Tom Hartwell's Testimony

Tom Hartwell's Testimony
As I read the words of all the testimonies posted on this site a fact was reaffirmed to me that brought me to tears.

At 308 South Russell, stands an empty building. It is an attractive place, complete with steeple, stained glass windows, many new rooms and a huge gym. It was indeed built to be a house of God, but it is just a huge, empty, building, UNTIL, these dear people step into it! Then it becomes a CHURCH, -"OUR CHURCH"! Full of people we love, people we trust, people that we are always happy to see. There are people here that we have literally trusted with the lives of our children, trusting that they will be taught about Jesus in the way that they should be taught. We trust that when our child makes a commitment to Christ that their little minds are cultivated, watered and nurtured so they will grow stronger in the ways of the Lord.

We have so many loving, talented people that it's hard to list them all. We have teachers, preachers, singers, musicians, nursery workers, cooks, laborers, encouragers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, missionaries, someone to represent almost every skill that you can think of!

Most importantly, these people are here not only because the church has something to offer them, but because they have something to offer the church! The church doesn't EXIST without talented people who WANT to work for Jesus!

You are so grateful for your salvation and for all the blessing that God bestows on you that you WANT to work for Him so other people will experience the same thing. That is EXACTLY the way God intended it to be!! What if God gave His Son to die for us, and nobody cared?!! But YOU PEOPLE CARE!!

I've seen you all cry and suffer when one of our dear friends is called home but that is only as it should be. I've seen it written..."We enter this world crying while our friends stand around us smiling. We should try to live our lives so that when we leave this world smiling our friends stand around us crying."

You guys all demonstrate that kind of love, a kind of love that all churches do not have!I have felt this love grow stronger because of these revival preparations.While I think there is no better church than this one, I think God is in the process of showing us that we have become complacent about getting lost people here to hear the message that all of you are working so hard to share. I believe we will do better at that in the future. They are not here only because they haven't been asked.

I have been a member here for almost 60 years. I think about my CHURCH often, and always with pleasure.