New Member Testimony
Shared this past Sunday...
My name is Brandon and my beautiful wife is Melody. Though we were just married 4 months ago right outside this building, I was actually single when I first visited Sovereign Grace last January. At that point, Melody and I had just broken up as we were not confident that God was leading us toward marriage, and for multiple reasons, I was looking for a new church. What struck me during my first visit to this church even more than how welcoming you were was how as a community of believers you were so passionate in your pursuit to know Christ more and to apply His completed work to every area of your lives. You guys definitely left an impression!
After being apart for 6 weeks, the Lord graciously brought Melody and I back together and we began searching for a church we both could call home. I immediately thought of Sovereign Grace! One of Melody’s first experiences with this church was a 3 hour conversation we had with Pastor Mike in the Cunningham’s backyard during a welcome luncheon. A few days later I had a 5 hour conversation with Pastor Eric about theology, church polity, marriage and a number of other topics. Having come from a church of several thousand, we were blown away by the willingness of the Pastors to make themselves available to address any questions or concerns we had. Their heart to shepherd was clear to us, as was their love for God, for you, and for the Word.
Melody and I knew that we could not really get a clear picture of the church by simply attending a few Sunday services and having a couple of conversations, so we made the decision to “dive in” by joining a small group, pursuing fellowship, and serving. This is a decision we are now very glad we made. In early May, I proposed to Melody, and thankfully she said “yes”! It was an amazing blessing to have our new church family there to rejoice with us during that time of excitement and preparation. We quickly started pre-marital counseling with Pastor Eric, during which we were constantly edified and challenged as he encouraged us to apply the truth of the Gospel to our relationship and future marriage. I think we will always remember that he taught us that “the first one to the cross wins” in any conflict. During the five short months of our engagement, you showed us encouragement, support, and genuine love. You also gave us come excellent advice!
We were married on September 23, and we are very glad that many of you were able to share that moment with us. We are especially thankful to the Turbedskys, the Smetonas, and the Adams for all they did to serve us on that special day. For our honeymoon we went on a Holy Land cruise, and something that surprised us was that even though we were visiting what many consider to be the most holy locations in the world, a big part of us longed to be right here worshipping the Savior with you. This made it clear to Melody and I that we had really made Sovereign Grace our home. We are very thankful for the genuine love you have shown us and we are super excited to continue the work of advancing the Gospel together with each of you to the glory of God!