Testimony

David is a local Christian, this is his story of how Jesus has made a huge difference to his life. Please take the time to read it.

"Hello,

My name is David. I live in Carrbrook and work for a local hire car firm. I would like to share with you how Jesus has become the Lord of my life.

I have attended Church most of my life and played an active part in all areas of the Church. When I was a youngster I even sat in the congregation and heard my own Father preach the sermons but this never meant very much to me. I used to that attending Church and doing my bit in the activities of the Church was enough. I never in all those years realised why Jesus died on that cross.

I have been quite successful in my chosen career and always felt that I could do anything under my own steam. I have always been a very self motivated person and probably because of this, I found it hard to tolerate other people who did not "tick" as I did. However, having said this, I can add that I never felt any real peace. I was very impatient at work and at home. I was even prone to bad tempers.

Like a lot of people who have had a Church upbringing when young, I drifted away from the Church and more importantly from God. Other things began to take over in my life, such as hobbies and my career. It was only when my daughter Helen became a Christian that I started to attend church again. I would go with her occasionally. I found however those parts of the services, such as sharing the peace left me feeling cold.

My wife Jean, who became a Christian few years ago, joined a house group and I was invited along to their social activities. At first I declined but eventually I went along just to keep Jean happy. I felt uncomfortable at these events initially but Jean persuaded me to keep attending. I then started attending Church more regularly I soon began to enjoy the services. I even began to look forward to sharing the peace. I didn't want to be insular anymore.

Although I didn't know at the time, I now know that a terrific battle was raging inside me, me versus Jesus, and this was evident to the people close to me. In January 1985, our Vicar, John preached on a verse from Revelation 3v20: "Here I am, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with him and he with me” . This verse seemed to really speak to me as if Jesus was asking me personally to open the door and let him into my life. A couple of weeks later, Noel Proctor, the Chaplain of Stangeways Prison came to preach to us, and he also made reference to this particular piece of scripture. This seemed to speak to me even louder, but even so, I did not feel I could commit my life to Jesus.

The battle inside me was getting more and more intense and in August 1985 I attended my first ‘agape' meal at our Church. This was a wonderful service for me and I really felt for the first time the love and power of Jesus. It was during this service that I opened my heart to the Lord and asked Him in to be the Lord of my life. I immediately felt a calm and a peace, which I had never felt before.

My life has changed in so many ways since then. I find that I have so much more patience now with colleagues at work and when difficult situations arise I am able to cope with them in a much calmer manner. One of the great loves of my life has always been to walk on the lovely hills which surround our town, to get away from it all, but I find that God has so much work for me to do here among His people. I have to submit to His will, and he blesses me in so many ways for doing so.

Thank you for reading my story.

God bless you

David"

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