The new year started with a difficult journey for our family. For over two months, we struggled with various illnesses. In January, our family got sick with influenza A  and Julian ended up in the hospital for five days, due to a high fever. Fortunately, he returned home without any complications.

Leadership Team in our Church

Working on the leadership team isn't just about discussing pressing issues in the church and crises, but above all, about the direction of the community. It's a constant search for God's will regarding where our Lord is leading us. I wanted to share what we've been working on in recent months in the church leadership team. During our discussions about the direction the church should take, we arrived at four values:

1. Christ at the Center: We build our lives on a living, personal relationship with Jesus, striving for daily transformation into His likeness.

2. Discipleship and Calling: We create a culture of purposeful growth that challenges and helps everyone discover spiritual gifts and fulfill their individual calling.

3. Spiritual Home: We are a community committed to God and each other, where no one lives for themselves, and everyone finds a safe place to grow.

4. Mission: We make proclaiming the Good News a way of life, demonstrating courageous initiative toward new people and reaching the world in a way that makes sense.

We see that we've already managed to implement some of these things in our community. However, we want to be more intentional, ensuring that everything we do in the church is subordinated to these four values. We're currently working on the structure and continue to seek answers to questions about how best, with our current resources, to help people grow in their personal relationship with Jesus, in discipleship, so that they feel that "Christ the King" church is their spiritual home from which we are called on mission.

Jehan's Testimony

I hope you remember Jehan. I wrote about him last year. At our last community meeting (a gathering after Sunday service), Jehan shared his testimony of how God had already changed his life. With his permission, I share this testimony: 

Hello, my name is Jehan, and I want to share how God changed my life.

Before I knew God, I believed that money was the thing that would bring me happiness. I was told this was the goal at a young age. I chased it, prioritized it over everything, and thought that if I could just buy what I wanted, I would finally feel fulfilled, but every time I got something new, the happiness was fleeting, and the emptiness inside me only grew. I realized the goal post kept moving endlessly and I was never satisfied.

At the same time, my relationship with my family was broken. Things got so bad that I was kicked out of my home and became homeless. I was also struggling with serious anger issues. I couldn’t control my emotions, and that kept leading me into bad decisions and consequences that just dug the hole deeper. I was insecure and never accepted myself, so I was always pretending to be someone that I wasn't just to fit in with people. At the end of the day, I didn't feel the relationships were real. 

My life turned around when god spoke to me through my partner, Larysa, and helped me find this church and God. I found peace and a sense of purpose that I never had before. I began to discover a new strength in myself to face challenges, to control myself, and to grow through the same kinds of situations that used to break me. I found fulfillment in my life through sacrifice and doing things for others other than myself. 

There were a moments when I was completely filled with anger, and instead of exploding like I always did, it just… went away. I didn’t suppress it or pretend it wasn’t there, it was like God took it from me. Because of that, I started to learn from my mistakes and think more clearly instead of being ruled by my emotions. My whole outlook on life has changed. My family is Islamic, and when I told them that I had become a Christian and that I read and believe the Bible, they condemned me. But instead of the old anger rising up, now I pray for them and ask that they would also find salvation.

My journey is still at the beginning, but I know that the peace, strength, and hope I have now are because of Jesus and this church, not money or anything that I can buy. All the glory goes to God.

My testimony

My recent sermons

The longer I've been in ministry, and the recent meetings, crises, and conversations with people at church, make me feel completely incompetent. This pushes me to pray, fast, and seek God more than ever. I don't know if it's because of this, but the last two sermons I preached in our community particularly touched the listeners. I thought I'd share them here—perhaps they'll encourage you, too.

Agnus Dei Gloria - I am learning here

As a member of the songwriters, I joined the "Agnus Dei Gloria" (Glory to the Lamb of God) project at the end of 2024. Agnus Dei Gloria is a program conducted online and during in-person meetings for graduates of the New Psalm Study and members of the songwriters who are involved in the ministry of so-called worship leaders. During these meetings, we covered four formation modules: theology (soteriology), spiritual disciplines (how to encounter God in daily life), emotional health as a leader, and theology of worship (as applied to ministry in the church). We are currently in the final module, on the theology of worship, for about 15 weeks.

I must admit that this entire program has been very fruitful for me. I learn something new at almost every meeting and it inspires me to delve even deeper into the Scriptures. Together with worship leaders from many locations in Poland, we not only learn but also have time to meet in person and discuss our experiences. I thank God for this, because it is a place where from time to time I can be with people with a very similar emotional structure.