My Father And God : The Power Of God

Getting to know my faith more has really changed my life, Before I started going back to church my life was falling apart but while I was learning about the Holy Spirit, God, Jesus Christ made me lead to the right direction. My Faith means a lot to me now that I am able to understand every detail about the

In recent days I had the opportunity to go back to North Carolina for a few short days. There, with a heavy heart from a loss in the family, I had nothing else to look towards. I’ve always heard of individuals finding peace, faith, blessings, and love of Christ from attending church. I’ve never been a person who put their faith into a higher power. As I was growing up my parents never wanted to force me into any religion without me knowing everything about it and choosing which route to take on my own. As the years treaded on, I never bothered myself to learn about the many different religions and what each stands for. So I used this opportunity as mine to attend church for the very first time. I attended the Roman Catholic services held

I grew up in the St. Louis suburb of Eureka, where I still live today. If you ever look at me and wonder where that scar on my forehead came from, well it happened when I was roughly 12 months old when I fell out of a moving car. My parents raised me as a Methodist at the Eureka United Methodist Church. During my years attending Geggie Elementary School, every Sunday my parents would force me to get out of bed and go to Church with them. During church, all the children would go to Sunday school while the parents were listening to the sermon. In Sunday school, we had a teacher, sometimes my mom, who would give out fun church related activities. However, I did not enjoy doing that mostly because it involved getting out of bed early and since I did not like the subject matter either, but at that age, children do not fully grasp the importance of attending church and

Born and raised in Marion, Iowa and into an evangelical church, my parents “Baby Dedicated” my life to christ. At age 5 my family moved to New Covenant Bible Church. When I was young I didn't think much of church, it was just something you did and was merely going through the motions. But when I hit middle school my parents made me go to church every Wednesday and Sunday. Key phrase, made me. At this point in my life I didn't like church, at all. As I grew older, I wanted to be at church less and less. And I dreaded going every time Sunday morning rolled around. I had the mindset that the world had more to offer me than Christ did. And so I made excuses and put up fights and soon I rarely went to church. My family went but I stayed

I grew up in the church. My father was a deacon and my mother was a Sunday school teacher. I never remember a time that church was not the center of my life. I experienced great hurt in my young life and nobody knew pain I endured. I would not realize until much later in my life the affect that one event would have on me. My teenage years were turbulent. These years were a time that was marked by poor choices and rebellion. I developed two lives. One I projected in the church and the other outside the church. I never really gave the fact that I was living a double life much thought.

Father, we approach you in humility, in awe of your never ending love for us. It's In this love that you have called us to know you, led us to trust you, and bound our life with yours. We rejoice with Camille and the Gibson family this morning as she has made the decision to commit her life to Christ and given him the reins to lead her down life's journey.

For as long as I can remember my family and I have attended church almost every Sunday. Being from small town Iowa, everyone around me had always accepted the same ideas and beliefs as me, so I never had seen a different perspective. I had stayed within my comfort zone for fifteen years at this point in time, and I had no intentions of going outside of it any time soon. Part of being in this comfort zone was attending youth group every Wednesday night. Instead of being something I

Being raised in a Christian home, I attended church quasi-regularly up until the age of six. Church participation after the age of six became inconsistent, due to conflict in the church that required the

I was raised in a Christian home and attended church quasi-regularly up until the age of six. Church participation after the age of six became inconsistent, due to conflict in the

When I was a kid, I was taken to church on a weekly basis. My foundation in God was learned as a child. I loved to read the bible and there was this one particular Bible story book that I had, which I read cover to cover. My favorite story to read was the book of David. I was very intrigued with him and all that he had gone through prior to becoming a king. I loved the fact that David liked to dance. Once I grew up, I continued to go to church, but it was more out of ritual. I was not learning because the pastors would talk above my understanding most of the time. The only thing that I did understand was that when it was almost time to dismiss there would began to be a lot of whooping hollering and spitting. I would be at the club getting my bounce on Saturdays and I went to church on Sundays sometimes just hours after coming home from the club. I knew that I should have been living a more Godly life than i was, but I continued to have my fun

For the first time I discovered the Bible… I had often preached. I had seen a great deal of the Church. And talked and preached about it, but I had not yet become a Christian… I know that at that time I turned the doctrine of Jesus Christ into something of personal advantage for myself… Also I had never prayed, or prayed very little. Then the Bible, in particular the Sermon on the Mount freed me from that. Since then everything has changed. (Metaxas 2010, 123).

Before I came to college, I really did not have a Christian community to call home. I diligently attended Sunday service etc., but I did not have a community of Christians that surrounded me in my school and daily life. Most of the attendees were older adults who did not understand my youthful tendencies and interests. Thus, it was hard for me to exercise my beliefs outside of the church setting. My friends at school did not care for my faith, and I felt my spirituality be suppressed and ignored. I knew that I was not growing in faith by sermon messages alone and needed a spiritual community of mentorship, accountability, and guidance. However, I did not know where to find it.

Christ has always been apart of my life. The only issue was I didn’t quite understand what it meant to trust him completely as my lord and savior. As long as i can remember my parents had me going to church at ccv and i attended many church camps . When i started to get older i got involved in club sports which took up lot of my time where i couldn't fit church in my life anymore. When i started 9th grade i had a friend named Makensie and she kept bugging me yo go to church again however i didn't want to because i was scared to go back. After awhile of her begging me i went and realized what i was missing and attended church camp that year. I loved it but i still didn't understand what it meant to give my life to him. As time went on i still continued to go to church every weekend.

Authority is defined as the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience. Coincidentally, authority is found virtually everywhere, including in religious establishments. An issue has arose in many different circumstances, and continues to create religious debates all over the world. The issue is the amount of authority a community of faith should have over its members. Although many argue that this authority is needed in religious establishments, I disagree completely. I believe that a community of faith should possess no authority over its members. There are many of reasons why I think this, and I will soon discuss them. There are several advantages of a community of faith attaining great authority, while there is also an array of disadvantages. Likewise, there are plenty of advantages of a community of faith attaining no authority, while there are multiple disadvantages, as well. However, I believe that numerous benefits can occur when a community of faith attains a lack of authority over its members.

Since the day I was born my parents took my sister and me to church ever Sunday. I grew up in a loving Christian home and was encouraged at an age where I could fully understand, to purse a relationship with Jesus. I accepted Christ into my heart when I was in the second grade and was baptized in the fourth grade at age 10. Growing up I have always been super involved in Church. I have a heart for people and love serving. Since 3rd grade until now, my senior year of high school I have been on the leadership team with my youth group. I can not imagine my life without Jesus as the center. I have been pushed to step out of my comfort zone and because of that I have grown in several different ways. For example, I am an extrovert and enjoy getting new people, but never liked public speaking as I felt nervous and intimidated. By the many adult leaders, and pastors coming along side of me and encouraging me to step of on my comfort zone I now highly enjoy speaking and spreading the truth about The Lord in big groups of people. I am so thankful for the many God loving people that have come in my life and helped stretch me. Jesus is my entire life and I am nothing without him.