Here is a testimony from Bill. Bill is now the Host Team Director for Watersedge Church. I am amazed by the stories of individuals like Bill, who God is using to build his His church.
I am humbled to be the Host Team director at WatersEdge. I am excited that God would use me to be a part of something so tremendous. I am looking forward to getting to know each of you and your “story” of how God has brought you to WatersEdge. I also am looking forward to ministering together with you, while we reach Pinellas County.
In the next few days I will be seeking your input on how you think we can best accomplish our Host Team mission, but first, let me tell you a little about my journey here.
I was raised in a Christian home and attended church regularly. When I moved away from home I was very involved with church and ran the youth group for years. Over the ensuing years I became more and more “uninterested” in the churches that I had attended. Not uninterested in God or Jesus Christ, more just “the church”. I drifted away.
A year or so ago I told my wife that I wanted to try to find us a new church. She was ecstatic! We visited a few churches, but I didn’t feel connected to any of them. Undeterred, I remained open and on task. Then God intervened. He tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Bill, I have a different path for you to follow, it is over here”.
A friend of mine who was in need of some help asked me to read a book that a fellow named Andy Stanley had given him. He wanted me to read it so we could talk about how he could use it to help him in his life. I knew about Andy Stanley and had known about what he was doing for a few years. I read the book (The Principle of the Path) that he wanted me to read. I loved the book , and I really enjoy the way that Andy makes everything relevant.
I started looking more into what Northpoint Community Church was doing and looked for a strategic partner nearby. The closest on their website was in Jacksonville, a little geographically undesirable for me.
Then came the real Divine Intervention. My wife was walking through her office and noticed that someone had that day posted some scripture in their office window. It was the same scripture as Andy Stanley had quoted and my wife had just read the night before in The Principle of the Path. She found out that that person was hosting a small group. We went that night, where I met Rick Bingham and arranged a lunch together. He told me what WatersEdge was doing.
But wait… there’s more!
I went on a trip to Atlanta to visit my daughter. Things “just happened to work out” (really more of God’s path) that I was able to visit Northpoint on a Sunday, where I “happened” to run into Andy Stanley and had a nice talk with him. What an AWESOME program they have going on. The people there, volunteers, members, adults, kids, and visitors have a fantastic experience each week. And, I am convinced that we can do the same here!
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