Is Christianity or Garside Right for Me?

Some questions that may be on your mind.

If you're new to Garside, we hope to answer most of your general questions here. This page is aimed for people who do not know much about Christianity. If this is not you, you may want to look at our about us pages. You can also post a question in the forums or send us an E-mail.

Click a link to view the answer below.

What does Garside stand for?
Is truth knowable?
What is the core message of the church for the world?
How does Garside deal with people?
What is a typical service like?
Why do bad things happen to good people?
How do the people of Garside Church function?
In reality, isn't organized church corrupt and disfunctional?
What are my responsibilities as a Christian?

What does Garside Church stand for?
To put it as simply as possible, we seek to understand and act on what God has revealed to us in the Bible. We believe that the Bible is the one and only source of truth from God in this world. It's His message to us so that we may know Him.

Is truth knowable?
We believe it is - but we do not believe blindly. "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." We do not assemble as a church merely out of blind tradition, but from being fully convinced that the scriptures are accurate and most of all from God and not man. There are ways of knowing this with confidence. Click on the links below for more information:

• Bibliology - The study of the Bible, where it came from, how it was passed down through the ages and how it is translated today. Despite hearsay, when you get down to the facts you'll find this book to be increadibly reliable, especially when you compare with other books of antiquity of which no one questions the reliability.
• Hermeneutics - The study of interpretation of the Bible. Many accusations against the accuracy of the Bible are based on a false interpretation of the Bible. To debate the Bible you must actually know what it claims. There is good reason to believe in a literal/historical/grammatical interpretation - where history, culture and language are taken into consideration and the author's intended meaning is determined. This would be the normal-every-day interpretation of any piece of literature. Evidence supporting this view is found when we look at how Jesus and the apostles (in the New Testament) interpreted the Old Testament scriptures.
• Prophecy - Prophecy technically defined is men speaking from God - as was written often in the Old Testament "This is what the LORD says..." The Prophets who wrote the scriptures validated their message by telling the future (God told the first bible-writer Moses to write about this process in Deuteronomy 18:14-22). Telling the future accurately through many different men and having it consistently fulfilled without fail is one trait completely unique to the Bible and gives us ample evidence that this book must be Supernatural in origin. It is also possible to show beyond a shadow of a doubt that these things were not written after the fact.
• Creation vs. Evolution - If we accept a literal interpretation of the scriptures this question of origins must be answered because the core message of the Bible itself rests heavily on the concept of creation. This is proved as we see many people losing their faith on the basis of a belief in evolution - it is a natural conclusion and it is a true conclusion. However we believe when we consider modern science the facts that we observe still fit much better with a Creation model than an Evolution model.
• Historical Accuracy - Many accusations are laid against the Bible that it is terribly historically inaccurate. In every case these accusations are based on assumptions - that this ancient book cannot be relied on since it is religious. Archeaology is disproving these assumptions one by one as we dig and find more and more ancient civilization that lines up with what the Scriptures say rather than oppose it.
• Scientific Accuracy - Another testimony to the supernatural nature of the scriptures is its unfaltering scientific accuracy for an ancient book. Things are revealed in the scriptures that have not been discovered until recent modern times.

What is the core message of the church for the world?
Our message is what we call the "Gospel." Gospel means good news and though our message does not always find acceptance, it is in reality very good news for the world:

• Man's Problem - Here's the bad news. The bad news is the world we find ourselves in - full of corruption, sickness, disease and death. The Bible gives an answer for this world of suffering. In fact it's very simple, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned" (Romans 4:12). This corrupt world we find ourselves in is under a "curse" that came with man's sin. As it is, the bible teaches that all sin and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). This is a problem because God is just - Deuteronomy 32:4 - and one day He will judge the world for what is taking place Ecclesiastes 12:14.
• God's Solution - Rather than destroy and recreate from the beginning, God is allowing us to live in our sin for a time. This is because of another attribute of God - "God is love" (I John 4:8). The Bible says "[God] devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him" (II Samuel 14:14b). In Old Testament times God allowed for men to come to Him with an animal sacrifice - the point was made clear to them that sin must be dealt with. An innocent animal must be brought to pay for sin "for the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life" (Leviticus 17:11). However, 2000 years ago God sent His Son. His Son (Jesus) lived a perfect life and when He died God made Jesus' death like an animal sacrifice - to deal with sin (II Corinthians 5:21). For "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4). By doing this God has made it possible for mankind to be "made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10).
• Man's Responsibility - Jesus Christ dealt with the sin of mankind - the problem that we all have. But how does one take hold of this? By doing good works? If that were the case, no one would be righteous before God because we have already established through the scriptures that "there is no one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10). But "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" (John 3:16). "For it is by grace [unearned favor] that you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8, 9). So this salvation is free to all - but it must be taken hold of through faith. The scriptures make it clear as well that salvation is exclusively for those who believe in Jesus Christ: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

How does Garside deal with people?
The North American church has a reputation for being ignorant, rude, stuck up people who will not tolerate certain individuals with certain lifestyles. However we invite you to come as you are. We've comitted to prayer that God would make us a "Community of Faith, a Refuge for the Soul, and a Shelter for the Brokenhearted" and we intend to be just that. Our desire is to be able to share God's good news with you and then if you choose to become a Christian to help you grow in a relationship with God - but the choice is yours. We are not here to judge you.

What is a typical service like?
We meet every Sunday at 10:30, but invite people to come to the Bradley Room at 10:00 for a coffee/chat time. Then we meet in a typical church style fellowship hall for our service. Our service starts of with announcements regarding what's happening during the week. Then we sing a few songs. We have a small choir with a band - guitars, piano, drums. We try to keep somewhat current with the Christian music trends, but are careful to keep to music that confirms our beliefs and is meaningful to us. Following the music is a sermon that we aim to keep to 35 minutes. We always speak from the Bible so that you hear what God has said, and not our own opinions. Following the sermon we sing a hymn - we value these older songs which are rich in lyric, but realize they do not always suit the tastes of people today. Following the service many people stick around to talk a few minutes before going home.

Why do bad things happen to good people?
What defines a good person? Though we know people that we consider good, let's look at the question from God's perspective. As mentioned above, according to the Bible, sin is what has put is in a cursed world. Sin brought death in the world. God said to the first man and women if you sin by eating the fruit "you will surely die" (Genesis 2:17) and they did (Genesis 5:5) and so did their kids and their kids' kids (Genesis 5:6-31). The picture we get from scripture is that the earth, the way God created it was very good (Genesis 1:31). Romans 5:12 confirms that before man sinned there was no death. Revelation speaks of a day where there will again be no death - there will be a new heavens and new earth, we will live on earth and it will again be very good (Revelation 21-22). So what about this time in between? We live in a time affected by sin. We are sinners (Romans 3:10) and the world around us sins. But rather than destroy us, God has had mercy on us - He has postponed judgment for us so that in this time we may be saved and not suffer judgment in the future. So our job in this time is to believe in His son for salvation, and tell as many others as we can during this time about what Jesus has done for them so that they can be saved. This is the number one mandate for the church and I believe it is the only reason God has us in a world of suffering ("The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" - II Peter 3:9)

How do the people of Garside Church function?
We believe that the life of a believer is to be lived by faith. We believe that God has given us His Spirit - and by having an active trust in God that His Spirit produces in us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and selfcontrol. We believe that this changed life we have is given to us by God, and is only through His power, as we came to God as sinners. Even God's apostle Paul said this "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst" (I Timothy 1:15). As we walk in this reliance on God for strenght to do good work, God requires us to function together as a body with different parts - So even though each member is different and has differing strenghts, we work together as a team and these strenghts come together to form something better than we would be individually. That is an ideal which we live by and strive to acheive. Even though it may not always be a reality, we believe God is working. As we go through life as a church we look to God and His Word for wisdom as to going about His work - seeking not to rely on our own wisdom. Though this may seem abstract, you will find we are very practical people. But we know we must also have our relationship with God in tact to be of any good.

In reality, isn't organized church corrupt and disfunctional?
Yes, sometimes. In fact if you read the New Testament of the Bible, you will find most of the letters written were to correct corrupt churches. We do not claim to be perfect, and yet we are working toward perfection. This is what is modeled for us in the scriptures - God does not expect us to be perfect. Even God's apostle Paul wrote concerning righteousness "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have been made perfect" (Philippians 3:12). We understand that people are at different walks of life. We do not hold new Christians to high standards - as they are learning the principles of the faith. However we hold our leadership to the strictest standards, as we believe God would have them held accountable for their actions in teaching others (James 3:1). So there may be corrupt churches in the world - that does not disqualify the Bible. In fact, you would expect a holy book written by man to make out its churches to be perfect. Yet the Bible gives us reality. Despite imperfection there are many churches worth going to - many churches that teach God's Word wholly and fully, and God's word IS perfect (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:19-21). We strive to be one such church.

What are my responsibilities as a Christian?
"Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is" (Ephesians 5:15). We believe God would have us live with a sense of urgency - "making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil." This urgency is to function as a church to complete our greatest mandate - to reach the world with the gospel (Matthew 28:19-20). In that urgency, we are to understand what God's will is. His will is not revealed to us as it was to his prophets - by direct revelation - because apostles and prophets were a foundation for the church (Ephesians 2:20). Rather we are to find God's will from His word (II Timothy 3:16). When we look to God's word we find a great deal of writing about how the church should function in unity as a body (I Corinthians 12-14). Therefore, to function as a body we need to be regularly attending a church of some type in some form - a church with teachers, elders, deacons, missionaries, givers, and various other gifts so that there is a complete body. And in this body, we work together to discover our own gifts and abilities and we work with our leadership to determine the wisest way to do God's will. This is God's will for you if you are a Christian. As you are participating in this church and exercising your God given gifts and abilitys, you need to be walking in faith and constantly deepening your understanding of God's word so that you may be more effective for God.