A Neighborhood Church · Est. 1948

Who We Are

The Journey of Grace (Mesa First) Church of the Nazarene was first organized on February 27, 1948 after several years of a small group of families praying for and asking to begin their own Nazarene church in Mesa. The church began with a small group of dedicated families and has stayed in the same neighborhood for over 60 years now. Through seasons of faith, prayer, and sacrificial giving, the church has grown and expanded its East University property.

We desire to be a neighborhood church that reaches out and impacts the community for the Kingdom of God. We exist to serve everyone created in God’s image, and to invite all to become disciples of Jesus. The church of the Nazarene has always desired to serve the marginalized, those on the outside, and those that are wondering about who God is. We desire to love like Jesus, grow closer to God and to each other, and to serve those who aren’t yet a part of our church family.

In 2021 our church board, along with our congregation, moved together to change the name of our church to Journey of Grace Church of the Nazarene to better reflect who we are as a congregation and our desire to invite those who are not here yet to allow us to journey along side them in their walk, extending the grace we all need.

We’d love to meet you, please feel free to check out more information about visiting our church or getting connected through our ministries.

Our Foundation

What We Believe

We are a member of the Church of the Nazarene, a global protestant denomination that is Wesleyan in its theology and came out of the American Holiness movement at the turn of the 20th century. The mission of the Church of the Nazarene is to, "Make Christlike Disciples in the Nations."

We stand in the faith of the early church as confessed in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, and we hold the Wesleyan-Holiness heritage of the Nazarene movement.

• The Triune God

  We believe in one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is holy love and holy light, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and has revealed Himself to us through Scripture and in Jesus Christ. (Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14)

• Jesus Christ

  We believe in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, fully God and fully human. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, died on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, rose bodily from the dead on the third day, ascended into heaven, and will come again in glory. (John 1:14, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Philippians 2:5-11)

• The Holy Spirit

  We believe in the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, who convicts the world of sin, regenerates those who repent and believe, sanctifies the church, and empowers every believer to live like Christ. (John 16:8-13, Acts 2:1-4)

• The Holy Scriptures

  We believe the Bible is fully inspired by God and is our only rule of faith and practice. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments reveal without error all that we need to know for salvation and godly living. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21)

• Created in God's Image

  We believe every person is created in the image of God and has infinite worth. Our value is not something we earn or achieve; God is the one who gives us our value and defines our true identity in His plan and purpose for our lives. (Genesis 1:27, Psalm 139:13-14, Ephesians 2:10)

• Sin and Prevenient Grace

  We believe that though we are created in the image of God, all people have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, yet the grace of God goes before every person, drawing them toward repentance and faith. No one is saved apart from grace, and no one is beyond the reach of it. (Romans 3:23, John 12:32, Titus 2:11)

• The Atonement

  We believe the death of Jesus Christ is the full and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. Through repentance and faith in Him we are justified, forgiven, and born anew, and by His grace we are adopted as children of God. (1 John 2:2, Ephesians 2:8-9)

• Entire Sanctification

  We believe, with the early church and the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition, that after the new birth the Holy Spirit cleanses the heart of sin and fills it with perfect love for God and neighbor. This second, definite work of grace is received by faith, is witnessed to by the Holy Spirit, and empowers us to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. (1 Thessalonians 5:23, Matthew 22:37, 1 John 1:7)

• The Church

  We believe in the one holy, universal (catholic) church, the body of Christ on earth, called to make disciples of all nations. Christ ordained two sacraments for His church: baptism and the Lord's Supper, which He promised to be with us in and through. (Ephesians 4:4-6, Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 22:19-20)

• The Resurrection and the Life to Come

  We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead, the final judgment, and the second coming of Christ. At His return, every person will be raised to face judgment: those who are in Christ will enter everlasting life in the new creation, and those who have rejected Him will face eternal judgment. There, God will dwell with His people forever, bound by a covenant like marriage, in which we have chosen Him and He has chosen us in Christ. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, John 5:28-29, John 11:25, Revelation 21:3, Revelation 22:20)

If you’d like to learn more about these beliefs, feel free to visit our denominational page to read more in depth.

The People Behind the Mission

Our Staff