Here’s an update from Mike Booker at Moss Brook Church.

 

Over the past decade, God has been so good to us here at Moss Brook Church in South Paris, Maine. On any given Sunday, we see 200-plus people in attendance, and 60-70% of them have trusted Christ in the last 10 years.

It occurs to me when I look around the high school auditorium in which we meet that every time someone becomes a Christ follower, it is an unlikely story. I see so many different kinds of people, so many backgrounds, family histories, tragedies and burdens. It is truly a miracle of God’s grace that any one of us would experience salvation. As the Apostle Paul reminds us, none of us does good, and no one naturally seeks God.

Yet, thankfully, God continues to seek us. Take “Joe,” for instance. A few months ago, “Joe” started coming to church with his wife. Never having attended church before, he had no idea who Christ was, nor did he have any interest in spiritual things. Yet, God began to soften his heart. He listened, asked questions, and spent time with a few of our guys. After a few weeks, he started attending a small group and reading the Bible he’d been given. He began telling his friends, many of whom thought he was joking, that he was going to church. While volunteering with some folks from our church a while ago, “Joe” shared with the guys he was working with that he had trusted Christ. In three weeks, he will be getting baptized.

Sometimes, the transformation occurs more slowly, as with “Aaron” and “Jill.” They had been coming to Moss Brook Church once in a while for several years. When they started attending more regularly, I wasn’t too surprised when “Aaron” called me in January. They both had many questions and wanted to know more about God and the Bible. They specifically wanted to know how they could raise their two young children to know and love God. A few days later, we spent two hours at their dining room table talking about spiritual things. Despite being in his mid 30’s, “Aaron” had never opened a Bible, and “Jill” had only been to church a handful of times. My wife and I began to meet with them weekly, reading Scripture together and talking about the realties of life with and without God. A few weeks ago, “Aaron” and “Jill” both professed Christ as their Savior.

Even in this seemingly godless culture in which we live, our God is changing lives. These are only two stories of dozens I could tell. An incredible footnote to all of this is that, through the witness and transformations of these three people, several other unsaved members of both of these families have started coming to church regularly to hear the Truth.