Immanuel – God With Us

Kate and I have been married since 2012. We are blessed with two healthy kids, Joshua and Lisa. We are both longtime Christians and have always committed ourselves to be active participants in the church ministry. For the last few years, however, we noticed our spiritual growth has been stagnant. Sunday sermons no longer speak to our hearts. Seemingly there is an absence of thirst for God’s word in our church circle. I personally felt that we were drifting away, and going to church slowly became a matter of habit, rather than out of genuine desire to worship. We were worried not only for the gradual erosion of our own faith, but also for our kids missing out on the opportunity to be active participants in the church ministry. We both cherished memories of our young selves passionately serving in the church and wanted the same opportunity for our kids.

So last year, for one year, we began praying for God’s guidance, on finding another church to call home. I have truly lost count, but there were so many things that happened during this period, which further strengthened our resolve. Early this year, we began attending the Willawong service, initially because it is close to home and we have driven past the church a lot. We have learnt a lot from the sermons, always full of insights, no matter which pastor delivers it. We are encouraged by the multicultural nature of the church, the family life groups, and the well-equipped Sunday school teachers. The strongest revelation that we received from God, however, that He has plans for us in this church, is when I was approached by one of the fathers in the childcare Joshua goes to.

Joshua has a habit of playing in the playground outside his childcare, when I pick him up in the afternoon. Quite frequently, we are joined by other kids and the parents have conversations while the kids play. During one of these afternoons, one of the fathers, seemingly out of nowhere, began asking me about church in general, and expressed interest in visiting. He is not yet a believer, but is keen to learn more about church. He and his family began attending the Willawong service together with us. We have been attending service together for over six months now and going from strength to strength. I can see the good impact coming to Willawong service has been for him and his family, as it has been for our family as well.

The core message we want to pass on to everyone is the importance of a positive environment where kids can grow well, and parents can learn from each other through the family life group, and the church at large. We felt very blessed to be part of Hope Church Willawong service as well as the Family 2A life group. The opportunity to bring up our kids in an environment like this is priceless. Between Kate and myself, we have also had the privilege to rediscover our relationship with each other. We continue to work on strengthening it, both to ensure we are able to give the best to our kids, and to do the work God has called us to do.

I would like to close with the following Bible verse, which has been so true to our family journey to this date:

Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”