Possibly more than you wanted to know …

What does Christ mean to me?  How did His power and presence change my life?  In a couple of weeks, I plan to share this in morning worship.  In detail.  But here are the highlights:

I grew up in church and knew nothing else all my life.  But the problem was I knew CHURCH, but not Christ.  I followed my younger sister down the aisle at a very young age and had no idea what I was doing or what it really meant.

Fast forward through the years … I became a teenager and young adult that KNEW HOW TO PLAY THE CHURCH GAME.  I was there, merely to please my family.  I could sing the songs and I could talk the talk.  But my heart was never in it.  You might say I was going hard and fast down that path of fully relying on myself in life, the path of the Christian Atheist (as Craig Groeschel so eloquently put it.  Groeschel appropriately terms a Christian Atheist as one who claims to know Christ, but lives as if He does not exist).

At the end of this path, there is no peace.  No fulfillment.  No meaning.  I realized my need for Christ in a unique place:  Counseling a couple of youth at a youth camp.  I was reading these words off a counseling guide and realized they meant nothing to me in my heart.  (Ironically, BOTH of those young men are now youth ministers in Greenville).

One of the most shocking things I’ve ever done in a church was walk that aisle, take my pastor by the hand, and tell him I realized my need for Christ.  It was hard for me and I could tell it was shocking for others who knew that I knew all the words and could play the game.

How has Christ changed my life??  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God walks with me every step of the way.  I find fulfillment when I live in the middle of His will and do things His way.  My life makes a difference, not because of me, but because of HIM!!  And I know, one day, I will go to be with Him in Heaven!!  I know God loves me, and I love Him and just want to serve Him!!  I am not perfect.  I make mistakes.  And He loves me anyway with all of His heart!!

And life is now more than just a pointless game!!!!

That is the short version … If you want to hear more, be there at EBC in three Sundays!!!