There are many people who feel empty inside because they do not believe that their life really matters. The reason for that is found in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." There is a God ordained purpose for our lives. At Rocky Mount Church of the Nazarene, we strive to bring people to the place where they can use the gifts and abilities God has given them in a way that will enable them to know that their lives really do matter.
The stories included on this page are stories of ordinary people who have discovered, through the unique church that we are, that their lives really do matter. If you are looking for a place where you can know that your life matters, we invite you to visit with us and see how your life to can matter in things that really do count.
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A Place To Discover I Matter Deeper Life March 1, 2009: Rev. Mark Eby
When her name comes up on the caller I.D. my family jokingly says it is my 'other' daughter. I first met her and her little sister at Sunday School and began picking them up for Caravan on Wednesday evening when I realized they live fairly close to me. With my own three daughters grown, the last one away at college, I enjoy hearing about her day at school or which boy she might like or her worries about the quiz meet coming up. She can talk so grown sometimes. I try to encourage her like I would my own. Since she started calling with homework questions, especially math, I find I'm as excited about her E.O.G. test scores as she is. Just recently I've learned more about the metric system myself than I ever had to learn in school, haha. Getting involved outside of church takes a little extra time, but its a joy to feel needed even in a little thing like a millimeter.
For the past few months, I have had the privilege to "be there" for a teen that really needed someone to just "be there." He was going through a very rough dark time in his life, a tragedy he simply was not prepared to handle yet had no choice but to handle. Sometimes he needed someone to listen while other times he needed to know someone cared about him. At first, he would call me several times a week. Sometimes he would ask for advice, sometimes he needed to know there was hope, and sometimes he just needed to vent.
He has made it through this life challenge and is stronger now. We still talk at least once a week. He knows that he is loved with the awesome unconditional "Love of God." He also knows that no matter what decisions he makes with his life, I will be there to support him and to cheer him on.
For the past few years I have also had the chance to work with all the teens at church. Many of our teens come to church on Wednesday nights because they are picked up by the Church Van or by a Church member on their way to Wednesday night church. There were many times that I felt a few of them simply did not want to be there or were not even sure why they were there.
However, in the past year, those teens have gone from sitting in a corner listening to becoming involved. They are the first to reach for a Bible and volunteer to read. They take part in lessons by asking questions, by reading, and even by giving their thoughts and feelings on the subject we are studying. They have even started memorizing God's word.
There has been one or two Wednesday nights (okay....maybe three or four) when I simply did not feel like going to church. The day has been too much and I just want to stay home. However, after being at church for a few minutes, I know why I am there. When the teens share their prayer requests, when they quickly take part in my "silly games," when they open their Bibles and read God's word, when they ask questions or share what they think the scripture is saying, when they get quite and close their eyes in prayer.....then I feel that maybe, just maybe I have made a difference in some of their lives. Maybe, just maybe, they see God's unconditional love flow through me to them.
All of my life I have worked at one time or another in secretarial positions out in the “real world where things were a lot different. There were no such things as computers, faxes and scanners. I had Dictaphones and not so complicated copy machines. This was before we moved to NC 18 years ago.
Since then, things have changed for me. My children grew up, got married and had kids of their own. I finally quit work and became a stay at home Grandma, doing everything I could for my Grandkids. I loved having my Grandkids come around, I was needed; however, I still missed being around “big people”. Danny has always been a hard worker and never at home and when he is home, well, you know the story. Especially now that he’s an OTR truck driver.
After a while, I learned that help was needed in the church office and I wondered if I should volunteer. This would be so different for me. It would involve the dreaded “computer”. I knew a little about computers, but my knowledge was still very small. I was better at paper work. Well, I signed on as a volunteer and I’ve never regretted a single day.
Being in the church office has made me feel like I am important. Someone needs me other than my family. It has been a joy working with Marie, for she has become a very close and personal friend. I love working with Pastor Mark. So many times I’ve come in feeling down, but he helps to cheer me up and I leave feeling so much better. Pastor Mark and I joke and carry on so much. Marie has often remarked at the way we get along so well. I love to laugh and we do a lot of that in the office. Laughter is the best medicine and I have had a lot of that in the past three years. I love talking to those who call or drop by the church. It has made me feel close to everyone in Church. Not just a few. Before I started working in the office, I felt like I could never work again, that I was getting old and too dumb to learn anything new. After three years, I still wonder (and so does Pastor Mark), but I have made progress. I feel like a totally different person. I feel alive for the first time in years. I have always had a close relationship with God, but moving here from WV 18 years ago was a terrible transition and I felt like God had abandoned me. Of course a lot of that has changed over the years but since I’ve been working in the office these last three years, well, let’s just say that it’s been the icing on the cake. I finally matter.
A number of years ago our previous pastor asked me if I would be willing to serve on the church board as head of the Worship/Music Committee. My initial reaction was cool...I would be glad to. Music had always been an important part of my life, I kept up with the latest Christian music and the Pastor wanted to move the Church in a more contemporary direction. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to use my small amount of talent and knowledge for the Church.
It didn't take very long for me to realize that worship can be divisive, rather than uniting. We had and still do have a congregation of people from different backgrounds and certainly with varied musical tastes as well as distinctions in what worship should be and how it should look. As I thought and prayed over time about how best to go about my responsibility it occurred to me that it is NOT my or our responsibility as a Worship Team to "cause" people to worship. Worship is not synonymous with music. Music is mentioned in the Bible as one way to worship, but Jesus exemplified many ways of worshiping - through obedience, teaching, reading, quoting scripture, prayer, fasting, and giving. It is the responsibility of the Worship Team to set an atmosphere that allows for and is conducive to all of these forms of worship. The true worship leader is Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit cannot be manufactured or summoned up by singing a particular song. True worship begins with the individual being obedient by allowing the Holy Spirit to communicate with and work through them on an individual basis.
Having said all of that, I believe what I do as a leader and what we do as a group does make a difference in the worship of our congregation. Simply put, I feel we help to foster an atmosphere whereby the unchurched can sense an unthreatening environment in which to have their first real personal interaction with Jesus and within that same atmosphere allow for the more mature Christian to have meaningful dialogue with the Holy Spirit. I thank God for the opportunity to matter.
I knew in January, 2006 that God wanted me of all places in Rocky Mount , NC . I knew because He opened the doors that needed to open for me to be able to attend NC Wesleyan College. Once I arrived on campus I began to search for body of believers where I could be encouraged and find opportunities to serve Christ. As a child I was raised to understand that if I, as an individual, did not seek out opportunities to actively serve the Lord and others I would fall into selfishness and pride. It was at this time I plugged myself into a campus ministry and to the Rocky Mount Church of the Nazarene.
As time progressed I felt the Lord calling me to get actively involved with the campus ministry at NC Wesleyan and I soon found my self in a leadership position. The campus had over time developed into a spiritual desert and I felt God calling me take the initiative and unite the Christians who were on campus, whether they were students, staff members or professors. Over the next year the Lord allowed me With the help of the chaplain, I began to gather the Christians on campus together and throughout the course of the next year, Christians on campus were able to meet weekly, encourage one another, pray, and dig in to God's word.
Throughout this experience I know that God had opened all the doors and provided me with an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of the people around me.
"Brenda Bowden please step forward."
"Yes, my Lord."
"I see you've served in many ways in my Name."
"Yes, Jesus."
"What would you say was your most fruitful, meaningful area of service?"
"Well, Jesus, it brought me great joy to be the friend to others that you chose me to be. I had great satisfaction through praying and sensing your power & approval through your answers. You thrilled my soul with the gifts of my husband, sons & grandson. Your never ending patience with me while directing me in your will was indescribable. But I have to say that the times you allowed me to plant the Gospel seed in the souls of my Sunday school students and saw you reap the harvest of new born believers were cloud nine experinces."
"Yes, there will be souls here because you listened when I burdened your heart to teach. Many souls passed through your life in those classes but you definitely mattered to Adamaris Garcia, Jasmine Taylor, Stephon McNair, Alyssa Baiseden-Hunter, & Shannon Warren on December 21, 2008 when each of them opened their hearts to receive me as their Savior during Sunday school."
"Yes, Jesus. Their eternity was changed that day they said 'Yes' to you. I believe it mattered to be a part of the process of showing them how to continue to live for you as some of them participated in the discipleship classes. It was my prayer that their lives would matter to the lost souls in their worlds. That each of them would live in obedience to your will because disobedience has eternal consequences.
May these souls represent some of the jewels in my crown that I now offer at your feet as I praise and worship you forever."
When I look at what I am doing with my life, I find myself spending a lot of time working at the church. I always life to be busy, and maybe you would say I am use to always doing something. Maybe even say I like to be in the spot light. This is far from the truth. I am not looking for recognition of the things that "I do". What I am looking forward to is when Jesus tells me, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
So, with all that said, "Why is it important to run a projector and show words to music, scriptures, or a power point of the sermon? You can always expect people to learn songs from hearing, bring their bibles to look up the scripture, and stay awake when the pastor is speaking. That would be wonderful if everyone was so efficient, but that just isn't how people are. Before we had the projector, you could count on one hand those in the sanctuary that actually looked up the scripture being read. Now when it is not up on the big screen I notice people missing the ability to read the scripture for themselves. This tells me that it is making a difference. We have people who are reading their scripture. What a difference.
I also notice a great change in the quizzers that keep learning God's word. I am amazed about how much these children learn. Even a kindergartener can memorize scripture! We have children learning about how God is faithful to those who obey his commands. My hope is that through quizzing that God can bring up new leaders in our church, our community, and our country. God is faithful, he gives us these little things to show us that what we do matters to him.
But what if I was unwilling to do these things? What would happen? Would God find someone else? I always remind myself, if God asks me to do something, he knows the reason why. If I tell him no, there is no guarantee that there is a "someone else". If I tell God no, then there may be a life out there that could have been changed, but they continue to live a life without Jesus because I said no to God. I'd rather not know that someone went to hell because I was not willing to do my part.
So, is what I do at Rocky Mount Church of the Nazarene changing the lives of others? YES! I may not see the end results here on earth, but when I am in heaven, I will be glad to see those who are there because I said "YES!" to what God asked.
I Matter 
