New Life Church Crondall

My name is Graham Smith and I am one of the leaders at the New Life Church. If titles are your bag then mine is Elder, though some people call me Pastor. It is a position I take seriously in that it holds great responsibility, particularly before the God I love. It’s a title and position that comes with high expectation both with the members of the church and from God, but it is also a position of privilege. Although I have been called to this by the church and I believe God, it is one I take with soft open hands, grateful for the trust and esteem that put me here. It is not all serious though, because serving Jesus and his church is one that brings great joy, many laughs and great fulfilment as we seek and find Gods will in following Jesus.

 I became a Christian when I was 15; it seems a long time ago now. It came about through the testimony or life story of a young woman who shared how she found Jesus. She talked about how Jesus had answered some of the very serious questions she had about life – why was she here? Where was she going? What happens when we die?  These were all questions I had. She talked about how God knew her and in great detail. She talked about how God has a plan for our lives, that his plan is to prosper us not to harm us. She talked about how Jesus came to die to pay for the sins of the world, including ours and that if we believed or put our faith in him i.e. trusted him, we would live forever with him when he comes back, because although he died on the cross, three days later he rose again and now he is alive. That’s how he knows us – because he is alive; and how he guides us through our lives to accomplish Gods plan for us. None of this would be possible if he were dead.

I have to say that all she said made perfect sense to me. Something inside me said this is it. This woman said that if we wanted to know Jesus and follow him then we should put our hands up and she would pray and Jesus would come. My hand went straight up and she prayed and Jesus came. I have followed him ever since. I have found all she said to be true. Since then I have read the bible and continue to do so and find all that it says to be true – some of what it says is hard to understand, but there’s enough to understand that settles it every time for me. I don’t fully understand electricity but when I push the switch the lights comes on, to coin a phrase that’s what happens when we believe in Jesus – the lights come on.

 My position here is not full time, in that I have a business I run full time. The reality though, is that the business is really part time and being a Christian and an Elder is full time because this is my life. Many things demand our time. Many things crowd us in and at times take over but there is only one thing that is really important. We get caught up in the here and now, the immediate pleasure and desire, often not realising that the truly valuable is being lost while we spend ourselves on the temporary and then it’s too late. The only one true important priority is Jesus and our relationship with him. My role is to do what that young woman did, share my story, help others in the church to share theirs and to help those who don’t yet have a story concerning Jesus to start one. This always has a happy ending.