The gospel is true, and God saved me. Therefore, I live every day in awe and debt to Him and the mercy He shows me. Though I struggle, God's design, Lordship, and mercy remind me that I am privileged to be able to keep struggling and relying on Christ, my high priest. What my life is like now because I am a Christian: It means that I, someone who hates living by schedules, intentionally schedules my life in order to be effective and intentional with the time God gives me. It means making time to do what I don't like (tedious repetitive tasks that I have to stick to for long periods of time). My involvement in very varied departments (Sunday School, PA, Music, Press) puts me in contact with the wider church and because of that, it’s broken my idealistic view of people in church. It has helped me recognise with much more clarity how sinful everyone is in a much more tangible way. This reality has made me go through the different stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance of what my church is made of and has taught me that loving them means actively fighting sin with them. In short, keeping one another accountable to higher standards has taken on a new meaning. This has forced me to confront my lack of urgency and the things I despise. All of the above have forced me to grow firmer, more disciplined (even though at times I don’t want to), and more convicted because I see it’s what the church needs and there is no better way to live. Being strengthened in this manner has been a benefit to those around me because it shapes the way I advise, empathise, direct, and receive feedback. CERC sees Word Ministry as not just important, but it permeates all facets of life. In its reading and living out of scripture, CERC strives to be faithful in being God-focused first rather than people-focused first. Because of that, the other distinctive character of CERC is that as a church, it is extremely caring for its people’s Godliness in a way that is can only come by being shaped by the word and being God-focused first.