Those of you who know me and have seen my facebook page already know that I have been soooo excited lately and it is because my family and I have found SOS church. The question I keep getting is "Well, it's church. What makes you like it soooo much?" I'm gonna tell ya! :).
I grew up in a Lutheran Church in Arnold Missouri called Good Shepard Lutheran Church and I am very thankful for that church. My family had a lot in common with some of the other Lutheran families that we grew to know there. See, my dad was raised Catholic and my mom was Baptist and so they decided on the happy medium :). I liked vacation bible school and Sunday school and learning hymns and Christmas Eve candle light service and Easter sunrise service and what I learned in confirmation and all of those things. I am thankful that I was given a Christian foundation as a child. Sometimes my mom would take me to Life Christian Center and South side Assembly of God and then I would go with friends to Baptist churches and many other types as well. I have visited every type of Christian church there is and I am thankful for that. I have seen people bless themselves with holy water, speak in tongues, dance down the aisles, walk forward, be dunked in water, sprinkled with water, sing in reverence, shout with joy, fold their hands, raise their hands, you name it and I have experienced it. And I am not making fun one bit. These are all blessings and I am glad I was able to have those experiences at such a young age. It definitely shaped who I am today.
I grew up in a Lutheran Church in Arnold Missouri called Good Shepard Lutheran Church and I am very thankful for that church. My family had a lot in common with some of the other Lutheran families that we grew to know there. See, my dad was raised Catholic and my mom was Baptist and so they decided on the happy medium :). I liked vacation bible school and Sunday school and learning hymns and Christmas Eve candle light service and Easter sunrise service and what I learned in confirmation and all of those things. I am thankful that I was given a Christian foundation as a child. Sometimes my mom would take me to Life Christian Center and South side Assembly of God and then I would go with friends to Baptist churches and many other types as well. I have visited every type of Christian church there is and I am thankful for that. I have seen people bless themselves with holy water, speak in tongues, dance down the aisles, walk forward, be dunked in water, sprinkled with water, sing in reverence, shout with joy, fold their hands, raise their hands, you name it and I have experienced it. And I am not making fun one bit. These are all blessings and I am glad I was able to have those experiences at such a young age. It definitely shaped who I am today.
I made my own decision to become a Christian when I was 12 years old. I was laying in my bed around 9 o'clock and there wasn't anything that great on for a 12 year old but I had to go to sleep with the TV on or I could not go to sleep. So, I watched Billy Graham that night and I really listened to his sermon and the most awesome feeling came over me in my bedroom that night and I knew that I didn't want to only learn about Jesus any longer but I wanted Him to be a part of my daily life. So laying right there in my bed, at 858 Morningside Lane, I asked Jesus into my heart and it has been the biggest defining moment in my life and the one that I am MOST thankful for. I knew I wanted Him but I didn't realize that night how much I was going to need Him throughout the rest of my life.
I say defining moment for so many reasons but the reason I want to share with you tonight is that I learned that evening that Christianity was not just Baptist or Catholic or Methodist or Lutheran, not just Pentecostal, or Presbyterian or Church of Christ etc. Christianity is what you believe in your heart. Christianity is the bible. The more I realized this the more I did not seem to perfectly fit into any particular church. However I have always kept going because I believe that I should. The bible tells us that we should. Can you be a Christian and not go to church? Certainly. But like Pastor Tom said in a recent podcast I listened to.... being a Christian and not going to church is like being married and never going home. You are not going to grow in your relationship and you are missing out on so many blessings. My issue was that I could never find a church that I could truly call my home. Mainly because of this...I am not a perfect person. And because I am not a perfect person I always felt that I was not being 100% myself at church. Now those of you who know me well, know that pretty much what you see is what you get with me and I stay pretty true to myself. However, I still felt as if I had to look a little prettier, act a little nicer, put on a smile even if I was feeling bad etc. I just felt like people have a church face and then their home face. I always wanted to go where you could have the same face. There is a difference between accountability and being judged.
Molly asked Jamie and I one night when she was eight years old... "We are called Baptist because we go to a Baptist church and my friends at school are Methodist and Catholic and Lutheran because they are little and that is where their parents take them. Which one is the right one? WHEEW! You talk about a question! I explained to her that dad an I are Christians that just happen to be going to a Baptist church right now. We explained to her that we believe what the bible says and that Jesus is our Savior. We told her that one day she would have to decide for herself if she wanted to invite God in to her heart to be part of her life an that only she could make that decision. Then we explained that only God can judge a person's heart and that there will be Catholics and Methodists and Lutherans etc in heaven because it is not your Christian religious rituals that save you but your relationship. Ever since that particular night we have had a yearning inside of us to find a church that showed not only us, but our daughter, that it is what's in your heart that matters....Period. AND THAT IS WHAT SOS (Spirit of St. Louis) CHURCH DOES!!!
Are you imperfect? Great!!! Then SOS is the church for you! Can you be a hypocrite sometimes? GREAT!!! Then SOS is the church for you! Because a church was NEVER meant to be for perfect people. (for one because there is no such thing!) Jesus came to this world to speak to the down and out. He came to show his love to drunks and prostitutes...the anxiety ridden, the sick, the angry, the masses. That is what our churches should be!!!. Instead I feel, and so do so many other people, that church is just for "good people" (but there is no such thing!)
Why is it that you look more Christian if you have on a three piece suit than you do if you have tattoos down your arms? Should you not be able to serve in church because you are not wearing the right shoes that day? (personal experience) If you are divorced are you looked down on in your church? Have you ever been given a letter from the church because you are not giving enough money? The people at SOS feel that you just need to come as you are and they have enough FAITH to know that God will reveal Himself to you in His own way and in His own time. It is not up to the people of the church or anyone to judge your heart. SOS motto is "NO PERFECT PEOPLE ALLOWED". Pastor Tom has said that he wants to be there for the whole you...not just the church you. He wants to be there for the people that Praise God on Sunday and have a bad day and cuss on Monday and have a hard time because they know that soon it will be Friday. Church is supposed to be like a hospital where we go to get HELP (SOS) and encouragement! It is NOT supposed to be a place to go where we pretend that we've got it all together while in the meantime we are depressed or addicted, sick or angry. Church is also not supposed to be a motivational convention but rather the teaching of the bible. We want to "DO LIFE TOGETHER." Real life...the life we all know....this life we are all living....this difficult, challenging life!!
I have always been one to express my beliefs but I have never been one to push my beliefs. You cannot push your beliefs on someone. People need to think for themselves and make their own decisions. I am sharing this because for one a lot of people have asked and two, I share everything I get excited about. I share what restaurants I love, stores I love, shoes and clothes and nail polishes that love :) So why wouldn't I share with you something I love that is LIFE CHANGING!!!? I am excited. I am excited that people I know and people that live in the St. Louis surrounding area now have a church that they can attend and not be afraid to walk through the doors. Wear your jeans, tshirts, and flip flops, bring your Monster drink, grab some coffee, show off that ink ;) Be yourself! And if you have never been shown how much God loves you for who you are....the very person you are right now...let us show you. It could change your life. It already has mine.
God Gives Us Hope When There Seems To Be None! ~ Lib
