GRACE CHURCH:
Living & Giving God's Grace
Grace Church started small in 1975 - organizing in the home of the Janes family and meeting in the old Red & White Grocery Store on South Whittle Avenue in Olney with just a few families, a piano, a small altar, and folding chairs. The close-knit families who formed it shared a common core of beliefs that haven't changed today, even after our church has grown. As we live out these beliefs, we extend GRACE to each other, just as Christ showed us God's love.
STATEMENT OF FAITH
-
We believe the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit and contains all things necessary to salvation.
-
We believe that forgiveness is for all that truly repent and that whosoever will may come to God through the finished work of Christ on Calvary.
-
We believe good works cannot put away our sins, but spring out of a true and lively faith.
-
We may depart from given grace and fall into sin and, by the grace of God, rise again and amend our lives.
-
We believe holiness is obtainable, and every child of God should earnestly seek to live a holy life.
-
We believe the universal church is the community under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, in which the Word of God is preached, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper are administered, and disciples of Christ are nurtured, supported, and fulfill their individual calls to ministry.
OUR HISTORY
Grace was founded in 1975. Originally we were affiliated with the Evangelical Methodist Church denomination (EMC). Our name back then was “Grace Evangelical Methodist Church,” as it appears on the cornerstone of our sanctuary. In the late 1980s, the EMC changed some of its financial policies. Grace decided to become an independent community church, and we changed our name to simply “Grace Evangelical Church.”
Although we are now independent of the EMC, Grace has never separated itself from its founding Wesleyan priorities, established over 250 years ago during what is known as “The Great Revival.” These priorities were part of a movement started by John and Charles Wesley in England in the 1700s. They include the beliefs that:
1. By His Spirit, God is at work in the hearts of all people, trying to awaken them to their need, draw them out of their rebellion and into a saving relationship with Him.
2. Salvation comes only through a sincere and submissive faith in Jesus Christ.
3. Christ offers to all who truly repent of their sins and trust in Him the gift of a new beginning, or a “new-birth,” resulting not only in forgiveness of sins and the promise of Heaven, but a real transformation in their lives and new kind of relationship with God.
4. Sincere Christians who continue to seek the Lord can experience daily more of the ongoing work of God’s grace in their lives:
-
Giving them victory they could never have by will-power or work,
-
Replacing natural human selfishness and pride with Christlike humility, and
-
Filling them with energizing, over-flowing love for God and their neighbor.
5. This Spirit-given love for God will show itself in a determination to walk closely with God, to please Him and obey His will in every area of our lives.