Dana’s Story

I was born in China, a country where there is no religion, where having faith is the equivalent of committing a crime.  Throughout my childhood, I have never heard of Jesus or Christianity.  The often challenged Christian friends I did have by asking them “if a person was born and raised on a remote island with no knowledge of Christianity then how can Jesus save him?”  I asked this question because in a way I felt like that person on the remote island. Although I came to the US during my middle school years it wasn’t until college that I first learned about Jesus.  By then, I was so rooted in my own ways that I saw no need for him in my life.  To me, life was fully within my control.  I worked hard to get into a top-tier business school, obtained my “dream” job, and was making a good living.  But as I moved through life I constantly felt this void in me.  It was a feeling of emptiness, a sense of being lost. Instead of asking myself why I was feeling that way I compensated by running faster in the rat race of life.

Everything changed in the fall of 2010 when my Dad was diagnosed with stage III pancreatic cancer.  Suddenly life was no longer within my control.  I felt helpless.  I didn’t know what to do or who to turn to but for some reason I felt a need to go to church.  I began attending the Sunday service at Park and since I had very little knowledge of God and Jesus I decided to give Alpha a try.  I didn’t know what to expect when I signed up for Alpha but after the first class I was hooked.  It was as if the objectives and curriculum of the course were designed just for me.  What Alpha offered was the answers to the questions I have been asking my whole life but didn’t know where to go to get them.  I really looked forward to each week’s session where I had the opportunity to learn about God and faith and discuss the learning with a group of like-minded individuals who shared the same questions as me.  After the 10-week course, I walked away from Alpha with new faith and friendships.

After an eleven-month battle with cancer my Dad passed away in October of 2011.  I miss him very much.  But through this struggle God revealed Himself to me.  Now I understand that those voids I felt before can never be filled with the things I was chasing after.  The only way to fill those voids and be at peace is through Jesus.  It is only through his grace and forgiveness that I can finally step out of life’s constant rat race and just simply be grateful.

I understand now that we cannot save ourselves.  We are not in control of our lives.  We will always sin and stray and the only person that can save us is Jesus.  Knowing how Jesus makes me want to be more like him in the things I do.  Through Jesus, I can see this world more clearly and can put things into better perspective.  I also realized that I was never that person on a remote island isolated from God.  Even in the most unlikely places, God was always there with me.   My journey to faith is a clear testament to the boundary-less love and grace of God.

If you come to Park, no matter which campus or service you attend, you’ll notice a large white candle lit at the front of the stage each week. We call it the Jesus Candle and it represents the Light of Christ.  When you see a small candle lit around it, it signifies that someone in our community has made a decision to step across the line of faith and is now a follower of Jesus. This past weekend, we had the privilege of lighting two candles, representing the lives of two women at Park.  WE LOVE THIS STUFF. Read on and be encouraged as you read their stories and of the hope and promise found in the grace of our loving God. 

This past weekend over 800 people in our church gathered to celebrate the baptisms of 67 people in our community and the great things God is doing in our city.

Check out the celebration that took place, and continue to celebrate with us daily!

Below you will find our Baptism Video, a link to pictures captured throughout the day, and the link to download audio of the sermon.

Click here to see more photos from the day!

Click here to see photos of baptism and the festival.

Click here to see all the #ParkSummerFest action on Twitter.

Click here to watch video of Jackson’s message from John 20.

Click here to download audio of Jackson’s messages or subscribe to our podcast in iTunes.

My journey in becoming a Christian has been eye opening, heartwarming and very exciting.

I was raised Jewish and have been for 45 years. While not practicing my religion and only going to temple on the holidays, I did not have a grasp on religion in general so to be honest, it was not a big part of my life. I thought I was fulfilled, but I also knew something was missing. When I was just 25, my father passed away suddenly. I was devastated. Needing to understand the whereabouts of my father’s spirit had me searching for meaning of a higher being as his death had left a hole within me that couldn’t be filled.

I have always had faith; I just wasn’t sure where that faith was being directed. It carried me through many relationships in my life and I believed that when one relationship ended there were lessons to be learned and I needed to be patient for the right man to come along. I did not marry until I was 43 years old. I knew I wanted to wait until I met someone who inspired me, taught me things I never knew and would continually challenge me.

Then, God brought me what I needed at the time I needed it most, while not even knowing it.

Just six months after our wedding, in May 2009, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given a 1-2 year survival diagnosis. We were devastated. How can this be happening? With no time to think about anything else but putting my affairs in order and getting the best medical treatment possible, my husband and I embarked on a difficult journey. I’m a fighter and I had just found the love of my life, I wasn’t about to let anyone take me away from him. I was going to fight and I realized I needed someone other than my husband, family and friends to help me win this battle.

Then entered God.

I remember praying many times in my life, but never really knew whom I was praying to. I did have faith in a “god” although it was just kind of floating around in my head. I always yearned for knowing a god that wanted to help and take care of the things that I could not. I did not take the time to learn and educate myself about who God truly is until now.

My husband, who was also Jewish with no real religious following, had the same yearnings for spirituality and something bigger than himself so he started reading the Bible like a man on a mission (no pun intended)! The day of my surgery my husband and I found ourselves at peace, we felt God was at our side. We believed that there were greater things ahead for us and we would get through this.

Although God had entered both of our lives when I became ill, there was still something missing – a yearning for more.

At the time I didn’t know it, but the Holy Spirit must have been speaking to me because there was a yearning to be attached to something. I reached out to a good friend who attended Park and that was our introduction in taking the next step. We were apprehensive about going to a church because of our upbringing, but found that Park changed our perspective on what church and community is. It was so refreshing to hear about God and Jesus in a way that we understood. After that service, we were then introduced to the Alpha Program.

In Hebrews 11:1 it says, Faith is the confidence that we hope for will actually happen: it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.   After the fourth session of Alpha when we learned about the Holy Spirit, I was very comfortable opening my heart and accepting Jesus Christ into my life.

After that weekend I told my husband that I now had joined him in becoming a Christian and wanted to know if he was ready for us to get baptized. I also asked if he wanted to renew our vows this coming May at Park with Jackson – we have come know, love and respect him. After my husband almost drove the car off the road in amazement, he said “YES!”

As I’ve witnessed throughout the past 3 years, I have had so many blessings in my life and truly believe God is watching over me. There is a plan for me and it’s not time for me to go to heaven just yet as I still have a lot of work to do on this earth. And now with Jesus as my guide – it all takes on new meaning.

It’s been just a few months since we have been coming to Park and since having taken the step of faith and accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. My life is now taking on new meaning and life feels “lighter” and looks much “brighter.”

My husband Scott and I are so excited for the future and this new journey together and to grow with the community at Park – a newfound excitement that is burning within.

Thank you all – God bless,

Diana

I was born and raised in a Jewish home and had a bar mitzvah at age 13. In my teenage years, my father left us and I developed a hardened heart and became an atheist for the next 32 years of my life. I was re-married just 3 years ago to my soul mate, Diana – who was also Jewish. Just 6 months after our wedding, Diana was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. My whole life I had dealt with issues on my own, but this was something that brought me to my knees because I had no control over it. About the same time my 25-year-old son – whom I shamefully say had I no influence on spiritually – informed me he had joined the Catholic Church after exploring Buddhism. I felt very sad in that I could not help him or add anything to that part of his spiritual life. To add salt to my wounds, I had been out of work for several years due to the economy. With no income, my new wife diagnosed with a life threatening disease, a son going down a path I did not understand and a father I didn’t have a relationship with, I didn’t know where to turn.

A friend of mine suggested that I “put my trust in the Lord and turn to prayer and stop worrying.” My only response was, “I have no idea what to do with that or what that means” as I stared off blankly into space. It got me thinking and I realized I had tried everything I know how to do it on my own, and that wasn’t working. Time for change. So… my journey began.

After picking up a Bible for the first time at age 47, I started reading with apprehension. I spent afternoons in the bookstore going up and down Christianity isles trying to understand what I didn’t know, which was just about everything. I then began to feel God’s presence guide and comfort me through the pain I was experiencing. I prayed to God and even did a David fast before my wife’s surgery and God delivered, big time. My wife had a very successful operation and to this day is winning the war against cancer! Around that time I became overwhelmed with the need to reach out to my father whom I had not spoken to in 15 years. Something came to me and told me to forgive him. So we met and I had to do the hardest thing ever; confront him after all this time and forgive him: I said I was wrong. I said I was sorry. I asked if he would forgive me and if we could start new. We embraced and wept. That night I felt the Holy Spirit flood me as I dreamed of a new life ahead.

I then became more and more intrigued with prayer and “this guy named Jesus.” Needless to say, I went from a 30-some year atheist to now believing and praying to God and had a thirst for so much more. I was still missing something though – the feeling of wanting to share my new world with others. I approached my wife (who was still Jewish) and told her what I had been experiencing unsure if she was ready to hear about my journey and the speed at which it was taking place. That couldn’t have been further from the truth! She embraced my newfound spiritual life and wanted to join me. We both started praying before every dinner meal and giving thanks.

Our faith was growing day by day and I felt it was time to find a community that would allow us to grow. So, my next move (I realized God was using me to bring my wife along so I became the trailblazer) was to start trying out different local churches. I went to several in my neighborhood and none of them had the energy, message or congregation I felt comfortable joining given my infancy in the journey. Then one day, just a couple months ago, a good friend of my wife’s said they were going to Park and Diana asked if we could join them for a service. So, God took over as my wife suggested it to me! God was definitely speaking to both of us loud and clear!

Our first service was just this past January. All I can say is…wow. THIS is what I have been looking for and didn’t even know it. Young and vibrant, thirsty for the truth, loaded with historical references (OT and NT) – and the deal closer for my wife – VISUALS with historic facts to back the bible verses! Just after the service we were greeted by Bret, he heads up the Connections Ministry, and he handed me a pamphlet about Park 101. I had a million questions but started with “Do you guys have an adult Sunday school for dummies?” He said we would love the Alpha program. So, we joined that Tuesday.

Alpha has been exactly what we were thirsty for. From the leaders to the wonderful people in our group, the experience has been warm and inviting. We love it and are excited to go every Tuesday and as my wife said to me “I am looking forward to church on Sunday.” Wow! Who are we??! We have become believers. I feel like I am drinking through a fire hose!

During this process we both took a step of faith and accepted Jesus Christ into our lives as Lord and Savior. Afterwards, my life felt much lighter, more positive and I have dropped that angry feeling and heaviness – it’s like I just found out they invented air-conditioning! I now understand what is meant by having Jesus carry my load.

I never in a million years would have guessed that our lives would take us here and we both have so much more we want to learn and experience in Christ. We wanted to be baptized on Easter to celebrate our newfound faith and also renew our wedding vows in our newfound church on our upcoming 3-year anniversary. We thank God for the path He has us on and I just wanted to personally thank all those involved with Park for opening your arms and making a welcoming environment for two new “Christian Jews” and looking forward to our continued journey together.

God Bless You All,
Scott Roth

By Kevin Howells, Pastor of Small Groups here at Park.

A big family is a fun family

I’m convinced families with 4 or more kids in the house always have something fun going on!

And that’s how it was at the Regualos home.  Growing up, I feel like their home was practically my second home.  Rey and I were the same age, and when he went off to West Point (over achiever!), I hung out with his younger brother, Jayme, more frequently.  As we got into high school and college, we were more mobile (conveniently showing up around meal time) and less tied to their home.  Before we’d leave for the evening, their dad would ask, “did you feed the animals”?

Feed my my sheep

I knew exactly what that meant.  Did they feed the sheep?  They always had 20-30 sheep on their land.

John 10 gives a great reminder of sheep, and more importantly, shepherds.  Jesus makes the strong statement in verse 14, “I am the good shepherd.  I know my own and my own know me”.

That is a powerful statement.  But it’s true.  Shepherds know their sheep and sheep know their shepherds voice.  Park is blessed with great shepherds.  Among them is our 350+ (gulp, yes we have that many) small group leaders.  As elders, we’ve entrusted  shepherding our people to their care.

It’s a daunting responsibility.  But is oh, so important.  Providing direction and protection, knowing them (and knowing them well!), guiding and directing them.

Sheep need a shepherd

What does this look like? The list seems endless.  It’s the email, the text, or the phone call when you’re going through a difficult season, it’s rearranging schedules to be there and hang out after a rough breakup.  It’s providing a meal when the first (or second, or third) baby arrives.  But it’s also the protection a good shepherd provides to their small group.  It’s praying for them and praying with them.

Serve & Protect

There’s safety in numbers, sheep naturally wander, and then trouble can come.  A shepherd keeps them in the flock.  And a shepherd keeps predators away.  A shepherd protects from heresy, false doctrine, false teaching…the wolves that can all too easily attack sheep.  Shepherds keep challenging their sheep to grow.  To be confirmed more and more into the likeness and image of Christ Jesus.

Leading and Feeding

In short, this comes from leading and feeding them well.

Wow, what a privilege Lisa Bishop and I have to work with our small group shepherds who are carefully watching over the sheep entrusted to their care.  Wow, what a great opportunity we all have to submit to the Great Shepherd who brings us life abundantly!

Are you shepherding someone?

Who are you being shepherded by?

Leave a comment below…

Post written by Kevin Howells, the Pastor of Small Groups here at Park.

This past weekend Jackson pushed forward in our series in the book of John as he showed us a clear description of what a life looks like before being transformed by the Gospel, and what it should look like after. We take a look at the healing of the blind man and how that compares to our lives after being transformed. Also, Jason LaLonde shares his powerful story of how God came into His life and completely turned him around.

Watch the video above, download the audio, or subscribe to our podcast in iTunes.

You can also follow along with Jackson’s teaching notes.

Do you have questions about what Jackson is teaching? Leave a comment below, or ask us by clicking here.

The Park Ski Retreat is back and better than ever.  Last year we kicked things up a notch with some sweet condos, amazing worship, and as always great community. We’d love to have you join us this year!

You must register by Sun, Feb 19

Click here to register today!

Click here to learn more about Alpha and the class that is happening right now.