I grew up Baptist. To me, being a Baptist means that we focus on the resurrection and not the crucifixion. We believe that when Jesus said, "it is finished" as He died on the cross, that He wasn't kidding around - that there is no work left for us to do - it is only faith. Saved by grace. If Jesus' death was NOT enough to save us in and of itself, then why did He die?? It isn't grace and behave yourself or God takes the grace away - its a pass/fail class. Believe, go to Heaven. Have faith, sins erased. God bought us flowers in the form of His Son. God bought those flowers FOR US. They are a gift. He already paid for them...and they were very expensive. We cannot pay for them. It would be insulting if we tried, because they were a gift. God is extending the flowers of salvation out to us, and they are intended for us, so all that has to be done is to accept the flowers for what they are, and say "thank you". (aka Jesus = flowers, taking them and saying thank you = believing Jesus is who he said he is and did what he said he did.) I do not believe there are conditions under which we can lose our salvation, and the gift wasn't given to us pending our behavior. Want my biblical backing? Let me know. ANYWAY so when I go to church, I want to talk about how sweet of a deal this is. I want to get into God's word and STUDY it. I want to learn more about it. So, too much mention of being a "good person" and I start to furrow my brow. Faith, people, Grace! Praise God! However I also like tradition. I'm not into things involving a drum set. Hymns. Yes. So all of that being said, I've been comfortable at (clearly) Baptist churches, Bible Churches, some Methodist churches, and now, the Presbyterian church.
There has been a lot of various pressure placed on me from other sources (people) about how to choose a church. It got old. So, here's how I know that I am in a worshipful spirit at the Presbyterian church: when I "pass the peace", I almost cry. I almost cry because it is SO AMAZING to remind each other, and to be reminded, that WE HAVE PEACE because of Jesus Christ. A-mazing. I realized that the Baptists have "greetings", which is really the same thing - except when we look each other in the eye and shake hands, we just say "hi" and not a reminder that "hey you can sleep at night! You can rest easy! You are saved! The Lord is good so be faithful! Jesus lives!" So, yeah, now I'm a peace-passing fan. I also don't hate the organized reading or written out prayer thing. I think it would be easy to become complacent when reading a prayer off of the program, but if you choose to keep an active mind, spirit, and heart, then thinking about the written prayer can open your eyes to something you mightn't have prayed for on your own. And what is so terrible about saying "thanks be to God" after hearing the Bible read aloud? Um...its kind of awesome, actually. Now I'm not a huge fan of ritual, in fact I really can't groove with the word itself, but what makes something a ritual? I mean, to me its gotta be about where your heart is. Is your heart in it when you say the Lord's prayer with everyone else? (BTW we do this in the Baptist church, too.) Are you speaking to God when you read the prayer out of the program? Are you listening for His voice when the church-dude (um, no, I'm not all exact with my terminology...and its not always the pastor, so, whatevs) reads something and you respond? I cannot wait for my boyfriend to come to this church with me - because I really feel that an environment like the church I've been attending here could be the way that God brings us closer together as a couple, and as a Christian couple.
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