Our Identity

We may say with confidence that to worship God is to acknowledge Him as the Rock of our salvation, the great God, the great King above all gods, the creator of all things, and the Shepherd who cares for His people.

Our Nazarene voice must be heard within the larger Christian church. It speaks of who we are theologically. This is what we affirm, what motivates us to action, and how we live our beliefs in daily life.

Passionate evangelism is our response to Jesus’ love and grace for humanity. The Church of the Nazarene started with passionate evangelism. It continues to be the heart of who we are. In his call to evangelism, Phineas Bresee, the Church of the Nazarene’s first general superintendent, said, “We are indebted to give the gospel to every [person] in the same measure in which we have received it.” We focus on helping people discover a personal saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus called the church to intentionally make disciples.

“Therefore go 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 I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”

(Matthew 28:19-20).

The Christian church began with Jesus Christ who started the first community of faith. The community of faith gathered regularly to worship God. Then it began to grow and multiply as new churches emerged through the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13-14). 

We seek to develop leaders through a model of Christlikeness. Jesus is our example.

Purposeful compassion displays the loving heart of God. God’s sending His Son to the world and Jesus dying on behalf of humanity are God’s ultimate gifts of love and compassion. John 3:16-17 tells us that God gave us His Son from the overflow of His love so we may have eternal life. Similarly, 1 John 3:16-17 tells us that the love of God for humanity is expressed in genuine acts of compassion of believers towards God’s creation. Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection illustrate One being moved in love on behalf of another and on behalf of the world (Matthew 9:36).