Looking for Answers

So what is the answer?

How do we know that God really loves us?

Does he really care for us? 

How can I know that it matters for my life & my experience at all?

On Friday, we got a clear & clean picture of the answer to that question. As 1 John 4:9 says 

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him" 

We are all looking for love, whether it is in good friends, our family, or the latest band, we're looking for those things that are meaningful & those things that will last.

And in God we have the promise of lasting love. Even better, we have the promise of lasting life! Just to top the whole deal off, God tells us whom we ought to love as well. 4:9-11 :

"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

When I think of the hope that I have for the WAY, the biggest picture I have in my head is that we could be a community which is shaped by love. Not the fluffy, lovey-dovey valentines day kind of stuff, but the kind of love where we go out of our way to look out for each other, to respect each other, and to welcome new "others" to our group as they come along.

Keep on keeping on!

(Picture created by Caleb & Tim at Wednesday afternoon Bible Study)

       Being a Christian is one of those weird areas where you follow a path which is very different to much of the world around you.

Where other people think of life as just a bunch of coincidences, we believe that God made us & He has a specific plan for our lives. While others think that right & wrong are just determined by whether you get caught doing something, we believe that God gave us a moral radar & we are called to act the right way, even when people aren't watching. And while the world says that the most important person in the world is you, we believe that Jesus Christ is the No.1 & we need to live lives that honour him.

It can be hard to keep on keeping on, especially when those around you are interesting in doing something completely different.

On Friday night, we had a look at 1 John 2:18-27. Here John is handing out advice to the Christians in the 1st Century church. They too had a similar problem. There were people who had come along to church, but didn't really believe that Jesus died for our sins & rose again. Like Wolves in Sheep's clothing, they did all the "churchy" things, but they didn't display any real commitment in their lives & their beliefs.

John reminds us: 

"See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us -- even eternal life." 1 John 2:24-25

Though the world wants us to follow the easy route & follow those around us, God, who is bigger than everyone, and who offers us the best possible gift, eternal life, has a better plan for us. It's not hidden, it doesn't need to be decoded, it just needs to be read!

It's a great challenge & reminder to make sure that what we have heard as Christians remains in us. That means being not only people who come along to youth group, or church, but people who hear the message there & then try & apply it to our lives!

A worthwhile challenge...