The one about church

There is a lot of stuff I love. Stuff that just makes me smile and things I do to make myself  happy. I love coffee, especially when I open the cabinet and my favorite mug is clean. Perfect. I love reading Harry Potter...well, any book really, when its storming outside. I love watching Doctor Who. I can't look at the ocean without laughing a little because it just makes me so happy. My heart leaps when I see the first lighting bug of the summer. I love bright colors and laughter. I could go on and on about things I love.

I also really REALLY love my church, Baptist Fellowship of Angier. BFA is more than something that just makes me happy, its good for my soul! There is nothing special about the actual church (the building), what's special is the people and the openness they have to seek God. BFA is a small church in the middle of Angier, which is kinda a poor neighborhood and  meets at 5:00 on Sunday night because the church is actually a Hispanic church that we borrow. Hope/need based, missions base, community based, maybe even Emergent all describe BFA. Its different from any other church I've been in.

I grew up in a good church, but it wasn't anything like BFA. The acceptance and STRONG community wasn't there, at least not for me. (please don't think I'm bashing the church I grew up in, I love them dearly. They are just very stereotypical southern baptist, traditional church.) I worked at a church in Hawaii, and got my first taste of what church is all about. When I came back from my 6 months in Hawaii, I was craving community. Then God put BFA in my life and I was blown away.

We do free after school tutoring, have events, meals, and other mission things.70% of our budget is spent on missions; sending people on missions, serving the people in our community, tutoring supplies, and support mission organizations like WMU. All of those things are awesome, but its not why I LOVE BFA. I love BFA because it goes back to the core of what church is all about; the body, fellowship, and love.

Body
We have a WIDE range of diversity in our body. BFA is made up of  students, kids, and families from all different races, backgrounds, cultures, finical standings, and even languages. The passage in 1 Corinthians 12 talks about the importance of every member. I have always felt a hierarchy in churches. But BFA embraces the differences of each member. Our goal is to serve the community and spread the love of God. One person can't do it. We all need each other and BFA embodies that in such a beautiful way.

Fellowship
Fellowship is a pretty big deal to BFA. When I say big deal, I mean like water is a big deal to a swimmer kidna thing. We need it, its who we are! We fellowship in all kinds of ways; through serving together, encouraging one another, game night, theological discussion, and response worship. Oh...we also eat together too....like every week! (We are baptist, what did you expect?)

Love
Love oozes out of BFA. You couldn't feel unloved there if you tried (and believe me, some people that  are running from God have tried.)  I experienced people investing in my life, spiritually, physically (they feed me..often), and emotionally. I (along with ANYONE that walked through the door) was welcomed and accepted. God's love shines so bright through the people of BFA, you need sunglasses to walk in the door. And we don't just love each other most of the time, we love each other during business meetings too! (Yes, I promise we are baptist! But we don't let politics or committees get in the way of love. There is a thing called common ground. Okay, that was the last shot at SBC...promise.)

God has used BFA repeated to heal my broken heart, deepen my theology, and give me a church to call home. If you have read my previous post, you know I am struggling with what comes next in my life. Tonight at BFA I was happier than I've been in days! God didn't take away my fears or beam a year-plan into my head (that would be LEGIT). He reminded my that He provided me with an epic church at the time I needed it most. He is going to continue to provide.