We build up disciples, found churches and further the Kingdom.
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I am new here
Where do you meet?
In the Bible, we see that God desires to use local churches to help Christians become strengthened in their faith and to help spread the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. Many people, when they hear the word “church,” immediately think of a building which many enter to perform rituals or listen to liturgy or a sermon. However, when the Bible teaches about “churches” it describes them as communities of people. Buildings are merely the places where these communities meet. It is our desire, with Mission Nov Zhivot, to start many churches throughout the region of Pleven, Bulgaria. It is likely that as some of these communities of believers grow in number, they will eventually have buildings in which they can regularly meet. However, as these communities are formed, they will most likely initially meet in homes or in other spaces in the neighborhood.
What do your gatherings look like?
The Bible says that our worship should be done with spirit and truth and is a manifestation of our belief and not following empty rituals. That’s why most probably you won’t see opulent decoration, icons and priests wearing black robes. You won’t hear sermons and prayers in archaic language either. What will you see then?
We sing songs in contemporary Bulgarian language to God to show Him that we love Him and worship Him. We pray with all our hearts for Bulgaria, our friends and each other to show that God’s love is alive in us. We read, study and preach God’s Word so that it would dwell in us richly (Colossians 3:16).
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What does it mean to be a Christian?
Some people think that to be a Christian means you go a couple of times to church a year to light up a candle or pray before exams. For others it means you can’t see movies, that you can’t dance, can’t have a drink, or that you can’t have any more fun. That isn’t true. Christianity isn’t about rules and regulations to follow. It is about a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Old Testament times God gave the Law which had to be followed precisely. There were instructions about clothes, food, what you could or could not do on the Sabbath, what you had to do in the temple, how priests were to carry out their functions, how strangers were to be treated, how people were to be punished, etc. All these things were to be observed properly and precisely since all of them affected their standing before God. That was in Old Testament times, but now we have Jesus and the requirements of the Law are no longer necessary for us in order to please God.
Being a Christian means that you are changed on the inside, not controlled from the outside. It means that your heart has been changed by the presence of God. It does not mean that you are required to go to church, required to pay tithes, required to be good, required to do anything in order to stay a Christian. It means you desire to do those things because you’ve been changed.
Regeneration
Regeneration means that there has been an actual change in a person. When someone becomes a Christian by trusting in the sacrifice of Christ alone for the forgiveness of his sins, then the Holy Spirit has come and lives in that person. Because the person has been changed from the inside, he does not desire to do those things that are contrary to God. Therefore, he will naturally desire to go to church. He will desire to be good, to be honest, etc. He does not go to church, or be good, or be honest, in order to be a Christian. He does those things because he already is one. It means that those things he desires to do change. He wants to change and wants to please God — from the inside.
So, being a Christian means that you have encountered the true and living God and that you have undergone a change in your heart and soul. It means that you are not restricted to the Laws of right and wrong in order to please God because you cannot please God by what you do. God will only find pleasure in you through Jesus Christ.
To be a Christian means…
- To ask for forgiveness
- Let Christ reign over your life
- Develop relationships in the community (by going to church and participating in the life of the Body)
- To tell about Jesus to others
