“When all these things have happened to you, the blessings and the curses that I have set before you, if you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, and you and your children obey him with your heart and with all your soul, just as I am commanding you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, gathering you again from all the peoples among whom the Lord your God has scattered you .” Deuteronomy 30:1-3
My name is Evan McGarvey, and I am a member of St. Andrew Lutheran Church. I live in Beaverton, Oregon with my mom, dad, and sister. I am in 8th grade at ACMA, and I will be going to Mountainside High School next year. I love playing with my pets, watching TV, playing video games, and playing sports like basketball or soccer.
I believe that God is a great and understanding Divine being. He is someone who fixes the world for better, not for worse. He is someone who you can talk to, you can share with him your problems and grievances when nobody else is there. Jesus is an incredibly important person to me. He is a human, just like us, who is incredibly kind, smart, and empathetic. Jesus is someone that you should strive to be like. He always spoke with the intent of bringing peace and happiness for everyone. His goal was to create a kind and peaceful world. The Holy Spirit is the voice in our head that teaches us how to do good things. It is what we should listen to when trying to make good decisions.
To me, baptism is about friendship, not just with people, but with God. When you are baptized, it is a sign that God always will have your back, no matter what hardships you are going through. Once you’re baptized you are part of God’s community.
I find that being a follower of Jesus is not just reading the Bible, but doing what Jesus did. Jesus wanted to spread kindness and peace around the world, but you can’t do that by just reading the Bible. The Bible is important and is very useful for learning what to do to be a follower of Jesus, but to be a follower of Jesus, you should try to fix things in our world like he did.
The mission of the church is to spread the words and ways of Jesus. By doing this, we can create peace and happiness around the world.
I have lots of faith questions, which I hope to explore after I get confirmed. One of these is the creation. There are lots of scientific things that have been said about the universe and our solar system, but in the Bible, they said it was God who created it. Again, as we evolved from fish to monkeys into humans, the Bible said that humans didn’t evolve, but God just made them! This is one of the many things I hope to consider next year.
I plan to nurture my faith through attending church, through Jesus’ word, and through my questions about the Bible.