I once asked my mom why people die, why there are bad things in the world if god is so good and all powerful, does he really exist? Her response was that we just couldn’t really understand why god does anything because we can’t comprehend gods “master plan.” And that his existence is based on what you believe in. I’m sure that my mom was right in some ways, but that response wasn’t very satisfying. I saw an inconsistency in my understanding of reality, and I wanted to get it all straight to be able to understand more about god, for the questions that I had to be answered. January 27, 2013 it was a cold, snowy Sunday morning in Peoria, Illinois. My mom and I attended St. Paul Baptist church for the first time. We didn’t know much about the church, except they believe in god, and he’s the father the son and the Holy Spirit. Other information came from my mom’s friends. Saying it was a tremendous place to become a member and everyone was welcoming, instantly I became excited to perceive and experience more about the knowledge of Christ. The church was located on the corner of Forrest hill and Knoxville, in a humungous brown building.
Services begin at 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. every Sunday morning. When we arrived we were greeted at the door and given a handout, which consisted of their purpose/ mission staff and beliefs. The purpose at St Paul Baptist church is to “catch and cultivate the lost so that they will have a personal relationship with HIM, which will cause them to celebrate him, commune with the saints and work with us to fulfill the great commission.” The staff consisted of people and their core beliefs are the principles, symbols and faith stories to which they spontaneously and habitually return to for strength in times of confusion or stress. These profound beliefs that is precious to every member that no external pressure will force anyone to compromise them. These principles included( God is in control-Romans 8:28, God forgives sins because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ- Colossians 1:14, God loves all people and desires for all people to be in relationship with him- 2 Corinthians 5:18-120; 2 Peter 3:9, Jesus is lord- Romans 14:9, Jesus is our example of a life that pleases the father- Ephesians 4:20-24; I Peter 2 :21-22, The holy spirit empowers us to live in the obedience to God –Galatians 5:21-25,The bible is God’s word and is the final authority for all life-2 timothy 3:16, God hears and answers prayer- I john 5:14-15, we are children of God-Romans 8:16-17.) As we sat in the sanctuary we were amazed by the size, it looked as if it were a mini civic center, it was a stage , and lights were everywhere the colors were red and black .I’m not sure how many people were their but it had to be over two hundred. Meaningful symbols were all around the wall, such as crosses, Jesus on the cross, Angels, and scripture pictures. While examining all the objects around the building the service finally begun. It opened up with singing the choir sung spiritual songs of all sorts about “The Lord.” The pastor then came out and stood in front and began with a prayer after the singing was finished, he asked us to bow our heads. In the prayer he said( Dear heavenly father, as we gather here today help those who need to be helped , save those who need to be saved, protect and watch over the homeless, save the lives of the young people here today, Amen.)
Next he talked about the upcoming events and what was going to be taking place at the church. I never would have thought that churches would do as much such as ,have big dinners together to celebrate the last supper of Jesus Christ, plan parties , have things for the kids like bowling , sports, events such as camps , and taking trips out of town traveling as one. I thought that they just prayed and had church on Sundays but they also have Wednesday night services where they have prayer. The pastor then asked for anyone who was visiting to stand up to be greeted. Then