OK, I'm a Christian, NOW WHAT?

Becky walks slowly home from church on this warm Sunday afternoon. She had turned down the ride home from the nice couple from church… As she walks, her thoughts move to a different subject, Church. She has been a Christian for two months... She was told she is a sinner and that she needs to repent, so she did but she is unsure just what sin is.

The first church tells her, "Sin is anything your conscience says it is and that can be different for each person." That may be partly true, but Becky can't quite buy that that is all there is to it…

The next church just seems to repeat the same thing every week, "Repent and give your life to Jesus". Becky thinks, "Ok, I did that, now what?"… This church isn't working out either.

Then there is that church that she has to "interview" with first, before she can even go to their church to see if she is "good enough" for them…. She says "No thank you" to this one too….

This last church seems ok, but she still isn't getting any answers. It's all like cotton candy. Very sweet, but just a bunch of fluff and air and not a lot of scriptures to back up what is said. She shakes her head then prays this prayer, "Dear God, please help me find the right church for me. In Jesus' name. Amen."

-2-

She walks on and sees a man about her age trying to pull up a bush in the front yard of a house. He is nice looking, Becky thinks, not that she is looking for a boyfriend. He is probably married. All the good ones are, but she is drawn to help him anyway. So she goes over and helps pull the bush out….

He says, "Thank you, my name is Tom. I am the Pastor of this church."

Becky smiles and says, "Hi, Pastor Tom, my name is Becky. Glad to meet you." They shake hands…. Becky says, I am confused. What kind of church is this? It looks like a regular house to me."

Tom smiles a smile that makes Becky's heart melt. She feels more at home than she has felt in a long time. She feels like she can ask this man anything, like he is a long lost friend.

"This is what is called a home church." Tom says…. Becky looks at him bewildered. Tom continues, "You look like you have a lot of questions that I would love to answer, but right now I have to get these dead bushes out of here. I have a regular job I go to Monday thru Friday. I'm a male nurse over at the Doctors Clinic, and three nights a week I volunteer at the free clinic downtown…. Just then his stomach growls loudly. "I think my stomach is trying to tell me something, like I'm hungry. Shall we get some lunch?"… (While eating Tom asks,) "So what's your question?"…

"I just want to know, 'What is sin?' I became a Christian a couple of months ago and have been going from church to church trying to find out that simple question. I know the Bible says 'All have sinned and come short of the glory of God' and that 'no man can come to God except through Jesus, and that we are to repent and sin no more'. I've done the first part of that, but how can I not sin, if I don't know what sin is?"

"That's a good question," Tom says,……