Stories of Grace - Stephanie Schmedes
What a blessing it is to attend and be apart of a church that belongs to God and is led by the Holy Spirit! For all of my childhood and my young adulthood, I attended churches that were legalistic and cult-like. While attending, I wasn’t able to understand what I was reading in the bible. The reason is obvious, the teaching was false, another gospel.
Years later, now married, by the grace and mercy of God, my eyes were opened. The teaching was a different gospel from the word of God, but that was all I knew. Soon thereafter, I was spiritually led on a quest to find the truth and a church we could attend that was teaching and preaching the truth. A theologically sound and Spirit led church. My husband was not convinced that our church’s teachings were seriously flawed. As our understanding of the word of God grew and matured so did our decision making in choosing a church. However, the several churches we attended over many years ultimately didn’t align with the word of God and sometimes were egregious. The feelings of hopelessness in finding such a church increased. I struggled with the possibility of permanently attending a church that we strongly disagreed with or not attending at all. We never looked for a perfect church for we knew it’s an impossible existence here on earth.
Twenty-seven years later, in February of 2023, because of God’s mercy and sovereign plan, we were led to Grace Rancho through Grace Community Church.
Grace Rancho is not only theologically sound and led by the Holy Spirit, it also has been blessed with many gifts such as genuine growing love, care and concern for the community and one another which allows the brethren to be open and transparent and obedient to sharing the gospel. This submission to God’s will by the church family has aided my growth to confidently share the gospel and humbly confess sin. It is comforting and encouraging to know that I will be loved and cared for through prayer, loving exhortation, accountability and godly relationships. This growth has deepened my relationship with God, my trust in him, meaningful prayers for the church family and, increased boldness in sharing the gospel. The unmistakable blessings, surrendering and being obedient to the will and teachings of God are peace, joy, and love.