Fellowship Memphis

Rachel (far right) with her community group on the day of her baptism.

Growing up in a Christ-centered home, I assumed that my understanding of Jesus was a genuine faith. But when life’s storms came, the foundation that I thought I had dissolved into sand. In college, as my experience broadened, my religion seemed legalistic and narrow-minded. I made a few attempts to connect to Christian communities; all to find the masked, smiling faces left me feeling like an outsider. So I buried my confusion and made a new life for myself in the world. Fast-forward seven years, and I was drowning in a sea of apathy and despair; I felt empty, purposeless, and indifferent. I knew I was created for more! So I reached out to the godly family who never left me, quit my job, and moved back to Memphis. I attended Fellowship with my parents, and I was struck and encouraged by the genuineness I saw and the powerful Gospel preached. For the first time in years, I was inspired to open my Bible; one of the first things I read was Proverbs 1:22: “How long…will you love being simple-minded?” I felt God pierce an arrow into my soul. Through a wondrous discovery of Scripture, conversations with family, and Truth-filled sermons, God began transforming my heart and mind; until one Sunday I realized I had no more excuses. I understood my aching need that only Jesus could fill and wanted to be a citizen of His kingdom, not of this world. So as an outward gesture of my surrender to His control over my life, I walked down and took communion for the first time in seven years, my heart overflowing with gratitude to my Redeemer. Becoming a part of my parents’ community group at Fellowship, I began to be built up in my faith, realizing the invaluable support of a community of believers. A few weeks later, I felt God telling me to testify to His transformation of my life by being baptized, and my entire community group showed up at my uncle’s backyard pool. It was a precious picture of the body of Christ in action, and what Fellowship is all about: sharing in His joyful redemption of our souls and desiring to glorify Him with our lives.