ALICE laughed.
“There’s no use trying,” she said, “One can’t believe impossible things.”
“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen, “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” (Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll)
Faith and believing are two different things – you might believe a statement, but you can have faith in a person – and faith grows more from hope than from convictions of belief.
When people encountered Jesus, he helped them turn their unbelief into a state of faith that opened doors to new things.
He promised his followers that his Spirit would return after he was physically gone, and after the events of Easter, the world was gifted faith through a new experience of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
It was this that made it possible for the new church to experience faith before it fully understood what it was it believed.
The Holy Spirit continues to do the same today.
Today, the Alpha Course is one way that helps people to explore faith, and to experience the Holy Spirit.
Run by many churches all over the globe, its sessions create space to explore the basics of faith.
They’re free, and everyone is welcome.
Faith is something to be lived, not just stories to be shared and believed.
Christen Forster is lead pastor of Kings Church, Wokingham.
Sunday services there take place at 10.30am, with coffee served from 10am.
