If you were asked, “What’s the essence of your faith?” what would you say? In our complex lives, sometimes it seems that the things we are supposed to believe and do are so complicated and complex that we miss the essence, the core of our faith. Like a healthy relationship between two people, many elements are involved. But, the one element, which is the foundation or core element upon which all the others stand or fall, is freedom. Freedom does not mean “doing whatever I want.” No. Freedom means, being able to be and do what God wants for me and for others around me. True freedom is life-giving. It does not hinder, but rather enables. The essence of faith is its freeing quality. Its purpose is to make it possible for us to reach our potential and help set others free, like a tethered bird cut free to fly like it was created to do.

Roger Williams, the father of Baptists in America, said, “Enforced uniformity denies the principles of Christianity.” He fought against the commonly held belief that faith is primarily about obedience and subjection. Like many of our Baptist founders, he believed that the essence of our faith is freedom, not conformity to any human leader or creed or group. That’s why Woodland is a CBF (Cooperative Baptist Fellowship) church. In its simplest form, the heart of a CBF church is freedom. So how do you tell someone about the essence of Woodland or CBF? It’s actually not that complicated. We believe and do lots of things, but they all come under the umbrella of freedom – individual freedom, soul freedom, Bible freedom, church freedom, religious freedom. See you next week at this same place where we’ll examine a little closer what our freedom, as a CBF church, looks like. Bill Nichols