Everyone is Welcome

Over the past couple of weeks the issue of acceptance has crossed my radar a couple of times.  One has been the very public Chick-fil-A controversy and the other one came through a private conversation with a friend of mine.  Somewhere at the heart of both issues is the idea of acceptance and tolerance in its truest sense.

As we begin Christ Church we are taking the position that everyone is welcome at our church ... and we mean everyone.  We desire and want to be a place where all people feel welcome and honored.  As a protestant church we hold to the values and teachings presented in the Bible.  But those values and teachings are not to condemn people (John 3:17) but to love and honor each other, encouraging them to live out Christ's priorities and become people of his character (Romans 12:1-2). 

We realize that people at times will feel uncomfortable, challenged, and confronted by God's word.  This doesn't mean they are not welcomed or loved.  It means that we are all people trying to be more like Christ in a world that works against us.  It means that in our disagreements we show grace; we honor each other; and we value a person more than their behavior (John 8:7).  

This is how we parent our children.  We love them, honor them, and value who they are ... but there are some things they do that are outside the character and priorities we are trying to invest in them.  At those times we don't banish them from the home; we don't tell them they are not welcome here; we don't stop loving them; we don't stop being with them; and we certainly don't go to their schools and hold signs in the hallways claiming how terrible they are as children.

We love them; we honor them; we value them and we stay close to them.  We teach, model, instruct, and guide them with love according to our values and priorities (Ephesians 4:15).

As a church we will welcome all people.  We won't change our position on our values - and quite honestly I don't think anyone would expect us to - but we will live with respect and love towards each other.  This is good news to all of us liars, thieves, gossips, over-eaters, excessive drinkers, short tempered parents, speeders, and the like.

We meet on Sundays at 10:00am at the Fairview Middle School on Avonia Road/Rt 98 in Fairview.  Everyone is welcome. 

Church Should Be Simple:  Love God and Love People

See you soon!
~Ben