When we began our church plant endeavor two and a half years ago called Parkside Church Lake County, we hoped and prayed to follow through on a simple (and somewhat familiar sounding) mission statement.:  “To glorify God by helping people become committed followers of Jesus Christ.” Here are three stories of the work that God is doing through people who come to the church.

The first story is from Berit, a Christian woman of Norwegian background, who has gotten involved in our church over the last six months with her husband, Bruce.

“A couple of weeks ago I was having lunch with my college freshman niece.  She has grown up in a very secular home, but for many holidays heard my husband share from Scripture and pray before a festive meal. This, I'm thinking, has been the extent of her exposure to the Christian life until recently.  I reminded her that last time we had lunch I had asked her if she ever thought about God. This time I would turn the question on its head and ask her if she felt God ever thought about her. Because we have built a close relationship over all these lunches at Bravos, she was comfortable enough to be open and eager to talk. I can see Jesus working in this young woman's life and even using me to raise some questions in her mind that quite possibly no one else is there to do right now. Unless I intentionally had prayed for wisdom and sought an open door in our conversation, I don't think the name of Jesus would have been on my lips.”

The next story is from Tom, who travels the world as part of his business and helps on set-up team on Sunday mornings.

“I was considering whether to make a sales trip to Delhi, India, to attend a trade show and make sales calls with my sales representatives. I realized that the Delhi Bible Institute was located there. I started thinking about how it would be a great opportunity to visit with Isaac, Gloria, and the rest of the team at DBI. God set it in my heart to ask my sales representative (who is a Hindu) if he and his son wanted to join me.  I had been praying for opportunities to share the Gospel with them so I was overjoyed when they agreed to go with me. Isaac shared with me at lunch the following Tuesday that early that morning his computer crashed and so he had to find another message to preach and the one he chose ended up being a perfect message for my unbelieving friends. Isaac’s sermon gave me an opportunity to have extensive discussions about God and the Bible with my sales representative during the rest of my time in Delhi. I know that this sermon was meant for them and that this was one of the reasons that God brought me to India at that time and in that place.”  

The last story is from Damon, a nurse practitioner, who plays guitar for us on Sunday mornings.

“My former patient called and relayed a very sad story about facing a surgery that had a 50/50 chance of survival. Pain had always been an issue for this woman and in the process of telling the story she said, 'I just don’t want to wake up in hell.' My first impression was that she meant physical pain after surgery, but she said it again twice. It was then that I realized she was not calling for medical advice like she had in the past. The relationship that I could have, and so often wanted to end, was all for this moment.

"I said to her, 'Do you know who Jesus is? If you believe that He died for your sins, rose again from the dead, and you are willing to accept him as Lord of your life, you will be saved. If you believe this and do not live through this surgery you will wake up in His arms in heaven! If, by some miracle you again survive, He will be with you every step of the way.  Do you believe?'

"She said, 'I do.' I do not know if she believed this for the first time. I do know that God used a relationship I dreaded most as a means for His Glory."

This is what fires me up as we plant this church. While challenges and imperfections within our church body are an ever-present reality, it is nonetheless really satisfying to worship, pray, talk, eat with, laugh, cry, and partner up with this growing group. If you, or someone you know, lives in the Lake County region and are looking to visit we would love to have you. When you finish reading this please take the next ten seconds and pray for more of these opportunities to happen among our people.
  
--Pastor Scott Kennedy