When I started searching for churches in December 2011,
my first stop was Fellowship. For a few Sundays.
And then came Christ City.
Christ City was a Godsend. As the dust of my train-wreck-of-a-life settled, God led
me there, where I may not have had the community I wanted, but The
Word was more convicting than I had ever heard it. And that’s what I appreciated, because that’s
what I needed.
It was in this place, in the unlikely Minglewood Hall
venue, that I felt God take my heart, reworking it in the sermons of Jonathan McIntosh, the pastor of Christ City.
The powerful, but simple songs of worship. The passionate and grounded sermons. The dire desire to reach out to the
community. The desperate need to be growing
closer to God. These were things I
desperately needed in a church when my entire world was torn apart and I was
left to find God on my own. I had graduated from my previous stage, and God was,
like, “Now you’re ready to be pounded, to be shaped.”
And that’s what He did.
I experienced Lent at Christ City and the sermons revolved around the
authenticity of your love of Christ.
And man, did I question everything about myself.
I would argue that these sermons are what set my
foundation for my new love of God, and put my feet on the right path.
There was the introduction in my life. Then the loss, pushing me to move onto bigger
things. And here I am now, only steps
from becoming a member of church and understanding the gospel more now than
ever.
I spent several months at Christ City growing, and as it
happened, it was when Tim Keller visited Memphis at Christ United Methodist
that I thought of Fellowship again. May
17, 2011 is when I heard Fellowship’s name on the roll call of churches that
had helped fund Keller’s visit. I was so
excited to see Bryan that I took a picture of him as if he were a long lost
friend.
It’s beautiful how God can use different churches for
different experiences and life lessons. I
appreciate those experiences beyond words and can’t believe that I was so
forgetful! Thank You, God, for the pleasant reminder! You gave me what I needed when I needed it.
Jonathan McIntosh Self Deceived 3/13/11
