The Local Church

I'm at Home in the Church

I began meeting in the local church in Berkeley during my freshman year in college and it was an experience that changed my life. I had been seeking “the truth” for some time, not really knowing what this meant. I had been raised with a Catholic background and had become disappointed and discouraged with a concept of God that was external and unreal to me. Despite that, I always had a hunger for something that would fill me and give my life meaning. When I met the Christian brothers and sisters in the church, I was attracted, for they seemed to have for themselves that which I had been searching for. I soon started to experience God in a very intimate way, starting to know Him as a real person. This very experience of the Lord constructed an even greater and more enjoyable testimony that God was real and operating in me.

In the church, I felt at home. Those who were mature in the Lord helped me in my pursuit of the Lord. Spiritually healthy practices such as the daily contact of God in the morning, the setting aside of time for prayer, the coming together to enjoy the Lord in a corporate way, and the reading of the Bible, made me more encouraged with God and His purpose. The ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee and the testimonies and fellowship of other brothers and sisters added to my Christian growth. Their speaking was God's speaking to me and, even though such speaking came from different people and sources, it was only one speaking with the same nature, God's nature. It was full of love and care, sweet and tender, unambiguous and life-infusing. Such speaking would bring me to love and know God and His people even more. Such speaking would fill me with God so that even I could share God with others.

I've graduated and now I am working. Even through such a change of scenery and atmosphere, from being a student to being a worker, God is the same and yet, He's fresh. In the church, there is no oldness, but instead, a group of people constituted with a fresh and living God, cooperating with His work and loving Him. Sometimes, I forget how valuable the church is, and take it for granted. However, the Lord would touch me again to remind me of His mercy and His wisdom, to bring me to the church, my home.

J.W. | Back to List

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