At the centre of Christianity is Jesus Christ. (That’s why it’s called Christianity! – because Christians are followers of Jesus). ‘Christ’ isn’t Jesus surname. It’s more of a title. It essentially means ‘King’. So it’s more like he was and is known as ‘Jesus the King.’

And that is a good way to understand what it means to be a Christian. It means to believe and acknowledge and follow Jesus as the King of Kings or as the King of everything – including yourself and your own life. Christians believe that Jesus was actually God himself born as a human being into a real historical context – an occupied territory in the Roman Empire – in order to bring life, love, truth, peace, grace, forgiveness and hope (to list a few things!) into the world.

Now to be honest, all that can seem a bit weird, but before dismissing it as crazy it is worth investigating to determine if it’s true. If it isn’t true then Christianity may just be the biggest scam or con job in history and those of us who follow Jesus are really messed up! But if it is true, then it is probably the most important truth any of us could ever discover in our lifetimes. So it’s kind of important to know. Is it coherent? Do it’s claims stack up? Does it’s understanding of the world – of origins, meaning, morality and destiny – correspond to reality and make sense of life? These are important questions.

One of the great things about Christianity is that it is open to scrutiny, to questions. There is nothing about the Christian claims that can’t be asked.

The bible records key historical events regarding Jesus life and teaching, his death and his resurrection. The historical events and their implications form the basis for how Christians view and understand themselves, humanity, the world and God.

People often say that the church is full of hypocrites. Well yes actually there is a sense in which that is true! The church is full of everyday people who have faults, who are hypocritical at times, who make mistakes and who have struggles. But (and it’s a big but!) genuine Christians also acknowledge their own brokenness, mistakes and failings and how far they have to go, and they have experienced the liberation of God’s forgiveness and life giving Grace and are on a journey to being changed by him to be more like Jesus and to live a life of love and service and joy in, with and through him.

Whatever your beliefs, experiences, background we at OCC would encourage you to take a serious look at Jesus and see what you discover!

Here’s a few ways to find out more:

• Come to church one Sunday!

• Enquire about and participate in an Alpha Course at OCC

• Investigate and question more through websites like Bethinking.org

Before we renovated, our church building used to have a verse from the bible stuck on the front brickwork that was a quote from Jesus. It simply said:

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.

That’s what Christianity is all about – Jesus came to show us the way to live, the way to God, and to bring us truth and LIFE to the full.