First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ
Faith...
At the beginning of all spiritual life is a choice that each of us makes. Either we will see ourselves as connected with and embraced by a God who is the source of life, a God who brings light in the shadow, a God who loves us--or we will see ourselves as self-made and autonomous; we will stake our own claim in the world, make our own way, defend our own interests as we can best determine them.
To become a Christian is to make the first choice--to see all life as being connected with God and to see our own lives as being rooted in Love, first and foremost. Christian life has everything to do with seeing the world thorough this lens--to look at the world with an understanding that there is a divine energy, a Love at work in the world.
When Jesus was born, angels proclaimed, "Glory to God....and on earth, peace!" Christians see this declaration, not as wishful thinking, but as the inauguration of a revelation of God's love, as an invitation to see and live from a new center of identity. With this proclamation, we are invited to see the earth as a place where God's peace wants to make a home, where God's glory sings from the earth and the heavens.
Jesus didn't urge his followers to worship him. He called them, insistently, to follow him--to live, to trust and abide in the transforming power of God's love. He invited disciples--then and now--to find the center of their lives where he found his own, in the unconditional love of God.
Experiencing the power of God's love changes us. It changes the way we see ourselves, each other and the world. We stop defending ourselves and trust that God will sustain us in life. We stop living from fear.
Faith has little to do with understanding particular doctrines. It has everything to do with choosing not to indulge fear and to choose, instead, to trust in the power of love.
Faith :: Christianity :: Getting Started