What
is a Nazarene?
___________________________________________________
The Church of the Nazarene gets it name from Jesus of
Nazareth. But because we’re a smaller and less familiar
denomination, you might be asking what a Nazarene is?
Every church has its distinctives—practices, beliefs,
or organizational structures that set it apart from other
groups. Sometimes this is confusing. People say, "If the
Bible is true and Jesus was who He said He was, why are there
so many different churches with so many different beliefs?"
The bottom line is that, with all the differences, Christian
congregations agree on 95% of their beliefs and practices.
It’s the other 5% that falls into the category of
"distinctive."
The Church of the Nazarene proudly takes its place amongst
our brothers and sisters who confess Jesus as Lord.
We are not Baptists, but like the Baptists, we believe in
calling people to repentance and to witnessing to their new
life in Christ through public baptism.
We are not Presbyterians, but like the Presbyterians, we
believe in the power of preaching God’s Word to bring
about change in people's lives.
We are not Lutherans, but like the Lutherans, we believe
salvation to be a gift of God’s grace secured by faith
in Jesus’ death on the Cross.
We
are not Charismatics—we do not "speak in tongues" in
our services—but like them we believe in the personal
work of the Holy Spirit who gives us the power to live a
victorious, Christ-like life and make a real difference in
the world.
We are not Episcopalians, but like the Episcopalians, we take
worship seriously (we just choose to be a little less
"formal" in the way we worship).
We are not Quakers or Moravians, but like these groups, we
believe in living a careful life that testifies to a watching
world that we belong to God.
We are not Christian Missionary Alliance, but like them, we
believe God calls us to communicate the good news of Jesus to
the people around us.
We are not United Methodists, but like the Methodists, we
have our roots in the tradition of John Wesley and believe in
the power of the small group to foster positive life change.
Bottom line—we’re a warm and friendly group of
people who view the Bible as the inspired Word of God and the
authoritative source of guidance and direction for our lives.
We are life-centered in our teaching and sensitive to the
needs and concerns of others.
We give people opportunities to put their faith into action
through various avenues of service.
We laugh and cry together, rejoice and grieve together, grow
and walk in faith together.
We aim to be a family for all who love Jesus, the Nazarene.
And
we want you to know there is room for you at the North
Raleigh Church of the Nazarene.
North
Raleigh Church of the Nazarene
9200 Strickland Road
Raleigh, North Carolina 27615
919.870.1141 Phone
919.870.1447 Fax
web@nrnazarene.org