A deeper walk with God

In my own pilgrimage with God, I have a deep desire to connect with Him outside of the confines of the established church. I have a long way to go.

My background, my history as a believer, lends itself to jumping over a huge hurdle of tying in my faith with my church.

And the two are both very, very important (not wanting to sound like a heretic there). Yet there is something deep within me that desires more in my relationship with God than what happens on Sunday morning.

And there must also be something more to my Christian experience with others than what happens on Sunday morning. That's why small groups (that meet in homes) are a creative and viable way of accomplishing this.

It gives a forum whereby relationships can be established without having to have an end result in mind. But we have relationships for relationship sake - as Christians.

There's an interesting story at Christianity Today about the American religious landscape. The 70 plus percent of Americans that call themselves Christians can be divided into 5 identifiable categories. Here's a quick summary. When you get a chance, read the article.

Active Christians 19%

● Believe salvation comes through Jesus Christ
● Committed churchgoers
● Bible readers
● Accept leadership positions
● Invest in personal faith development through the church
● Feel obligated to share faith; 79% do so.


Professing Christians 20%

● Believe salvation comes through Jesus Christ
● Focus on personal relationship with God and Jesus
● Similar beliefs to Active Christians, different actions
● Less involved in church, both attending and serving
● Less commitment to Bible reading or sharing faith


Liturgical Christians 16%

● Predominantly Catholic and Lutheran
● Regular churchgoers
● High level of spiritual activity
● Recognize authority of the church


Private Christians 24%

● Largest and youngest segment
● Believe in God and doing good things
● Own a Bible, but don't read it
● Spiritual interest, but not within church context
● Only about a third attend church at all
● Almost none are church leaders


Cultural Christians 21%

● Little outward religious behavior or attitudes
● God aware, but little personal involvement with God
● Do not view Jesus as essential to salvation
● Affirm many ways to God
● Favor universality theology

Which category do we "fit into" at Stone Church?

Just some thoughts