CHURCH The Adventure of a Lifetime.

It is true that you do not need to be a memeber of a church in order to believe in God. But church is so much more than just about believing in God. Church is about growing in your relationship with Christ. Church is a place where lives are transformed; a safe place to examine you life, to work on making necessary changes and, to take those first steps out of your comfort zone. "[Churches] exist to see people transformed from a state of brokeness and selfishness to a state of wholeness and usefulness sometimes called Christlikeness."-Gordon MacDonald. When I take the time to look back on my life and I do a serious inventory I am amazed. That is when I realize that I really am not stuck in the rut that I can allow myself to feel like I am in sometimes. Dodge Park Church (DPC) has been my safe place to transform my life and I am so grateful that God has placed me there. I am not good at remembering time frames but I believe it was about two years after I started attending DPC that God said it was time for me to really examine my life. I found some tremendous love and support during that process at DPC. It is not easy to step back and see that person you really are, but a necessary step in order to grow in your relationship with Christ. Then comes the process of change; turning from sin and developing a personality that is more like Christ's. This requires alot of work and determination. Within the church, fellow Christians understand and encourage one another. When you start to feel like change is just more work that you can handle, or when your old ways start to look easier and more comfortable; your sister or brother in Christ is there to give you a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, a an encouraging hug and a loving kick in the butt to get you moving in the right direction again. Then there is the prayer support that comes in abundance. Church is a family; DPC is my family. Yes, just like in a family there are disagreements, hardships and sorrows but we forgive each other, stand by each other, love each other and never give up. Stepping out of your comfort zone; that is a heart-pounding-so-hard-that-you-feel-like-your-heart-will-pop-right-out-of-chest process. Church is a place to find opportunities to experience that heart-pounding feeling. In DPC I found opportunities to do things I never imagined I would have the courage to do. The best part is, I was able to try things like teaching, leading and reaching out to the community even though I had no experience. I was given the grace to make mistakes and learn from them. All I needed was a passion; even just an interest really, to try a new job for Christ, to see if it fit for me. Yeah, I use to think I didn't need church. Now I can not imaging trying to live life without DPC. People need church, and you can't just be an off-and-on visitor of a church. No, you need to be a full time, whole-hearted member of a church in order to experience the adventure of a lifetime. I am so thankful to be an active part of the process DPC is going through in order to discover our Kingdom Potential so that we can grow as a church. I want everyone to experience the adventure of church and a life filled with Christ. And let me tell you, an adventure it truly is. It is an amazing thing to experience God's hand at work in your life! God gives you purpose. He makes life interesting. With God the adventure never ends. There is always something new to learn and you never stop growing and experiencing life when God is a part of it. Thank you God for your faithfulness, your patience and grace. Thank you God for your uncondtional love and for your forgiveness. Thank you God for the gift of Jesus so that I could journey through life with you by my side. Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice! With all my love in Jesus' name Amen.