What are they talking about?
Pastor Lepak had to ask that question a lot when he first became involved with a church. He wasn’t raised in a church-going family, so he didn’t necessarily know the words that Christians sometimes throw around. But somehow God had made it clear to him through the Bible that he needed to know more about this most important of subjects. So he learned the lingo, but he always remembered what it was like to not know those words.
Nowadays not many people grow up in homes that are actively involved with a church, so a lot of people don’t know the words that Christians sometimes use words like sin, justification, righteousness and grace. At Hope we try not to use those words without offering explanations for what we mean. Asking about a word or concept is encouraged.
Learning Christianity is not like learning a subject in school. And faith is not just the understanding of certain facts and concepts. We talk about the matters of life that really count, but for which there are no earthly answers. We talk about good and evil, life and death, real love, suffering and joy, peace and struggle, children and parents, selfishness and selflessness and so on. God has answers for our questions, but not earthly answers. His answers always involve His solution to the real problems, which sometimes He alone can see – problems like sin and death. God addressed our problems by becoming one of us and living through our temptations and suffering along with us and by giving Himself up to death on the cross to pay for our sins and coming alive again on the third day to overcome death. Sometimes it takes time for us to understand those answers or to even know which questions are important. Thank God He’s so patient with us!
We encourage people to read God’s Word, the Bible, and we encourage everyone to compare what we are saying and teaching to what it says and teaches. If we’re off – if what we are saying differs from what the Bible says, we want to know about it, so that we can change our tune. We want to continue confessing the truth. This is a constant part of our church life, and it is so helpful. God has given us an unchanging message of forgiveness and love, and we want to always bring that message forth. No matter what a person’s circumstances in life are, that message is always there in good times and bad, whether depressed or happy.
One thing that you won’t find at our church is an approach to the Bible that jumps from one verse and chapter to another just so that a point can be made. We believe in reading every passage in context and presenting it that way. So if you’re looking for a quick answer to a complex question, you are probably not going to find it, especially at Hope. We can help to guide you into a more complete understanding of the Bible and through the principles that you find in it, you will be equipped to look for a carefully considered answer to your question.
That’s just one more reason we encourage everyone to come check us out. Stick with us for a little while to get to know the reason for the hope that we have and our approach to God’s Word and to life. We might not have a quick answer, but learning God’s Word thoroughly is well worth the effort.