Eureka Christian Church

Reflecting Christ's Light from Our Doorsteps to the Ends of the Earth

Growing in Faith

by on

How Can I Be Better?

Question: How can I be better?

            One may look to Jesus to understand how to better ourselves. In Mark 12:29-31 Jesus says, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel (and all of humankind): the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Through the centuries, these words have been described as the Great Commandment. Jesus connected our love of God with our love for others.

Another relevant scripture would be what we know of as the Golden Rule. We find in Luke 6:31 Jesus tells us, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Interestingly, every major religion in the world expresses this same thought. Therefore, regardless of a person’s religious persuasion, it appears an important way to “be better” is to treat others as we would like to be treated.

by on

How Can I Get Closer to God?

How can I get closer to God?

Drawing close to God entails opening your heart to him (or her). Deuteronomy 4:29 tells us, “From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul.” God desires to be found by us primarily because he will never force himself upon us. He loves us too much to do that. We are not puppets, instead we are his beloved. In Psalm 42:1 we find, “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.” This means that within us there is a deep, deep longing to grow closer to God and he will answer that call. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, wrote in the 4th century, “You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

Finally, in terms of how one goes about drawing closer to God, you might look toward spiritual formation through the use of spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines are activities such as praying, reading the Bible, engaging in worship, solitude, silence, service, and communing with others who are seeking the same things, just to name a few. A resource you may want to use is A Spiritual Formation Workbook by James Bryan Smith and Lynda Graybeal. You may also want to ponder the question, “How is God trying to get closer to me?”

by on

What is the most fulfilling path I could take?

Question: What is the most fulfilling path I could take?

There are many verses in the Bible that give us a good roadmap for the path that any one of us might take. One of the best and most simple roadmaps is found in the book called, Micah. Here a prophet told the people of Israel and tells us, “…what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) In addition to passages from the Old Testament, Christians can look to the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus portrays how to live in and bring about the kingdom of God here on earth. The Sermon on the Mount is lengthy, but well worth a good reading and can be found in the book of Matthew, chapters 5-8. You might pick one portion of the Sermon on the Mount that particularly speaks to you and try to live into the instructions Jesus gives us.

by on

Is my motivation to go to church good enough?

Question: What if my motivation to go to church is corrupt (I want to go to heaven) but I also want to have a relationship with God and I’m trying?

            The humility of this question astonishes me. Thank you for your humble, honest confession and the expression of your desire to have a relationship with God. Perhaps “wanting to go to heaven” and “having a relationship with God” are one and the same thing? God honors all our efforts to have a relationship with him (or her) and spending time in worship with others at church is certainly significant in his eyes. Your hunger to know God and to have a relationship with him will not be denied.

When you go to church, and I am assuming you mean going to church on Sunday morning, here are some of the things you are doing 1) you raise your voice in praise to God by singing, 2) you hear and absorb God’s word being spoken in the scripture reading, 3) you see and love God’s people by speaking to them, 4) you pray to God both out loud and in the silence of your heart, and 5) you experience God in the person of Jesus Christ as you partake of communion. Wow! That’s a lot, so I believe you are creating a relationship with God every time you go to church. Heaven is probably the place where God dwells fully and experientially, therefore it is natural that you want to go to heaven. Going to church is one way of accessing heaven. If you would like to experience God more fully while still on this side of heaven, you might enjoy reading Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life by Marjorie J. Thomson.