Thursday, May 1, 2008

Statement of Faith -- What do You Believe

I'm hoping this blog post doesn't appear too boring to you. God has placed some thoughts in my mind over the past few months and this week these thoughts are becoming part of a larger burden I have had this week. I thought I would post them and hope you would respond. I really am just curious and I thought you might be able to enlighten me and cause me to think deeper or perhaps change my way of thinking if necessary. Consider this a survey of sorts. I have answered some of these before but with not very in depth answers. Answers that I'm not satisfied with anymore. My answers in red below are my answers today. PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE THE ANSWERS I AM NOT SATISFIED WITH PERSONALLY. I hope to change this very very soon. I would like to be able to answer some of these questions differently in the future and I believe it will require some major studying on my part.

1. Why are you in the church that you are? The pastor/church was recommended by a man at our home church in Ada when we moved to this area. We enjoy the young couples and our Sunday School class. The pastor and his wife welcomed us. We have been at EBC for nearly 6 years. I WANT MORE TO MY OWN ANSWER HERE.
2. What attracted you to the church you are in? The answer would be the same as #1.
3. Why are you in the denomination that you are? I believe the denomination most aligns to the scriptures. It is based on God and His son Jesus Christ and is not something created by man or started by man. However, I will say this...I MUST BECOME MORE FAMILIAR WITH THE SCRIPTURES AND HAVE A MORE CONCRETE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION.
4. Have you ever, on your own, studied your denomination's articles of faith / doctrines they adhere to? If so, which ones? No. I have not studied them much at all. The only one I have looked at specifically is open/closed communion.
5. Do you have your own statement of faith? Do you have a list of items you believe strongly in and scripture references to back up that belief? I do not have this. I could probably discuss some things but to be honest I would only be answering by the information I've been told over the years and not from my own understanding or study.
6. What subjects do you enjoy studying? I have stretched all the way from life application to in depth expository, verse by verse studying. I have enjoyed the bible studies "Conversation Peace" "He Speaks to Me" "Daniel" by Beth Moore. These are only a few.
7. What type of preaching/sermons/studies do you most enjoy? Life application or expository?
At this point in my life I like expository, verse by verse. However, earlier I was so very hungry and needed some life application. I needed some basic direction.

I hope I do get some responses. If you would rather just email, please feel free to do so. My email is on my profile page. I would really like to hear different thoughts and/or ideas. Thanks for letting me share this. Please pray for the larger burden I have. The items in this blog are just a portion of that burden. Thank you all and have a blessed day!!!

4 comments:

Heather said...

I don't think this is a boring post at all. I think it is so important to know what we believe and why. I will email you with my answers (so I don't make this the longest comment known to mankind). And, I will definitely pray for you!!!

Caroline said...

Girl you are not boring and this is so my cup of tea.....ok i am going to print this off and look over it at home tonight!!!!!! i am so excited for you searching for better answers. The seminary i go to has a class just on the history of our denomination and my friend amy loves it because it is tell her more about i we believe what we believe and stuff!!!! oh fun fun.......thanks for giving me this challenge!!!!

The Hickmans said...

These are definately some challenging questions! I think we all need to re-evaluate at times.

Thank you for your sweet comment on my W.O.W. post. You don't know how bad I just wanted to skip doing it yesterday- I just felt drained. But, God was so good to me- I had to be faithful to Him and give Him glory! It makes it even more worth it to know that it is a blessing to others as well. Love You!

Faith said...

These are questions that we all need to think about and challenge ourselves to answer. It is so important to know WHAT we believe and WHY, and not just to take our pastor's word for it, but dig in the Word for ourselves.
I'm going to take some time and think over these questions. Thank you for this challenge! Praying for you!