A Curious Girl: Church One, CU nil

Hey there. Went to Church this morning *pauses as readers recover from the shock ;)*, Matthew and I were going to go to another church but our plans didn't work out, so we walked to another church which I'd had recommended to me. Anyway, we arrived late (due somewhat to me not knowing the way and being mildly confused by poor drowsy Keith who I called for directions) but that was OK. Both Matthew and I could handle the style of worship which was nice (he's a Methodist and likes hymns!), it was a little congregation in a community hall and the sermon was on work, specifically being Christians in the workplace. They struck me as a nice, sensible and generally friendly church, plus there was a student Sunday Lunch after! (But alas, no Yorkshire Puddings...) I may look at some other churches but I think I'd be very happy to settle in there, it seems very nice indeed.

Christian Union yesterday was... interesting. The speaker was excellent, who told us right from the start that he thinks we should spend less time praying for revival and more time doing what Jesus tells us to do, serving people etc. Matthew hissed 'yes' and knocked the bench in front of him, and the speaker smiled and said, 'You agree? I'm glad you're here.'

It was 'giving night' - the CU were asking for money which mostly funds speakers, publicity, and socials (only a tinsy bit, about 4%, goes to charity) and this led to us debating (quietly from one of the back rows!) whether that's a worthy cause. I mean, as members it's unfair to sponge off their resources but portraying the money we would give as a great Godly cause seemed melodramatic. Especially as if CU were democratic (which it isn't, selection for committee is prayer based, and I confess I'm rather dubious about that) they could get a grant from the Student Union. Today over lunch Matthew was talking to one of the committee about why he thinks they should change the system. (Incidentally, I'm not against giving, the Alpha course for instance could be a worthy cause, but I'm not sure they're spending the money wisely, getting speakers in all the time, for instance.)

After CU last night, Matthew spoke to the treasurer about things in the CU he was unhappy about and was basically told to like it or leave. Grrr. It seems to be a very closed system, no space for input from anyone other than the committee. Ick. So I was very much cheered to find a sensible church this morning :)

I met Matthew's parents yesterday. They're nice.

Ooh, and we've prayed together a couple of times, which I like :)

Hmm, the trouble with having not much time to write diary entries is that I can't write as many long introspective entries on things... poot. But anyways, I've been thinking a lot lately about evangelism (and reading He never said by Steve Chalke) and it's becoming very apparent to me that most Christians often miss the point entirely. When Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations, he didn't mean just grabbing random people and telling them that Jesus loves them, come to God and be saved. He meant us to show an example, behaving as he behaved - with genuine love and understanding - to value people as God's unique creations - to demonstrate God's goodness working through us. I think evangelism is very primarily about friendship. Of course, if it wasn't for my friendship with a certain Christian *winks at Christina* I might not even be a Christian, no matter how many sermons I heard. I would probably given up due to lack of support...

*big grin* I believe that God was definitely responsible for the fact that we were friends at all... Matthew's just pointed out to me that we all have invisible means of support... After all, as Steve Chalke would say, God helps those who can't help themselves.

Random word for today: Community

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