Last Friday, I found the joy of knowing God. Yes, I know that I've been a Christian for approximately 5 years now, but I never truly knew how it felt like when my Christian friends say that they "encounter God".

The speaker that night for the conference was Rebecca Pippert, and boy, was she a speaker who's empowered by God and preaching the Word of God ever so humbly. There wasn't an attitude or aura of pride from her voice. She preached on the message of "sin".

Well, it sounds simple enough, and foundational enough. All believers of Jesus should know that Jesus came down to Earth to die for our sins. So you may wonder, why is she preaching about it?

Well, you'll find out. =D
There are 4 points in her message:
1. The culture of the world
2. The culture of the church
3. We crucifed Christ and we are crucified with Christ ("crucified" meaning died on the cross)
4. How should we live our lives

1. The culture of the world. Does the culture of the world recognise "the problem of the world"? ("The problem of the world" refers to sin) In her opinion, the culture of the world does not recognise it, that is why we still indulge in sin, and sometimes, get addicted to it. Sin here refers to anything we done wrong, mistakes, or even things we didn't do that we are supposed to do. It is not just murderers, rapists, or shoplifters who sin, but everyone.

2. The culture of the church. Does the culture of the church recognise "the problem of the world"? She thinks that the culture of the church does not recognise it. I was surprised at the beginning, but after she explained I thought that she was right. You see, the church, to some, seems like a holy place, too holy sometimes to approach when we face problems. Church goers have the attitude that sin should not be brought to church. But what is the truth? The truth is Jesus died for our sins, and therefore, we should bring our sins to Him, to His church, and ask for His forgiveness. The church is the place to meet Jesus.

3. We crucified Christ and we are crucified with Christ. Humans are the reason why Christ had to die, and thus we, crucified Him. We are crucified with Christ because we die to our old self, in order to follow Jesus. However, that does not mean that when we become a Christian, we wouldn't face any problems. In fact, we have to acknowledge the fact that we would be battling with sin till the very last breath, but we must always believe that Jesus will help us overcome our problems.

4. So how should we live? 2 things. We should acknowledge our sins, and 2, we should confess our sins. And that is the simple truth. To be a Christian, the first 2 steps are as stated. It is up to the individual, whether he or she dares to believe, without seeing. Some people may think that Christians are born into the family, or that we have to do something in order to be a Christian. But no. All we need to do, is to believe.