Finding My Faith
by Eric Lane
At various times in my life, I had gone to church, but never with much conviction.
As a child, I would go to Sunday school with my brother. Afterwards, we would
attend the morning service with my mom. I don't remember God or faith being all
that important; I just had to go. By the time I was in 3rd or 4th grade, my family
had stopped attending.

In my early twenties, I met my wife and a year later we were married. We discussed
joining a church and after visiting several, we picked the one where we were married,
but I was never quite comfortable sitting in the service. I remember thinking if God
was everywhere, why did I have to come to church to be near Him. I also thought
that a lot of what people said in the church differed what they did outside the church.
We continued to attend sporadically, but following the birth of our 2nd son, we
stopped going completely.

Up to this point in my life, I thought I was doing great; great wife, great kids, great
job, great home. Still, something was missing. It was like that dream you can't
remember when you wake up; you can't put your finger on it, you can't even
describe it. But I did try to compensate for it; I began buying stuff. When this
didn't work, I poured myself into my job and various projects around the house,
anything to keep busy. I was sure if I worked hard enough and long enough,
I could figure it out.

Well, seven years passed and I was still trying to figure it out, and I was burned
out. About this same time, a friend of my wife invited us to an Alpha class. I went
not expecting much, but everyone was very welcoming and I could feel something
different about it. I found I had questions I wanted answered and so each week
I would bring a list to our small group table. As we discussed everything, I sensed
the weight starting to lift off of me.

I had come to Alpha expecting the same old religion I remembered from my youth;
a God I felt was not relevant to me. Instead, at that small table I found grace and
a sense God genuinely loves me.

It's been almost three years since I attended the Alpha class. My wife and I are
active members of church...and I've never been so blessed.

 

A Sense of Peace
by Victor Cabot
I started my spiritual life as a Lutheran. I was baptized and raised Lutheran.

The summer going from fifth grade to sixth grade my sister and I moved to Chicago
to live with our father. After a year my father decided that we would become
Catholics.

Two years of study with a priest, re-baptized and confirmed by the Bishop. We
were Catholics. I tried, but I never really made the transition to Catholicism. After
about a year I left the church. I was 14 years old.

As life continued, despite increasing personal and professional successes I found
that I had feelings of emptiness and of being alone. To quote a Peggy Lee song
from the 60's "Is That All There Is?" Throughout the years I had tried many different
things to eliminate these feelings, none of them were successful.

Around 1990 through a neighbor and a friend, I returned to a Protestant Bible
church. I was 36. I took Jesus Christ as my savior. Life continued to improve.
I thought I was a Christian. The feelings of emptiness and aloneness continued.

Following a divorce I found myself living in Texas. I attended a small Lutheran
church in North Arlington. The people there were wonderful, kind and caring. But,
I did not feel the presence of the Lord there. The feelings of emptiness and
aloneness continued.

A close friend invited me to attend Trinity and I became a regular visitor, later a
member. I felt that I had found the presence of the Lord at Trinity. Still, the feelings
of emptiness and aloneness continued.

While attending Sunday School I became aware of the need to improve my
Christian knowledge. I heard about the Alpha class. I did not know what it was
exactly. But, it sounded like a good place to learn more about Christianity and
the Lord.

I began attending Alpha. I was churched, I was a Christian - or so I thought.
Through Alpha I realized that I was a part of a Christian, but, not a Christian.
I came to realize that I did not have a close personal relationship with the Lord
Jesus Christ. During the course, I suddenly found myself speaking very articulately
about my faith, I did not know where the words were coming from. Later I realized
it was the Holy Spirit. Through the guidance and teachings of the Alpha course
I developed a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The life long feelings of
emptiness and being alone left me. These feelings were replaced with a sense
of calm and peace.

I found the Alpha course to be a very gentle yet powerful way to move towards
a close and personal relationship with the Lord. In the process I met some great
new friends. If you are curious, if you are seeking the meaning of your life, if you
are seeking a relationship with Jesus Christ, I invite you to take a walk down the
path that Alpha offers to see where it takes you.

 

Amazing Grace
by Gretchen Scott
The song "Amazing Grace" summarizes my life. I wasn't always a Christian. Sure,
I started out as a Christian having been christened as an infant in the Episcopal
Church. When we were small, my mother dutifully took my sisters and me to
church every Sunday. I turned my back on God when 13, after my mother died
from complications of a long-term illness. My father started dating a woman who
would end up playing a huge role in turning my life around. At the time, though,
I was mad at him for "replacing" mom. I felt it was disrespectful and just plain
wrong. I now realize that God placed her in my (our) life for a reason.

High school and most of college was spent on a rebellious, self-destructive down-
ward spiral of guilt, anger, misplaced blame and shutting God out of my life. I was
one of those agnostics who railed against "organized religion" and thought that
religion was a crutch for weak people who couldn't take responsibility for their own
lives. I was so arrogant and bitter towards religion. How wrong I was! I didn't think
there was anything missing in my life, but I still felt that empty hole in my heart.
I just attributed it to the loss of my mother. I ignored the feeling as much as
possible, but it was always there, nagging me and creeping into my thoughts.

I felt God's presence stirring inside of me when I had my first child. Something
inside of me began to change. When I looked at my daughter, I felt she was a
miracle of life. It was an amazing feeling. I still didn't consider myself a Christian,
but I was on my way there.

I started a new job and met a co-worker, who was a recent convert to Christianity.
She was so enthusiastic about how God's love filled her entire soul. At first it was
a little annoying and awkward, and I tried to keep my distance. But then I started
to really warm up to her, because I thought she was really cool and hip and we
had a lot in common. She was another person that God placed in my path to
influence the decision to finally accept God into my heart.

After a string of minor tragedies happened to my family and me within a short
period of time, she made a very simple gesture of giving me a small silver cross
as a source of comfort. She told me that God doesn't give you more than you can
handle, that everything happens for a reason and that God would take care of us.
I'd heard all of that before, but for the first time in my life, instead of rolling my
eyes at her, I believed it. He did take care of us and everything worked out better
than I could have imagined. In the midst of it all, I received an additional blessing
through the birth of my second daughter.

I started going to Trinity United Methodist Church with my step-mom. Every
Sunday I looked forward to hearing what my pastor, Dr. John Robbins would say.
It was like every sermon he gave was focused right on my personal problems and
me. I felt such a sense of comfort at Trinity, like I had never felt before at any other
church.

My stepsister, who went through the Spring 2004 Alpha Class, invited me to the
Celebration Supper, at the end of her course. As I listened to all the people who
stood up and gave their testimonials, one woman's story really struck a chord
within me. Her story was similar to mine, and I thought, "I want some of that
Alpha enthusiasm that she has!" So I signed up for the Fall 2005 class. By
coincidence, I think not, she ended up helping at my table!

Everyone at my table was so insightful, came from completely different back-
grounds, and had such different angles on Christianity. It was such an amazing
learning experience for me. Thanks to friends at my Alpha table, I was able to
get over several huge stumbling blocks that I was struggling with.

I got so much out of the Alpha Class that I decided to give my testimonial at the
Celebration Supper and again at the Spring 2006 Alpha Introductory dinner even
though I was scared to death. I feel like it's the least I can do, since Alpha has
done so much for me. It's my way of giving back and giving thanks to the people
who helped get me to the point I'm at today.

I do think that God does things for a reason and has placed many very wonderful
people in my life who have lead by example and showed me the way, including
all of the wonderful people at Alpha and Trinity UMC.