The Refinery is a body of believers that is being transformed from the inside to out. On the outside, you will notice that everybody is welcome here. We have people with tattoos and without tattoos. We have a number of folks in their 80's or 90's, many babies, and all ages in between. We have singles, single parents, dating couples, married couples, nuclear family intact, and multi-generational households. We are multi-ethnic, multi-racial, and Chula Vista natives. Some of us have gone to church our whole lives, and some of us just found out that "Jesus Christ" isn't just a swear word.
That's the outside.
On the inside, we are all the same. Every last one of us has done some things we wish we had never done; we'd like a do-over. We are what the Bible calls "sinners." The good thing about remembering that is it reminds us not to be self-righteous. That has been a big problem for religious people in history. The hard thing about remembering I am a sinner is the feelings of guilt. Again, on the inside, we all have recognized that we need help to get rid of that guilt. Once that old guilt is handled, we would like to stay away from being jeopardized by more guilt.
This is where Scripture comes into play. Romans 10:17 says: "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." So knowing our Bible is a way to continue to generate faith. That's another thing we all want on the inside, faith. There are a couple of kinds of faith: original faith and sustained faith. Sometimes the reason we briefly lose faith is that we get caught in the pressure of the moment. We forget the big picture; strange as it may sound, we forget who God is and we begin to live in isolation.
Therefore, you're invited to join The Refinery family on a journey to discover and rediscover the big picture. The story behind our faith, the story that reminds us that everyone will always be welcome and we do not need to live in isolation. We expect to be further transformed from inside to outside.
That's the outside.
On the inside, we are all the same. Every last one of us has done some things we wish we had never done; we'd like a do-over. We are what the Bible calls "sinners." The good thing about remembering that is it reminds us not to be self-righteous. That has been a big problem for religious people in history. The hard thing about remembering I am a sinner is the feelings of guilt. Again, on the inside, we all have recognized that we need help to get rid of that guilt. Once that old guilt is handled, we would like to stay away from being jeopardized by more guilt.
This is where Scripture comes into play. Romans 10:17 says: "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." So knowing our Bible is a way to continue to generate faith. That's another thing we all want on the inside, faith. There are a couple of kinds of faith: original faith and sustained faith. Sometimes the reason we briefly lose faith is that we get caught in the pressure of the moment. We forget the big picture; strange as it may sound, we forget who God is and we begin to live in isolation.
Therefore, you're invited to join The Refinery family on a journey to discover and rediscover the big picture. The story behind our faith, the story that reminds us that everyone will always be welcome and we do not need to live in isolation. We expect to be further transformed from inside to outside.
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