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Thursday, January 20, 2011

5. What kind of church do you attend? What are the main beliefs of your church? If you would like, share a video/podcast of your church!

What exactly do you mean, "what kind of church"? It's a church, one of many that make up the church, the body of Christ. I attend two different churches, one when I'm at school and one when I'm at home. They're both Christ-centered churches, preaching the gospel of Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and what all of that means for us: that we should be thankful for what He did—and is doing—for us, and that we should go out and tell others so that they can know what He has done for them too.

What do we believe? That Jesus was not just a moral teacher, but God Himself. He came to serve as a sacrifice to cleanse us of our sins in order to bridge the gap that we created between us and God. The entire Bible points to Jesus Christ, and that is the message of the gospel: that we can be saved by believing in Him, and that God's love can and will change us to be His eager servants, living to bring others to know Him. Isn't that what all Christian churches preach?

At least, that's what I believe. I don't know what my church(es) believe(s) because I don't know everyone in my church(es), so I haven't asked everyone what they believe. And I'm not really sure exactly what beliefs I'm supposed to talk about. Baptism? We believe that baptism should come after repentance, and that it is symbolic of our devotion to Christ—a public display of our submission to Christ. Election? The Bible talks about "the elect," so clearly people have been set apart by God, for God; "The Lord knows those who are His" (2 Timothy 2:19). God is all-knowing, so obviously He must know who will and won't be saved. That doesn't mean we know who is saved. For all we know, some "Christians" may not be Christians at all, and some current non-Christians may become Christians in the future. Just because someone isn't a Christian now doesn't mean they haven't been chosen by God; that's why we are supposed to witness to people in any way possible whenever we get the chance: so that the elect will become the elect.

Does that answer your question?

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