True Community

I believe in true community, fellowship, and love.

    I accepted Christ at a young age and have been a Christian for the majority of my short life. It wasn’t until I met the people that I now call my best friends that I really knew what it meant to be a follower of Jesus.

    I started going out to a new youth group thanks to an invite from one of my art class buddies. I had been searching for a new youth group that had the passion and fire that I desired. I began to go regularly and also attending Saturday night Bible studies. I began making new friends in this youth group and was sacrificing my weekends of “fun” to be in this fellowship and in the Word together. I craved this unity and true community the more I experienced it. I had never known people like this before. They were real, compassionate, honest, and loving. I wanted to be more like them and to have the same kind of passion for Jesus that they did. These people soon became my steady group of friends and my non Christian friends started to drift away. My new found  friendships and love for Jesus caused a lot of conflict between us, mostly because we just could not understand each other’s perspectives and beliefs, but because of the support and encouragement from my fellow believers I was able to make it through that difficult time and stay strong in my faith and not back down.
   
   I started attending church where my new friends were going and that only blossomed the friendships more and brought new ones along with a new church family. Everyone was so accepting and willing to be my friend and welcomed me to their church with open arms. I had felt as if I had gone there my whole life. Every time I am with these people I feel as if I am in the presence of God. I am able to be vulnerable and open with them knowing that they will not judge me, but will listen to me and pray with me. I have found that the deepest and best friendships are the ones between fellow believers. The bond of Christ is the strongest bond there is and I believe it can never be broken. Even though I have been away at college for two years I still feel as close to them as when I saw them every day and I believe I will remain close to them through out the rest of my life. I truly have found my kindred spirit’s.