What Sets Us Apart



We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

We all face challenges in life. Each of us has worries and trials. Family matters, jobs, friends, finances, and church responsibilities take up all our time and energy. What makes us different from non-believers?

Some of the differences between Christians and others would be, of course, our beliefs and what we don’t believe.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

We believe, although we may not be successful at it, that we should not be anxious because we know that God is meeting our needs. By our prayers we communicate with Him and have assurance that He loves us and is active in our lives.

We do not believe that He leaves us alone to work out our challenges without Him or that He is a God who does not care and is not involved in our lives.
We do not believe that there is no God or no creator.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

Within the loving arms of Jesus, we have joy in our trials and challenges, and believe that He will make our faith strong so that we can stand firm when difficult times come. We believe that the world should know how great our God is and how confident we are in His care.

We meet the same trials as others in this world. We suffer loss, we ride the emotional roller-coaster of relationships, we have sickness, we lose our jobs, and we are afraid. Though we experience all of this and other emotions, we don’t let them overtake us. We believe that our future is safe and that each time we move through a trial, we will grow stronger in our relationship with the Father.

We do not believe everything is random, that we evolved from monkeys or anything else, or that there are many paths to salvation.

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

We believe the word of God and we follow His teaching. We feel His strength when times get tough. We bear one another’s burdens and pray for each other. We draw strength from the body of Christ.
We know we can do what God wants us to do and we strive to do it. Through His strength we know we will get through even the worse of trials. He will never let us down.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

We believe that our sins are forgiven. We know that Christ died in our place and rose from the dead. We know that when we die, we will spend eternity with Him and we share this knowledge with those who have not accepted Him into their hearts and lives.

We all have challenges in life, but it is how we react to them that makes us different. We have a helper in the Holy Spirit. We have a Father who gives us good gifts and protects us. We have a brother who saves us. We have the love of our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. We have eternal life with God.


What sets us apart is God. 


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