Part of the Global Christian Community
Pastor Denny Wayman, Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara

It has always been sobering for me to realize that there were millions and tens of millions of faithful, loving Christians serving God long before I was even born. Reminding myself of this fact helps me keep from thinking too much of my own generation and its significance, and to rather see myself and our church as a part of God's great, continuing plan.

In a similar way, I am sobered by the reality that Christians in America are only a small portion of the Christians who are now impacting our world. (Editor's Note: for more on this topic, see Doug Newton's editorial from the September/October 2004 issue of Light & Life magazine.)With 2.2 billion Christians worldwide, we are a part of a great global Christian community — a reality that is obviously changing the face of Christianity. It is impacting the way we express our beliefs, participate in worship and work together for the transformation of our world, including how we confront issues within and between nations — from economics to justice.

In addition, the categories and labels by which we define ourselves in relation to other Christians are changing. No longer easily boxed into old descriptors, we're finding a new freedom to be God's people across such barriers. In this process a solid community is emerging — whether we are Orthodox Christians in Eastern Europe, Pentecostal Christians in Peru, Anglicans in Nigeria, independent Christians in Indonesia, Free Methodists in Santa Barbara or elsewhere — bonded together around four great truths of our faith:

1. The centrality of the cross and Christ's atoning work to break the power of sin and evil in His world
2. The life-changing experience of conversion, or "new birth" in Christ
3. Reliance on the Bible as ultimate religious authority
4. Evangelistic activism to bring salvation to people, which transforms cultures.

As a part of the global community of Christ's ones, we want to listen to how our brothers and sisters throughout the world understand and experience Jesus. The lessons we humbly learn from these emerging teachers will take us into a future that is beyond anything we can now imagine.