Last night during Life Group, one of our discussion questions was, "when did your relationship with Christ begin?" I thought to myself oh that's easy, and I began to share my testimony which went something like this (feel free to scroll down if you've already heard it) 😉
When I was 14 my parents decided to put me and my brother in private school. The school we went to was a ministry of a little church close to our house. The church's youth pastor was also my science teacher (and this is no secret) I thought he was cute. Very cute. Anyway, one day in class he invited me to youth group service on Wednesday night. I of course agreed cause, duh, he was cute. A few weeks into the school year, the youth group had their first Friday night lock-in. (If you're not familiar with a lock-in, it's basically a night when the youth group would stay up all night having fun, playing games, and of course we had a church service too.) I remember being a little bit nervous about the lock-in cause I am a very shy person by nature. Regardless, I went with the flow of the night and it was fun! We played games (I watched other people play games), we watched a skit, and then it was time for the sermon. A man by the name of Clark Boshier brought the message that night. He told a story about a football player who had everything and then got in a car accident and died. Then he asked, "where would you go if you left this building tonight and got in a car accident and died?" Very impactful. It was then and there that I asked Jesus into my heart and became a believer. The very next Sunday I started serving in the church's bus ministry and toddlers ministry, which lead to me being the toddler ministry leader for 11 years.
I've shared that story so many times, it's almost like it's not even my story anymore. It's like I'm telling the story of the Three Little Pigs or something. I know every detail of the story but I don't really know who wrote it. So familiar! Then one of my friends in Life Group asked, "but when did your relationship with Christ begin?" HUH?! What?! Did she not just hear the story I told? Seeing the confusion on my face, she clarified "I know when you asked Jesus into your heart, but when did your RELATIONSHIP with Christ begin?" Hmmmm...... That got me thinking.
All that brings me to my original intention for this (long) blog post. Like I said before, I went to that church for 11 years. 11 YEARS! From the day after I got saved, I started serving in that church, 3 services a week, for 11 years! That's a long time! I did take 4 months off to go to Bible college, but other than that, I was serving with the toddlers, with Awanas or with the bus ministry. Kids. My passion, my God-given gift is working with kids. So I did that, wholeheartedly for 11 years. Sounds great right? Well it was great, or so I thought, because after all I was doing what God had set up for me to do. It wasn't until October of 2011 that my husband and I came to realize something HUGE. Neither of us had actually been to a church service in YEARS! For me it was pretty close to 11 YEARS. I had been going to church 3 times a week for 11 years but hadn't actually gone to more than a handful of services. That's like being born, and then only getting fed or spoken to or loved a few times. I had been given this amazing gift of salvation, but I didn't know what to do with it.
Once our eyes were opened, we began looking for a differnt church. We didn't know what we were looking for. We didn't know what was "good preaching" or "bad preaching," after all we'd only heard a handful of sermons (other than Bible college-but that's whole other story). In fact, while we were "church shopping" I based almost everything on whether the church auditorium had the lights on or dimmed during service! I had no clue! And then we found Fellowship of the Parks in Keller.
It felt right (even though the lights were dimmed during service). David didn't fall asleep. You could walk through the foyer and not feel cliques or people staring you up and down looking at what you were wearing or how your hair was fixed wondering where you'd been the night before. Because in all honesty, none of that stuff matters to them. It didn't then, and it doesn't now. Shortly after visiting we joined the church; however, we didn't make the same mistake twice of jumping into ministry right away. We waited a year before we committed our time (and talents) to serving, and we didn't feel any pressure from anyone in that year. It was so refreshing to go to church and get fed, and grow in The Lord. After 11 years of giving giving giving, my very empty cup, was starting to get filled up, for the first time ever.
Fast forward to the present. Recently David and I served on Easter morning, a time we both used to DREAD at our old church (because we would leave church angry and frustrated and spent- having given everything we had and getting nothing back). We taught 2 classes that morning. And while it was CRAZY busy, we then got to GO TO CHURCH. And not only that, but there was an appreciation lunch for all the volunteers that day. Now I know not every church can afford to do that for all their volunteers, but the fact that it is put into a budget somewhere, means A LOT! And it's not always about the food. In the 4 years that we've been at FOTP, I can't begin to tell you the number of times our pastor has written us thank you cards. A handwritten note is FREE.
After Easter services, I was telling David how amazing our church is (like he didn't already know). It was so nice to be able to go to church on the most important day (to a believer) and rejoice and celebrate with other believers. We went 11 years without being able to go to an Easter service. We've felt more appreciated in the past 4 years at FOTP, than we ever did in the 11 years we served at our old church. We gave them everything we had and got nothing in return. So when did my relationship with Christ begin? When I started going to FOTP and was taught what it meant to have a relationship with Christ. It's not all about what you can do for God through your service. A relationship means both parties ACTIVELY working to build one another up.
The goal of FOTP was and is, to reached the unchurched and those who have been burned by the church. We fit in that category and that's why FOTP is the perfect fit for us! If you haven't found a church home that fits, keep looking, it's out there.
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