STORIES: Matteo
God’s story through Matteo is one that still gives us goosebumps. This young man is truly evidence of God’s grace in calling people to himself. Read his story and path to salvation in Jesus and how The Parish Church has helped him continue in his path of increasingly submitting more and more of himself to the empowering presence and lordship of Jesus and teaching others to do the same!
We asked him to give us a short few paragraphs about what his time with The Parish Church has meant to him. Here are his words:
The Parish Church has helped me in becoming a disciple of Jesus by setting an amazing example. I did not grow up going to church on Sundays. Before coming to The Parish Church, I had been to church a handful of times with my grandmother. Before I decided to start a relationship with Jesus, I grew up always thinking there might be some sort of God. I thought that if there was a God, he would want nothing to do with me because of my own failures. I thought he would see me as not worthy of his time. The Parish Church helped open my eyes and taught me about God. The one who created us in his image, not because he needed to, but because he wanted to. The same God who sees my imperfections, and my shortcomings, and still loves me. The one who embraces me as his own, and the one who comes running after me even when I fall due to my own sin. The same God who would love his creation so much that he would take on flesh and pay the ultimate wages of sin, and die, so that we may have a relationship with our creator.
The Parish Church has taught me that the story of Jesus is what being a disciple of Jesus is all about. That we who claim Jesus as king, and believe he defeated sin and raised from the dead, should not only be following him and acknowledging that he is good and holy, but striving to be like him as well. After all, he lived the perfect life. This Gospel centered community of people not only holds each other accountable with our discipleship, but our community reflects that discipleship, by being involved in each other’s lives, and showing love and compassion to everyone in our city, the same way Jesus would. The Parish Church leads by example and has given me the blueprint on how to be a better disciple as a relatively new believer. We’re not just the church on Sundays, but rather everyday. We are a Jesus driven group of people and reflect that in our everyday lives. We are actively involved in each other’s lives and pushing each other to be more and more like the one who died in our place.