Questions About God and Faith

A Christian is one who believes in and follows Jesus. The first disciples of Jesus did not call themselves Christians. (See Acts 11:26). The early disciples called themselves followers of the Way, and that 'Way' was Jesus (See John 14:6). Yes, Christians do believe certain things. But faith is more than believing the right things. A Christian is one who seeks an ongoing relationship with the living Christ. It is being willing to put our trust in the Risen Lord.

Becoming a Christian means making both a private and a public commitment of faith. The private commitment can occur through the praying of a simple prayer such as the following:

Dear God, you promise that if I open myself to you, you will come into my life. Just now, as honestly as I know how I open my door to you. I ask you to come in and forgive all my sins for Jesus' sake. I give you permission to change me and make me the new person you want me to be. I ask you to fill me with your Spirit so I have the help I need to serve you faithfully. As you show me the way I will faithfully follow you. Thank you for hearing me and accepting me. Amen.

The public commitment occurs as the believer unites with a local group of believers (typically called the church), usually by means of baptism. Christians have used baptism from the very beginning as a public demonstration of such a commitment. (See Matthew 28:16-20; John 3:22; Acts 2:37-41; etc.). Becoming a Christian means making a lifetime commitment to grow and to walk with Jesus along with other believers.

From the very beginning, God created us to live with other people. (See Gen. 2:18) The New Testament knows nothing of solitary, individual believers. Look at the images used to describe the church in the New Testament ... the body of Christ, the family of God, the household of faith. We need other believers. We need their encouragement, their advice, their comfort and their counsel.

Is any church perfect? Of course not. All churches include very fallable human beings. Yet is in in the church that we grow to become the people that God intends us to be.

Since it's very beginning in 1708 women have played a significant role in the life of the church. Today in most Churches of the Brethren women serve in all leadership positions including that of pastor.

We have used the name Church of the Brethren since 1908 when the church realized that the name German Baptist Brethren was no longer an adequate description of who we were. The Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren recently studied a possible name change and decided that we would continue to use the current name. Regardless of what name we use, as followers of Jesus Christ we seek to encourage all members to fully use their gifts.

It is a Peace Pole. The peace pole is a visible reminder of Jesus, the one we follow as the Prince of Peace. We believe that because of his death on the cross barriers of race and clan have been abolished. (See Ephesians 2:14-20).

We are also aware that Lancaster County is no longer home to persons of only German and English descent. We have increasing numbers of Hispanics, Afro-Americans, Cambodians, Vietnamese, Russians and many others. Their names are in our telephone directories. They live among us as our neighbors, our friends and as fellow believers. As followers of Jesus, we pray that peace will prevail in our community.

Finally, for over thirty years, families in our church have hosted Allied Officers- soldiers from many nations who have come to the United States for officer training. These soldiers get a glimpse of real Americans because of their weekend visits to our community. We view the peace pole as one small way in which we can witness to our belief. It is an expression of our prayer, “Let peace prevail on earth, and let it begin with me.”