Who we are… continued.

So often, life and faith get all messed up when the focus becomes being right, measuring up, performing or gaining favor with God and others.  Jesus came simply, living life as a friend with faith—you know, that honest, faithful friend in your life who talks to you truthfully even when it hurts, yet with kindness pursues you, continually offering relationship even when you screw up.  The kind of friend who laughs with you, celebrates with you, believes in you, cries with you, works with you and relaxes with you.

Living a personal faith

How do we live the kind of faith that results in this simple, real, difference making life?

While most of us talk about loving God, for many that love is more akin to how we love a singer, an actor, a political figure or an author.  We love who they represent to us, but we do not really know them.    God came to us as a touchable, knowable little baby who grew up as a man living alongside us—working, playing, laughing, talking, and grieving with family and friends.

Through His Spirit, He still chooses to live with us in this same knowable, tangible way.  Knowing God, the one and only God, the Creator of all that exists, the One who is the definition of good, is an amazing privilege offered to each of us.

We often choose impersonal faith

Yet, many of us approach our faith by trying to know God through someone else.  We come to church seeking faith, thinking that we need the services of an expert, trained pastor to know God.  But when our primary knowledge of God is through another person, we know God like we know that political figure we see on a screen.  God invites us to something much more personal.

Instead of being just pastor-fed, God wants us to be self-feeding people.

Just as we feed our marriages and friendships through learning healthy habits of relationship, so also in our faith God wants us to individually take ownership for doing the things that feed our relationship with Him.  Gathering for worship and learning is part of it—God calls pastors and churches for a purpose.  But just as a marriage counselor can’t make our marriage wonderful if we do not take personal ownership for developing practical habits that express our love to our spouse, there are also deeply practical things we can do to become deeply spiritual.  Practicing the spiritual habits of relationship with God, which have been proven over the centuries, allows us not just to know about God, but to know Him personally.  Developing habits that focus us on learning to be aware of God’s presence in very practical ways as we work, play, relax, and spend time with friends or family are absolutely critical to a faith that is real, instead of a dry faith that is just composed of a bunch of meaningful ideas and values.

Personal does not equal private

Yet, faith that is only private and individual will always leave us wanting, unfulfilled, doubting and frustrated.  Faith that does not touch all of life is hollow and life is not an individual sport, unless one wants to be lonely.  The Bible says we cannot love God if we do not also love others.  Yet love is such an intangible word defined in so many incomplete ways.  God defined love for us in sending Jesus.  Jesus said He did not come to condemn mankind, but to save us, free us—to adopt us as His sons and daughters, to make us His friends.  Jesus didn’t wait for us to become perfect, to believe correctly or to behave rightly, but prioritized relationship above differences. He invites, even commands us to be like Him in this regard.

Purpose drives fulfilling relationships

The best, most deeply enduring friendships are those through which we make a difference in life.  God wired us with a desire to do something significant with our lives.  Making a difference is not about accomplishments and things, though there may be great accomplishments along the way.  Making a difference is about leaving a legacy in the lives of others, reproducing something in someone else (reproduction = maturity).

God plans on doing something through you

You don’t have to be well known to leave an enduring legacy—you just have to believe in others.  That’s what friends do.  Friends believe in others’ gifts and rejoice in seeing others realize their passion and potential.  Friends find joy in bringing God’s goodness to others’ lives. Friends do things together—doing something as a team of friends is always more meaningful than doing it alone.  Friends don’t let friends give up when at first they don’t succeed.  Friends challenge friends to give their best and respond to setbacks by saying “Oops, try again.”

I want to invite you to join us as we daily discover a fullness of life knowing God, loving others and making a difference.

Pursuing a simple life as a friend with faith,

Ross Adelmann

Senior Pastor

*For a more complete description of what we believe are the pillars of our faith, see our official Faith Statement.