Baptism 2025

Andy’s story

Captivate isn't my first church, but my third. I was raised in a Catholic house hold, and every Sunday morning my family attended the church connected to my primary school. I never remember ever being exactly willing to go, prefering to stay home and play or sleep in. Needless to say I, never had an interest in learning, remembering or understanding anything that I heard. Eventually these mandatory church visits ended, and church became more of a school event, still with the same bored mindset of "I could be doing something else". 

Sometime in early highschool I met my mate Matthew. At the time I didn't know he was Christian, but after a few years of getting to know him, he invited me along to his church. While the idea of church was still a little off putting to me, the thought of hanging out with some friends seemed to tip the scales a little. At that time, to me, church was more of a social affair, but I was a little more willing to learn. I thought becoming a Christian required hearing a call from God, so I thought I was missing something, maybe it wasn't for me after all. Covid came, lockdowns put a hold on things and I never really thought about going back

Years passed, occasional existential thoughts like "what really happens after I die?" and "why am I here?" were things I had a really difficulty answering. I was caught up in the world and it's view on not just Christianity, but religion as a whole. Not against it, but more as something I don't need to concern myself with. But Chloe invited me here during the open house on death (great sell, I know) and challenged me to look at it seriously and make a real decision. I agreed for two reasons; first because I felt like being dismissive would've been an insult to however much courage it took her to invite me, and second because I knew I could've been more serious in my last church, maybe there was something I missed, something I just didn't understand. 

Open house ended and the life course was brought up, I signed up and had some very productive one-on-ones with Alan. Through it all I had a (probably more brutal than necessary) look at myself. Was I missing something? Was there something wrong with me? Why did it seem like everyone around me could have such strong convictions to something they've never seen with their own eyes, felt with their own hands, heard with their own ears? There had to be an answer somewhere. Then I heard Tim was offering to read the Bible with me.

I'll admit, first week was confronting, but it was helpful. I can't remember the exact wording, but something about a spiritual block I had put there myself, and a lot about how I measure what I trust. We ended up reading through Matthew, mainly because it was written by a physician that travelled around and took accounts of events from people who were around to witness them, and slowly my thought processes started to shift. I started to see what I had taken for granted; the people I had that have been beside me to help me along, the life that I have and the very ground I walk on have all been gifts from God, gifts that I can never deserve. A God that saved me from myself through the sacrifice of his only son. 

One of the final pieces of the puzzle was thinking about the bigger things that I do believe in, namely how this universe we find ourselves in started. At first it was just as something being born from nothing can't happen, so something must have caused it, but it is also something I never saw, heard or touched, just something I had read about and heard others explain, the exact same as the story of Jesus' life death and resurrection.

My first real prayer to God was at the end of Christmas in the park, after I had come to terms of how broken I really was, and how much I needed God's help even though I didn't deserve it. I've only just started my journey, so there's plenty that I still have to learn, but I know I'm not doing it alone anymore. It is by grace that I am saved, through faith - though not on my own, it is a gift from God - not by works.