Four Years on Highway Nine

Many of you reading this know that I attend (and work at) Redeemer Church in Norman, Oklahoma. We have some big things coming up in the life of our church – on August 17, we are “relaunching” into a new location! In an attempt to follow God’s guidance for our congregation and be good stewards of the gospel to our community, we are going to begin meeting at Roosevelt Elementary on Sunday mornings. We are excited about what God is doing and how He is proving to be faithful!

Today was our last service at our current location. We had a time of celebration and remembrance of what God has done through our church in the last five years. Here is an “enhanced” version of the testimony I shared this morning of what Redeemer has meant to me.

 In 2008, I moved to Norman from a small town to attend the University of Oklahoma. I know many of you think that Norman is a small town, but trust me – you’re wrong. Anyway, I moved to Norman and did not know anyone at OU. I had grown up in the church and became a Christian at a young age, so I knew I wanted to get involved at church during college. However, that wasn’t as easy as I expected. For my first year of school, I did a lot of “church-shopping”, as many college students do. (I don’t necessarily recommend this kind of process, but that’s another conversation for another day). During my second year, I mostly stuck with one church, but I was never really connected outside of attending the service on Sunday. Though I was part of a campus ministry and had gotten into a good groove with school, work, and new friends, I was missing any connection to the local church and even the community outside of campus life.

At the beginning of my junior year (four years ago), I received an email from some guy named Andy about a new church that I had not heard of. Though the email was meant for freshmen who had attended an event I had served at, I decided to go ahead and check out this “Redeemer Church”. As the cliché goes, the rest is history. I remember sitting in a row those first few Sundays behind two couples (the Thagards & the Koons). Each week, they greeted me, asked me about myself, and made me feel comfortable. (To this day, I still sit in that row behind them.) From the first Sunday here, I felt loved & welcomed, which was important for an introvert like me. A few weeks later, I met Andy for a cup of coffee to ask questions about the church. I soon found something that I had not found so easily at other churches – opportunities to immediately serve & be a part of what God was doing. For me, that at first meant serving in the nursery. That opened up the door for many other opportunities I have had at Redeemer, from serving on the worship team, to working as a summer intern, to going to Haiti with a Redeemer team, and even to being on staff.

When Andy asked me to share what Redeemer has meant to me, it didn’t take me long to come up with a myriad of things, but there are three in particular that stick out.

First, I have learned more about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how it applies to my life in this church than in any place I’ve been.  A while back, Molly Floyd and I were having a conversation. She made the comment that her “gospel fluency” had dramatically increased since being at Redeemer. I love the way she put that, and I couldn’t agree more. We hear the word “gospel” a lot a Redeemer, but it is not a word we simply toss around; rather, we continue to come back to the gospel because we believe that what Christ has done is the most important thing in all of life. Not only am I continually better able to articulate to others the meaning of the gospel, but I am also better able to understand the love and faithfulness of Christ toward me. Each week with Redeemer affirms the gospel as the only true and good way, and I need those constant reminders.

Second, I have learned what is means for a church family to really function as a family. I have a wonderful family who raised me to follow Christ; however, they do not live here. I do not see them often. But Redeemer Church has transformed into an extension of my family. Whether it’s through Regroups, gospel coaching, or just everyday life, I learn so much through the members of this church. They have loved me during some rough times, and, like a family, have celebrated with me in the good times. I continue to find myself surprised at the amount of grace I encounter in this church because it is unlike anywhere else. People are kind and loving; and even when we mess up and aren’t so kind and loving, we get to see forgiveness and mercy through the power of Christ. It makes it easy to invite people in to this fellowship because it just feels like bringing them home. And a cool bonus - now I am blessed to get to share this family with my sister, Kelsey!

Finally, I have learned what it means to seek the good of the city in which you live. As I mentioned above, during college I was part of a campus ministry that had a great outreach to students both in Norman and overseas. However, Redeemer has expanded and filled in that understanding by showing me what it means to minister to the rest of life: my neighbor, coworker, waitress, family member, barista, or any other person in the community. I have learned why people at Redeemer are so willing to serve and are filled with joy; because in serving others, we are serving Christ, who is worthy of everything. That joy is clearly Christ-given and Christ-driven, and it has been a blessing to serve alongside Redeemer.

During my four years here, I have had opportunities to be a part of this church in many unique ways. I am grateful for each member of the church. I am so excited for our upcoming move because I know what being a part of this church has meant to my walk with Christ. All of the hard work, prayer, and sacrifice given to this body of believers is worth it if even just one person is shown a picture of who God is and what He has done. Many people sacrificed to plant this church in the first place, and it is still impacting my life. I want to be a part of something with that kind of impact for God’s glory.