Why I Believe in Northside Church of Christ

For some reason, I grew up a half-empty kind of guy. I have struggled with that a lot over the years-nothing was ever good enough. I see the problems quicker than I see the blessings. I worry over what is not going right a lot more than I rejoice over what is going right. Therefore, in light of the holiday season and in appreciation of a God who keeps working on me to become a half-full kind of guy, I will share with you the reasons I believe in this congregation.

I believe in Northside Church of Christ because:

1. … we have a variety of ages. We're not predominantly old and over-experienced. We're not predominantly young and inexperienced. We're chronologically balanced as far as churches go.
2. …we are pretty accepting of people and where they are spiritually. We have expectations of each other, but most of those expectations are about living a Christian life.
3. …we teach and preach the truth about baptism and understand the importance of a weekly observance of the Lord's Supper. I also believe in years to come, more and more community churches will sing a cappella at least part of the time.
4. …we're not afraid to look at things differently. Many churches would have fired me for even questioning why and what we do. Northside gives me the chance to pursue truth and understanding.
5. …we're a pretty forgiving bunch. You can really do and be wrong around here, yet you will be readily accepted when you want to come back.
6. …we generally don't go around saying, "But we've never done it that way before."
7. …we want to be a good church. Not every church does.
8. …we are an extremely generous church. We do a great job giving to special contributions to meet medical and church needs.
9. …so many of us strive to read the Bible every day.
10. …we're willing to get the things we need to do a job right. We understand that the right tools are just as important as the right knowledge.
11. …we have many people who work to make this a better church. They give their free time to help tear out and build, take down and put up, etc.
12. …we want to know each other better and do so by participating in C.A.R.E. groups, Dinner for Eight, the church softball team, etc.

If each of you took a little time, I am sure you could add to this list. These are the first things that came to my mind. Somehow, though, we have to believe in Northside Church of Christ because that means we believe in each other. Listing the reasons we do believe helps us remember why we're here. It also helps us see what God might be doing in our lives by putting us with this group of people at this point in our lives.
~Shawn