Are you kicking the tires of faith?

A few years ago we bought a new car.  One Saturday morning in January, Britton and I decided over breakfast to go and test-drive a car I had seen in an advertisement earlier that morning.  We got in my red PT Cruiser, backed out of our driveway, and headed to the dealership.  Two hours later we pulled back into our driveway in a silver Chevy Equinox.  Sounds an awful lot like an impulse purchase, doesn’t it? It actually wasn’t.

For almost a year I had been hunting for a new car.  I scoured the web, reading reviews about countless makes and models. I  asked friends countless questions about their cars. I pored over every ad on the web and in the paper looking for the best price. AutoTrader and every dealer in Regina were bookmarked in my browser, and I bored Britton silly with conversations about which car would be best.  While I hadn’t visited a single dealership or looked at that car before, I had virtually kicked the tires of that car long before we left the house.  When we walked into that dealership on that Saturday morning the deal was already done, the salesperson just didn’t know it yet.

The process I went through in buying our car is similar to the process that many people follow when it comes to exploring faith.  Last week I identified four types of people who are part of Living Hope:  the Exploring, the Discovering, the Growing and the Surrendering.  This week I want to introduce you to the Exploring and the next steps an Explorer can take in exploring their faith.

If you are an Explorer you are someone who is kicking the tires of faith. You are exploring what faith is and asking questions like:

• What is the meaning of life?
• Who is God?
• Do we still need religion today?
• Do all roads lead to God?
• Is the Bible true?  Is the Bible relevant?
• Who is Jesus?

If you are exploring faith, you may be thinking about these questions or you may have some I haven’t listed.  I think it’s awesome that you are considering these questions.  Way to go!

A number of years ago a survey was done of over 100,000 people in over 1000 different churches in North America.  That survey found that for people like you, who are exploring faith, several key actions will help you find the answers you are searching for.  Based on the survey’s findings, here are some next steps you can take in your exploration of faith.

1.  Talk with a friend – Key to exploring faith is finding a friend who has already found the answers to the questions above, and talking with them about what they discovered when they were exploring faith.  When I was looking for a car, my discussions with friends helped me narrow down what I was looking for and get hands-on advice from people who owned the car.
2.  Take a Test Drive – By this I mean engaging in certain activities will help you learn about and experience the life of a follower of Jesus.  In the survey, one of the key actions that helped in understanding faith was engaging in weekend services at a church and attending a seminar or course that taught the basics of the Christian faith.  At Living Hope this fall we will be offering an 8-week course called ‘Starting Point’ that explores what faith is and what it means to follow Jesus.  Join us for an open and honest discussion about faith.  You can take in this course on Wednesdays at 6:45 pm, beginning September 12.
3. Read a book – There are two great books that can help you explore faith and the meaning of life:  The Problem of God and The Purpose Driven Life.   The Problem of God by Mark Clark was written by a skeptic who became a believer; it will lead you to explore some of the most difficult questions raised against Christianity.  The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren will help you discover what the meaning of life is and why you are here.  The best way to experience these books is to read and discuss them with a friend (or group of friends).  These two books will also introduce you to the Bible and help you begin exploring what it has to say. As your faith grows, reading your Bible regularly will be catalytic in helping your faith grow.

All of these activities should lead you to a point where you make a decision, to begin discovering how to have a relationship with Jesus, or walking away from faith entirely.  When I was buying my car there came a point when I reach the end of my exploring and I finally had to take the next step of actually buying the car.

Are you exploring your faith?  Are you ready to take that next step?

We’d love to help you discover your next step.  Drop me or one of the other pastors a note. We’d love to get to know you and help you move from exploring to discovering relationship with Jesus.

This weekend, Pastor Eric will be continuing our ‘Songs of Summer’ series and speaking on Psalm 145.  I hope you’ll join us as we discover how worship leads to greater intimacy with God.

See you Sunday,

Pastor Kirk

PS…next week we’ll talk about the Discoverers. If you’d like to read the last two weeks posts (parts 1 and 2 of this series) check out Where do you see yourself?(Part 2) and I wonder what might happen if…(Part 1)

Family Worship Experience
Join us this summer for a family worship experience.  We have redesigned our worship service for the summer months to be shorter and to be an active learning and worship experience.  Each week kids in kindergarten to grade six will be invited to participate in the sermon through experiential learning experiences.  There will also be activity boxes each week for kids who just want to stay in their seats.

Hope Kids (K-Gr 6) will resume after the summer break. Wonder Years preschool for ages 2-4 and First Steps nursery continues throughout the summer.

Coming Events