Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.

As I sit here and write this devotional, I and marvel at where I've been and where I am now. The journey started at another church but continues here at the Quest. From the moment I walked though the doors of the Quest, I felt like I was finally "home." I have never felt God in worship the way that I do at the Quest. It's as if He is breathing on me during the singing and during the message. I have never felt that before in worship.

I have also been blessed to meet some great people who genuinely care about me (and each other). I have been able to share my struggles and my past sins without fear of judgment. This community is nurturing my children to love God and follow Jesus. One of the most amazing things that I have witnessed is my daughter boldly exclaiming that she is a Christian and that she isn't going to change. When I was her age, church and God were the furthest thing from my mind. She has two friends that she brings to the youth group with her. They are welcomed with open arms. This is truly a caring community. I have found myself wanting to sit on the sidelines, but I have been unable to sit idly by; I have helped with mission opportunities, helping with the youth and to a lesser extent, the children. In the past, I have always felt that these things were a chore, but I actually have found myself enjoying them and wanting to do as much as I can to help in any area that I can.

The words to the song "Amazing Grace" actually ring true with me, and I can't help but shed a tear every time I hear it. It has been the nurturing, loving, caring, "real" people at the Quest that have made this possible. It is my hope that everyone who reads this has been able to have positive experiences at the Quest and with others.

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The last thing I need is to be heard, but to hear what you would say. Word of God speak, would you pour down like rain washing my eyes to see your majesty. To be still and know that you're in this place, please let me stay and rest in your holiness. I'm finding myself in the midst of you beyond the music, beyond the noise. All that I need is to be with you and in quiet hear your voice. ~Mercy Me

Still 1. Not moving: motionless and undisturbed 2. Quiet: subdued, gentle, or quiet 3. Silently or without motion: without sound or movement

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." (Psalm 46:10)

Still 1.Existing now 2.Even at this time 3.Even more 4. Nevertheless

"And surely I am (still) with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20b)

Quest is where I choose to worship God and His Holy Name. I thank God for The Quest Community and I thank him for the chance to be apart of a wonderful family. I experience God here so very often. Through chills of a song, or through the words shared and spoken that bring thoughtful emotions, I have gained understanding of what God wishes me to be. I am learning to trust in him and to obey his wants for me. I am finding his blessings of love and peace that is meant for me. God isn't finished. He isn't even close to being done, and he has many more things to show us all, but what we have to do is be still and listen.

Happy Birthday, Quest! God is blessing us all.

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The past couple of years at Quest have been a wonderful and exciting time in my spiritual life. I heard and answered the call I heard when John began to speak about Quest, and the people he intended to reach. He told me of his thirst to reach out to the "emerging" generation. I read some great books about this emerging, postmodern culture. I immediately felt that if the church didn't begin to change the way it interacted with this latest generation, that we could lose touch with the next generation. That next generation includes my kids, and my future grandkids. They didn't have to change, but I had to change my own views and actions in order to reach out to them.

I've learned a lot over these last few years at Quest. I've met a lot of young people who share an excitement with life, who want to experience all that this life has to give, and want to make a real impact on the world they live in. My thoughts about how to reach out and love other people has radically changed. The old church model was to try and offer up salvation, expect them to change, and then welcome them into fellowship with other believers. How wrong I was to have any thoughts that even resembled this approach, as I once did. Jesus demonstrates that we love and even accept others just the way they are, build relationships with them, freely express our own beliefs, pray over them, and allow God to make any change in them.

So during this part of my life's journey, I've learned to be more accepting of others. I've also learned to open myself to explore new ideas and new activities that I had not explored before. God has opened my heart and helps me to see the world around me in a different way than before I started on this journey with Quest. I look forward as our journey continues, wondering what God has in store just around the next corner. I believe He has big plans for us.

Dream big, and pray hard.

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I grew up in a traditional Methodist church. As a child, I have several descriptions of what church was to me; the place you had to go on Sundays, you had to dress in uncomfortable clothes, you had to be told what to pray to God, not one sermon stuck with me, and after the service we got to eat free snacks! Needless to say, my picture of church was not at all what Christ had intended. As I grew older, it had all become habitual. None of my experiences at church made me feel like God was there.

In my late teens, I was still in a traditional church and had yet to feel the Holy Spirit. One day, I heard about a retreat that was made for my age group. It was a 3 day event in the middle of nowhere. It sounded pretty interesting, so I went. That weekend, I left my old life behind me. That was the first time I had experienced the Holy Spirit. Through that experience, Jesus Christ had made me a new person.

On the final day of the 3 day retreat I was invited to a cell group that later led me to the Quest Church. The atmosphere of the Quest Church was exactly what my soul was seeking. From my first day at this new church, I knew that this is where God wanted me. I learned so much about what Christianity really was and I found out for the first time that I can actually have a real relationship with Jesus Christ! I thank God for showing me this church and I hope that everyone who is a part of this church finds a true, real relationship with Christ as I have.

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I think that the one word that could accurately describe how I felt about church for most of my life would be forced.

At first, that simply meant that I was forced to go. When I was little, every Saturday evening my family would go about our normal routines, and my sister and I would anxiously await the time that my parents would say whether or not church would be on the itinerary for the next day. When they confirmed that it was, we would groan and whine and complain. We didn't want to go.

Later, though, the feeling of being forced applied in that I felt church did not allow me to be myself, but instead forced me to be someone else. I had to act a certain way or I would not be accepted. Period. As a teenager and young adult, this was a painful realization; I had only recently begun the process of self-discovery, only to find that who I was would not be okay in a place that I had spent a large part of my life!

At Quest, though, I have had a different experience. Not only have I been allowed to be myself, but the community and experiences I have had here have actually helped me to figure out more of who I am. I've learned about my gifts and talents, and have found ways to use those in service to the Lord. I've learned about parts of my personality and character that I never understood. I've gotten to know people who see who I am....and accept me for that.

Growth is an unintentional thing. Given the right environment and conditions, people, animals, and plants grow freely, without much effort on their part. At Quest, nothing has been forced. I've been allow to grow freely in my spiritual walk with God, and that--to me--is what it should be all about.

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