Meet Justin & Amy Mathew.
They started coming to Grace about one year ago. I sat down with them to learn about their experience here.
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DD: Can you tell me a little bit about your first impressions of Grace?
Justin: When we came we thought: ‘This is nice!’ It was a little bit big. Bigger than other churches we had thought about joining. But then when the service got going, we were really just blown away. We loved that it was
really focused on worshiping, getting the Word out, and connecting in prayer. Afterwards, we were lit up! We probably talked for about Grace for an hour.
Amy: We really did our research coming into it as well, so we knew what we were walking into. We knew what we wanted in a church, so that made the process a little easier.
DD: What were some of those things you were looking for? What type of research did you guys do?
Amy: We really wanted to go to a church that practiced believers baptism, preached the Word of God every single week, very biblically-focused, and we wanted small group ministries that we could get involved in.
DD: Is there one specific thing that guys appreciate most about Grace?
Justin: I would say the community as a whole; the camaraderie within the church family. Life Groups, building community, building family is huge here. It’s one of the 4 core value of the church. For me, that’s a big deal! People don’t need to go to church, sit through a service, give some money, and walk out. That doesn’t do you any good. Where it gets real is when you have opportunities to love people as Christ loves you..and also be loved by people as Christ loves you.
DD: What excites you guys about the next few years here at Grace?
Amy: I think that the way things are going now, people are just going to continue to grow. Baptisms are a sign of that. People are coming to Christ here! With the way Pastor Joel preaches, I think that people are just going to keep coming. But he also makes it a point to say, “You can’t just come here on Sunday. You have to…go out, spread the Word.”
Justin: We’ve got a pretty clear mission statement about equipping, worshiping, community, and mission. For me it’s all about seeing how that continues to play out. I don’t know much about the church, but I’m sensing that it has kind of been going through a rebuilding phase. Maybe not new things, but just the refocusing of things. That’s been going on since we’ve been here. I want to see how much farther it goes. I’d like to see more! More outreach, more things happening, and more people maturing to a place of leadership.
DD: What has God been teaching you in your time here at Grace?
Amy: I have become very passionate about prayer. I’m on the emergency prayer team. It’s unbelievable the amount of requests our church has. There’s been nights where I’ve woken up and thought, “Okay, I’ve gotta pray.” Personally, I’ve also always tried to be in the Word but I’m really trying to stick to the Bible in a year plan.
Justin: See, I’m not from the area. I’m from north west Illinois. So, when I got out of college coming up here was a pretty big step moving away from my family. I had about a 9 month stint where I didn’t go more than 12 hours without having a drink. It was becoming and addiction and it runs in my family. So, as you’ve probably heard me say enough already: I’ve been learning a lot about the importanace of community. Learning to rely on other people, pray over other people, and having other men keep you acccountable.