What are you on about here at Petone Baptist?

How can you find out about God? Hasn't science done away with God? Isn't religion just for those who can't face life without a crutch? These are important but difficult questions.

Woody Allen summed it up nicely: "If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name in a Swiss bank Account."

This page aims to give you a brief introduction to our response. Here's what we think.

You're no accident!  Neither is this world.  We look around and, rather than seeing something that just "happened", we see beauty and complexity.  Everywhere in the natural world there is evidence of a genius who has designed it all.  Science hasn't disproved God - in fact it's made Him necessary.  The more we find out, the more awe-inspiring the world around us becomes.

So what?  Well, a look around us suggests that all is not well.  On the grand scale, history is littered with wars, famines, and people generally making a mess of things.  In our own lives, broken relationships, pain and disappointment seem to often upset our plans for a happy life.

So if God made it all so good, where did all the bad stuff come from?  We think God gave people the chance to make their own choices - God was interested in a close and meaningful relationship with us - something a bunch of obedient robots wouldn't achieve.  The problem is that down through history people have often made bad choices and left God well out of the picture.

This left God needing to build a bridge between His love for us and our rebellion.  God's answer was Jesus, born in the Middle East 2,000 years ago.  We're convinced that Jesus was God, come to create a way for us to get back on God's side.  It's a long story, but it revolves around Jesus dying for us - taking on himself the separation from God we had brought on ourselves.

But a dead God is no good to anyone!  So he rose from the dead.  We accept this sounds pretty far fetched - but a close look at history leaves no other option - why did so many people say they saw Him if they didn't, why did they die for this belief if they knew it wasn't true, why do people today still say they experience God working in their lives?

All very well, but why get right with God?  Put simply, we think life is better that way.  Jesus promised us what he called "abundant life" - not necessarily easier (sorry, Woody Allen will be disappointed) - but life richer in meaning, the opportunity for a sense of community and belonging that our world seems keen to find.

Part of this comes about through the church - in essence it is God's family.  We're far from perfect - but together we're trying to live the way God intended, and also be God's agents in a world that needs help.

So - we think we're onto something!  This presents us with a problem.  It's not trendy today to try and convince other people that what you believe is right - we're supposed to let each other think what we like and leave them be.  But we would be scrooges of the worst kind, if - having found some Good News - we didn't share it.  So, that's what we do!

We are not asked to leave our brains at the door.  Just our prejudices.  We simply ask that you consider the evidence.

A big part of the evidence is the Bible - it is central to us.  It's a collection of 66 books, written over about 1,500 years, by lots of different people - but all inspired by God to do so.  At first, it can seem a bit overwhelming - but we believe that as we get to grips with it, it helps us understand more of God, and also helps us see how we tick better.

At Petone Baptist, we come from a wide range of ages and backgrounds - but we have the above beliefs in common.

Interested in following this up?  Go here ...