My Church Background

I was asked a question in another blog. The blog is for my Sunday School class and I was just sharing my church background. I figured I would post it here so more people can read it.

I grew up attending church. My mom is Catholic but we went to a Covenant church. I just found this link to their website. As I saw it my dad was anti-catholic and was very persuasive about us not going to a Catholic church.

Church was just something we did on Sunday morning. I went to a very small church in a very small town. About half my schoolmates went to this church and we all went to Sunday school. When I was given the choice I avoided the sermon as much as possible. As my brothers grew up they didn't have to go to church but I still went until high school.

I was saved when I was fairly young and still remember this as a very important event but don't consider it a turning point in my faith. I remember wanting so much to learn more and remember doing better for a little bit but then just went back into my same routine and old habits.

High school was pretty much the same. I went to church occasionally but it never really mattered if i went or not. I remember learning the stories but it never hit home.

College didn't change me at all (for the better). I did, however, start dating a girl and through this relationship started attending church with her and her family. I then was invited by my sister to go to her church. It was a startup church that was renting the sanctuary from another church. The pastor was a friend of my brother-in-law's and I went only because my sister asked me to come. I enjoyed it! I really like the message and Pastor Mark seemed very down to earth and connected with me. This was all new to me. We alternated between her hometown (boring Methodist) church to my sister's (more fun) Baptist church.

I learned more and had times of being closer to God and then straying. I didn't have any friends that I felt really close to that were Christians though. I wanted to be part of this but didn't want to be weird. I was superficial.

That relationship ended and I spent a lot of time 'being free'. I wasn't too crazy but a friend and I did spend a lot of time at bars for a while. (We spent a small fortune playing darts!). I wasn't happy with myself and knew that I needed to change but wasn't strong enough to do it on my own. Poor me was all alone and I didn't want to go to church by myself.

Chris (my friend) and I got jobs at the same company and moved up here to Kansas City. The partying continued for a bit but I was ready to be done with it. After a few months I started looking for a church. I went around and tried out a few churches and always had to go by myself. I was the only one of my friends that would go. Chris' favorite quote is "I don't have to go to church to believe in God and be a Christian." I have had conversations about this with him a few times. That will be another entry.

After attending one church I decided to join a bible study. I went a couple times but it was a group of about ten older (old old) people and I felt very weird.

A buddy gave me the number of a friend who went to church in Olathe. I called him up and went to his church a few times. I was still going just for Church and then going home. I wasn't able to get more involved. But I felt more comfortable. Now Kristen was introduced into my life.

Wow. What a change this made. She took me to COR and I went to a big church for the second time in my life. The first time ended up being a very bad experience (also a topic for another entry) and I wasn't too excited to come. I absolutely loved it. It was enormous but beautiful and exciting to come to. The video screens and production didn't feel cheesy or overdone. I am a tech nerd and this was awesome to see...at church! We came back more and more and my faith continued to grow. Kristen's faith was so strong I had no choice but to believe. She was an answer to my prayers.

Since we have been at COR we became members, got baptized together and joined Couples In Christ. God has continually blessed us in all aspects of our lives and has provided so much for us. I can't wait to see how this story goes from here!