Questions are often asked about the Christian Faith to people who are part of the church. Some questions were recently asked at our Sunday Celebration and many were answered by visiting speaker, Michael Ramsden. Some of these questions were not covered in the time allowed and so please find below a brief answer to the questions raised. If you would like to meet up with someone in the church to discuss a question further, please contact us. For further reading, relevant books are available from Wesley Owen Bookshop in Southampton.

• I've read the Bible halfway through, and I feel I want to become a Christian. What is the first step?

  City Life Church runs a short course, called 'Exploring Christianity', which provides an informal opportunity for people to find out more about being a Christian. Please contact us for more information.

• When someone says they have given their life to Christ, how do you know they really mean it in the long-term and not just saying it for that moment?

  Jesus talks about this issue in the 'Parable of the Sower' (Luke Chapter 8). Some of the seed planted grew and produced fruit but other seed didn't. Jesus taught that some people will believe for a while but then in a time of testing will fall away. Jesus teaches that people can be drawn away from following through on their initial response to God by 'the cares of this world' (life's worries, riches and pleasures), by times of hardship or by the devil himself taking away the word from their hearts.

  It is important for new Christians to be encouraged and supported in their early days of faith so that they may become mature Christians. Jesus asked us to make disciples rather than converts.

• What follow-up methods do you use to ensure that a person's faith remains strong?

  City Life Church has a network of small groups, called cell groups. Within these groups, support is given to people who are new to the Christian Faith. The church has a course of foundational teaching to help people grow in the Christian Faith.

• If Jesus died for the whole world, why does the evangelical church present such a narrow definition of 'accepting Christ'?

  Our understanding of a Christian is based upon the words of Jesus. Jesus said, 'God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life'. Jesus also said he was 'I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die' (John 11:25). So, while God loves the whole world and Jesus died for each and every person alive, each person has to choose whether to believe in Jesus or not.

• If God is an all-loving God, why do you have to believe in him for eternal life?

  The Bible teaches that God is holy, loving and just. He made the world and made people to be in relationship with him. We were created good, but became sinful (selfish, proud, denying God) and because of this we deserve death. Our sin separates us from a holy God. God sent Jesus into the world as God in human form. Jesus died as our substitute and now offers his forgiveness as a gift. For our relationship to be restored we must believe in Jesus Christ, receive his gift of forgiveness and ask for God's leadership in our lives. Jesus promised that those in believe in him would have eternal life.

• Why keep praying again and again? Surely if God is ominpotent he will know what was right and do accordingly? Why is one prayer different to fifty?

  Prayer is talking to God. Prayers can be thanking God for something, telling him how fantastic He is or asking Him to provide or change something. The question is about the last group - asking God for something. God wants us to have a living relationship with Him. He wants us to choose to depend on Him, He is our Father. Jesus talked about a father wanting to give his child good things, God wants to do that for us. He doesn't look for long clever prayers, but He sometimes seems to want us to be persistent in praying about something. To keep asking. Why? One response to this question is because God wants us to grow, to mature, in our relationship with Him. Asking once, getting immediately (or being told NO immediately) results in a very shalllow prayer life.

  We invest little and we appreciate little. Asking persistently can mean we take the matter more seriously and appreciate more deeply.I dont think this is the whole answer and I'm not sure we can fully understand this, but it is an important aspect of why every prayer is not instantly answered.