If you grew up in or around church, you likely came away with the understanding that being a Christian was about waking up early on a Sunday morning, putting on some nice clothes and going to gather with some people you likely knew. You may have even gone early to attend Sunday school.
Your next steps as a Christian were to study the Bible and find a place to serve in the church.
That’s pretty much it though. Right? Being a Christian means:
Go to church.
Study the Bible.
Serve in the church.
So then, what does being a Christian mean when you wake up on Monday? What does it mean for you as a parent? As a coworker?
If you wrestle with these questions, you are in the right place.
Some of the things we hope to do through these emails is to help you see that being a Christian is much more than going to church, studying the Bible and serving in the church.
Our guest speaker this past Sunday, Brain Connolly of Faith Like Birds Ministry, shared a number of examples of what we mean by this. One of my favorites was when he asked, “What do you get when you squeeze an orange?”
Orange juice.
“What do you get when you squeeze an apple?”
Apple juice.
“It would be really strange then to squeeze an orange and get apple juice. Right?”
Being a Christian means we are changed inside. We believe that God makes us new, giving us a new heart. God adopts us into His family. When He looks at us He sees us as holy and righteous. So that when we, as Christians, are “squeezed,” what then should come out?
What “should” come out is love, joy, peace, patience and kindness, the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Right?
I only mention this example to share how being a Christian is so much more than going to church on Sunday and learning the Bible. Being a Christian is about us being changed to love as Jesus loves, and we will seek to unpack this more and more here through these emails.
Blessings,
Pastor Matt
PS - Come join us this evening at 7:00pm for our Ash Wednesday Service held at Barnitz UMC.