Core Beliefs
The following are a few of the core beliefs of SonRise Church - Pueblo West, CO in line with our United Methodist heritage and beliefs.
God
We believe in the one, true God who has three distinct movements: God the Creator (Father), God the Son (Jesus the Messiah), and God the Holy Spirit. God is the creator of all that exists, both visible and invisible, and is therefore worthy of all glory and praise. God is perfect in love, power, holiness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom, justice, and mercy. Our Creator is faithful to the relationship God desires with humanity, which is why we understand God differently from generation to generation and even among our individual experiences of God.
Grace
We believe in John Wesley's teaching of God's grace that pours over us in three ways:
Prevenient Grace - the grace of God present in our lives even before we know God is for us or even while we might be actively opposed to God.
Justifying Grace - the grace of God that enables us to accept God's love for "just-if-I'd" never sinned. This is the forgiveness of God we can choose to accept or not. We don't earn it - it is a free gift from God.
Sanctifying Grace - this is the grace of God that helps us grow into being more Christ-like. We make mistakes and we don't always follow the Spirit's guidance. Sanctifying Grace tells us we are forgiven and then helps us walk the right path.
Prevenient Grace - the grace of God present in our lives even before we know God is for us or even while we might be actively opposed to God.
Justifying Grace - the grace of God that enables us to accept God's love for "just-if-I'd" never sinned. This is the forgiveness of God we can choose to accept or not. We don't earn it - it is a free gift from God.
Sanctifying Grace - this is the grace of God that helps us grow into being more Christ-like. We make mistakes and we don't always follow the Spirit's guidance. Sanctifying Grace tells us we are forgiven and then helps us walk the right path.
Inclusivity
We believe God created all people. We believe in God's inclusive love for all and understand we are all in need of God's grace and forgiveness.
The Bible
We believe the Bible is the inspired narration of God's story and is the primary source of our connection to God's wisdom, grace and love. We take the Bible seriously at SonRise Church, but not literally. We are comfortable asking questions of the ancient texts and open to God's voice leading us in interpretation for our individual lives as well as our shared life together.
Salvation
As a Wesleyan Church, we believe in the Way of Salvation. First, Jesus died to free us from both the guilt and act of sin in our lives. Second, we are forgiven of our sins of the past through justification. Lastly, our response is to move toward Glory by "becoming more alive to God and more dead to sin". We should be constantly working out our salvation, not just with hope of eternal life, but for this life in the here and now.
The Church
The Church is meant to be the body of Christ, gathered together by the Spirit and commissioned to be Light to the world, Bearers of Love to all, and Proclaimers of justice and mercy.
Ressurection
Jesus Christ rose from the dead by God's might power. This same power is available to us all for the transformation of our lives into newness and hope. We await with joyful anticipation for when Jesus will come again to usher in a new reign of love, justice and mercy. In the meantime, we partner with the Holy Spirit in creating a new world glorifying God.