Our mission at New Life is to “create safe places where people discover God.” So, for me to say that we are a place to belong makes sense. If you visit New Life and aren’t a Christ follower we want you to discover God – God wants you to discover God. We also want you to discover God every day through prayer, study and Bible meditation. In fact, we can find God everywhere we look once we have that first experience of what God has done to be with us. However, many people that visit New Life are on a journey to discover God for the first time. This is why we make a concerted effort to be creative and fun. It is also why we play music that you'll find on a non-Christian radio station. I use “non-Christian” because I think some over use “secular” as a description of the music we play. Perhaps I am being a little defensive in this regard but there is a lot of music that glorifies God that isn’t “Christian.” This past Sunday we played an Eric Clapton song, “If I could change the world.” Before time was created God chose people to be his instruments in changing the world. People like you and me.
This past Sunday someone told me that the music we play isn’t Christian music. It would be real easy to disregard this statement as lacking merit but I decided to hear them out. I’m not sure how much success I had in helping this person realize that New Life is a place first to belong, and then to find God. There are many examples of people who came to New Life because they needed the music or the laughter – the escape from the world on Sunday morning. Some needed friends or needed to serve others. In the process they discover God. Many turn their lives over to God and some go into full-time ministry. Many realize that they were created to change the world in God’s name. My hope is that Christ followers would be the kind of people that are really impacted by God to make a difference in helping people find a place to belong. It is in this safety of belonging that people can truly discover God.
Creed Branson, Executive Guy
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