Why am I here? What is my purpose? Can I find real peace and hope for my life? To be human is to ask questions about the meaning of our lives. There is a restlessness in our hearts that causes us to wonder and calls us to search. Where does this yearning come from? Christians believe that it comes from God. We were created to be seekers, and only a relationship with God will really satisfy our deepest longings. The scriptures teach us to "ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you" (Luke 11:9). Community of Christ is founded on this promise. From our beginnings in the early 1800s through today, we have been a seeking people. And we have not been disappointed! Our testimony is that God really does welcome those who search.

At the heart of our community's life is our faith in Jesus Christ. For our community, Jesus is more than a great teacher or a prophet from the past. Jesus is God's Son and our Lord. Scripture calls him "Emmanuel," which means "God is with us" (Matthew 1:23). In Jesus' healing, teaching, and reaching out to the rejected and poor we see God's compassionate love for all those forgotten or suffering. In Jesus' death for human sins, his resurrection from the dead, and through his living presence among us, God is offering the world a new beginning and the way to true peace. We learn from Jesus' message that no matter how broken or lost we are, God loves us and wants to bless our lives.

When we commit ourselves to God through Jesus, we receive the challenging prospect of a new start and a new life: a life lived for the sake of others. Following Jesus gives us a different set of values. We no longer can treat those who are different as our enemies. We can no longer look on the suffering of others with indifference. Jesus' message and presence give us the power to bring God's love to a bruised world.

On Jesus' last night with his disciples, he told them, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth" (John 16:12). Today we hear the Spirit calling us to make peace in our families, neighborhoods, and in our world, to live justly, and to bring God's healing love to broken lives. We don't claim to have all the answers, but our conviction is that through God's love and power, and through following Jesus Christ, our lives and our world can be changed.

Our community's story and life have deep roots in the witness of Scripture. We identify with all great seekers whose journeys are recorded in the pages of the Bible: Abraham and Sarah, who left their home behind to answer God's call; Moses, who sought to understand the strange sight of a burning bush; the prophets who risked their lives to challenge their people to live justly; the men and women who abandoned comfort and security to follow Jesus. We believe God is at work today in the same way, inviting people to use all that they are and have in service to Christ and to the world. The witness of the Bible is that God continues to speak and guide those who dare to listen. The Bible records that God spoke to some of Jesus' first disciples, saying, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" (Mark 9:7). Guided by scripture, the Holy Spirit, and our present experience, we seek to be a listening church--open to hearing God speak to us today.

Community of Christ traces its origins to the faith and experience of a teenager. The movement's founder, Joseph Smith Jr., was himself a young seeker. His study of scripture and his encounters with other Christians awakened in him a desire to find God's love and guidance for his own life. According to Joseph's earliest recollections, when he was about fourteen years old, sometime around 1820, he took the yearnings of his heart into the woods near his home and began to pray. Years later he wrote a simple description of what happened: "I saw the Lord and he spoke unto me saying: 'Joseph my son thy sins are forgiven thee. Go thy way; walk in my statutes and keep my commandments. Behold, I am the Lord of glory. I was crucified for the world that all who believe on my name may have eternal life.'" From this vision Joseph received personal assurance and a sense of his life's purpose. He also learned he could trust the promises the Bible makes to those who earnestly seek for God.

This youth's story is our story. Searching for direction, wrestling with scripture, praying for guidance, receiving the assurance of God's presence and love, discovering new directions for our lives, following Jesus day by day--this is our experience as the Community of Christ.

Ringgold, Georgia, USA

I know that Jesus loves me.

I am thirteen years old and live in Ringgold, Georgia. This is a little bit of my story of why Jesus and Community of Christ are important to me.

My life was fairly normal until about three years ago when my dad died. Then things got real rough. My mom had to go to work as an over-the-road truck driver, leaving my four siblings and me alone. Our grandmother moved in with us. My mom married a man who drank a lot. I wished for the longest time I could die, but somehow my faith in Jesus gave me hope for better days. As time went on things became worse. I just began feeling that my life was supposed to be awful and that I was never going to be happy. A few months ago my mom left her husband because she could not live with his behavior, which was expressed in ways I won't tell you about. We finally moved to Ooltewah, Tennessee, and tried to find a place to live at a trailer park. The manager is a minister in the Community of Christ. She introduced us to other ministers and told us about a Kid's Church at the park. They let our family live there at the Kid's Church for a whole month for free so we would not be homeless. They did not even know us. They just knew we were in trouble and they gave us help. I think this is what real ministers are supposed to do: Give people help no matter what. We started going to the Kid's Church and love it. We learn about the real Jesus. We learn how to pray and how to serve.

I was beginning to be happy. Then we had to move to another community where we could find a place to live. I was afraid we wouldn't be part of the church anymore. We still are. Our pastor comes and picks us up every week and takes us to the Chattanooga Urban Ministries Center. We love it there. It is a different church. We get to be with many different people who love us. You do not have to dress up and follow a bunch of rules. You just come and be yourself. Now, I am happier and I know that Jesus never gives up on me. I am even bringing several of my friends to church. One of my friends is blind. I was nervous that she might not be comfortable at our church. I was wrong. She loves it and the people love her.

Things are not perfect. My neighborhood has many temptations with drugs and alcohol. My mom is still gone a lot and her husband is coming around again. That makes me afraid. The good news for me is that I have a church that does not judge people but accepts them and listens. They care enough about you to tell you when you are wrong, too.

I know that Jesus loves me. I know Jesus is trying to help me be happy and that my church family will never give up on my family and me. I am planning to be baptized soon and follow Jesus.

Community of Christ is always seeking to discover how to live the good news about Jesus Christ more fully. In this light the word "restoration" can be understood in three ways:

a)  The first way is being "restored" or reconciled in our relationships to God and with each other. This includes a sense of being restored to wholeness from brokenness, going from alienation and sin to peace with God and one another. This can also be called salvation. Our experience teaches us that following Jesus is a never-ending process that requires us to keep changing and growing. We make mistakes on our journey with Christ, just as the first disciples did. But God responds to us by offering a fresh, new beginning each day, as we come to God in trust. By turning to Jesus and the witness of the New Testament with expectant and open hearts, the gospel is constantly restored in our lives. By listening to Christ in scripture and with the Spirit's help, we grasp how best to express God's love for our world. As our community has listened, we have heard once again the good news Jesus preached: "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:28-29). From this promise we are seeking to restore the fullness of Jesus' message for each person today.

b)  With some other Christian traditions we are a "Restoration movement" in terms of wanting to listen to and be inspired by the example of Jesus Christ and the way the first Christians in particular lived and died. We are also grateful for the witness and encouragement of faithful Christians down through the centuries.

c)  Our particular history as a Restoration movement began around 1830 in the United States of America with Joseph Smith Jr. and others. There was a sense in our early history that the power of the Holy Spirit was as available to those with faith as it was at the time of Jesus and the first disciples. We believed, beginning with Joseph Smith's first personal encounter with Jesus, that it was possible to hear Jesus today, in our times. Our movement also recognized the importance of a largely non-paid ministry with a variety of gifts, including apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Ephesians 4:11) to help us grow as disciples and become more and more united in Jesus. We felt called to work with God to create a better world now. We have at times called this better world Zion or the Kingdom of God on earth. This we attempted in the period 1830-1844 in Kirtland, Ohio; Independence and Far West, Missouri; and in Nauvoo, Illinois. Today we continue this quest for authentic, healthy communities, safe for every child and with reverence for all life in every village, city, and nation. Supporting the whole process of restoration of genuine community is a belief that God continues to reveal the divine will to individuals personally, and to the church as a whole through a living prophet. This also means that we can be open to new scripture. Our scriptures, which include the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants, point to Jesus and his will today. These important insights from our early days continue to help form our journey today.

Appreciation is expressed for the fine work of writing done by Andrew Bolton and Tony Chvala-Smith, and the organizational work of Bob Kyser, in producing the Seekers and Disciples resource as an introduction to the Community of Christ.

All biblical quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version.

Copyright 2001
Herald Publishing House
Independence, Missouri