Jesus, totally awesome right?!

Gold Creek Community Church is what you would call my home. But the body of Chirst, "the church," is what I love. The church and I meet on sunday mornings, Sunday nights, Tuesday nights, Wednesday nights, Thursday worship practice and small groups, Saturday mornings and nights, and the not so occasional bible study and/or Jesus talk over coffee.

This body of people makes up a community that I am forever blessed to be a apart of. The center of every relationship that I make through this community and the center of the community itself, the heart, is Jesus Christ. The truth binds us heart and soul.

The truth:
-that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised again.
-that He loves us and longs for us to know and love Him.
-that He is at work in the world even in the darkest seasons.
-that He is love, and that the best way to live is to love like He did.
-that Love is best given unconditionally.

The denominations come and go but at the heart of the Church there are these truths, something so wide but undebateable. The people that have recieved, persue, give, know, and desire the Love through Jesus Christ make up the largest community in the world. The body of Christ. A community with a common goal, to be like Him.

There are churches being built, bible studies being started, worship groups being seasoned, missionaries being sent, and small groups being opened to hold our community together. But the biggest bond we have is that we are all the same. We all are unworthy of His gift, we all sin, we all "fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23) we are all selfish, and we are all striving to leave our old selves behind. To be the best version of Christ that we can and to tell as many people as we can about who we love the most.

The church needs only one interest. In 1 Corinthians 16:13 the bible says to "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. AND do everything in love." Love I find is the breaking point for every action that we take. If we love someone we will not wrong them, we won't speak harshly, and we won't whine at them about cleaning the nasty bathroom that makes us gag due to a weak stomache...

Of course the denominations that fall under "The Church" believe, need, and share different values but it all comes down to Jesus Christ. To be like Him. To love like Him.

The Church has definitely been poluted from day one. We all sin and we all pollute the perfect design, but even more so, we are becoming divided against ourselves. I'm convinced if people put baby babtising and speaking in tounges and the eating of meat aside and just realized that someone died for them, the church would be in harmony.

Romans 10:9 "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

That's all it comes down to. That is the goal. To love God and to love others. To show and share with others the love that changed our life.

I am unworthy. I am a liar. I am jealous. I am a murderer. I judge. I cheat. But I strive for perfection. I go against all these selfish desires and persue the love that I was given and persue people with the same. That is why I belong with this community.

When you feel the presence of God in your life, you can't ignore it. When you experience the love He has for you, there is no turning back. You look at the brokeness in the world, and you say, "this wasn't the way it was supposed to be." You look for something that was promised, a covenant, you search for Heaven. And you bring it back to the broken.

I want this community because the friendships I have gained come not from selfish desires but from a common goal. A goal of putting people first, leaving your selfishness behind.

I want this community because when I'm leading worship, and the music becomes silent, and all you can hear are the voices of people just crying out to God, I get a huge smile on my face. Cause I know that God feels loved and I get to share in His joy.

I want this community because this community, despite what the news reads at the end of the night, and despite all the selfish tendencies, and despite what the world would have people believe, we love. And we love knowing that even if we die, we are going somewhere perfect. The design intended and unpolluted.

We believe church is a community. And we believe He loves you.

Yes.

You.