myriad examples of love for persons; service to the community, the region, the nation, and the world; discipleship to friend and stranger; comfort in times of need; and preaching that celebrates the mystery of God’s love at work in our lives and the life of the world.
Who We Are
Messiah is an active community committed to sharing the challenge and the satisfaction that comes with following Jesus Christ. We strive to serve God by serving others. Messiah offers a blended style of worship to inspire and renew the rhythm of life. Our reflections and music seek to create an authentic worship experience that informs and encourages us in following Jesus.
What We Believe About God
Messiah is a community committed to both receiving and proclaiming the hope and healing of Christ to our community. With God’s help, we long to live authentically by embracing the gospel of inclusion, compassionate love, and of acceptance. We do this in all sorts of ways. You will get a taste of our ministries by perusing this website, but we also invite you to contact us so that we can talk with you more.
What We Believe About Jesus
We believe in Jesus Christ, who was truly man and in whom the divine and human natures are perfectly and inseparably united. Jesus is the incarnation of God, meaning the Word made flesh. God sent Jesus, his only Son in the fullness of time, nurtured in the water of a womb, not to condemn the world, but so that the world may be saved through him.
In the first words, Jesus preached he proclaimed: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord.”
Jesus lived, suffered and died on the cross. He was buried, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven to be with the Father. He shall come again in victory to judge the living and the dead. He is our Lord and Savior, who seeks us, saves us, and intercedes for us. He is the Light of the World, the Bread of Heaven, and the Shepherd who seeks out to save, nurture, and guide. He has come so that we may have complete joy and life everlasting.
What We Believe About the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit proceeds from and is one in being with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is God with us always, especially when we are in need, and convicts us of our sin and need for God. The Spirit awakens us to God’s will and empowers us to live with a faithful response to the gospel. The Holy Spirit affects our lives by equipping us with “fruits” and “gifts” to carry out Christ’s ministry with the world. Learn more about the fruits of the spirit (click to Gal 5:22) or take a Spiritual Gifts Assessment. We experience the breath of God, God’s Spirit in time alone, the study of Scriptures, personal reflection, and among the community of believers.
Experience with the Holy Spirit can often be intensely personal and we may feel the Spirit moving through the power of the choir singing, the Word preached and proclaimed, silence and study, the beauty of God’s creation, serving in the soup kitchen, a planning committee, and being with family. The Holy Spirit, who brought the church into beginning at Pentecost, is still guiding and upholding it, our prayer is to be open to the movement of the Spirit and listen.
What We Believe About Us
We believe that human beings are created in God’s image. Yet we do not live as God intends. Again and again, we violate God’s intentions for our lives and for all life. We turn away from God and God’s intentions/hopes for us. We rebel against God’s love and choose self over God. We call this estrangement from God, sin. Sin separates us from God, God’s creation, and ourselves. We believe that God’s grace is offered to all, but God’s grace is resistible; that is, humans can choose to accept or reject a relationship with God. We may not always be aware of God’s grace, but God is. working for our good and the good of the creation. God actively seeks us, taking the initiative to reach out to us in many and diverse ways. We believe that a relationship with God through the power of his God’s love and grace is what makes us whole.
To learn more about what we and the United Methodist Church believe, please click here.
