Growing up with a grandfather who always made sure he was in church, John Knight thought he was following all the right rules and doing what God expected of him–until he was confronted with the reality of his sin, real repentance, and the love of a God he realized he had never known.
John had a difficult childhood, living in and out of homeless shelters, which created a lot of hardness of heart when he was learning about God in church. As he got older, he attended church, but his heart wasn’t in it.
“Going to church growing up was basically what my family wanted,” John said. “My grandpa would pick me up every Sunday and Wednesday. I thought obeying the rules gave me a pass. When I would sin, I would feel no remorse.”
This formula of going to church and obeying the rules gave John a false sense of security in his relationship with God.
“I was running from something. I was trying to find the missing piece in my sin. It would’ve been different if I didn’t know Christ at all, but I was in church every Sunday. I knew what was wrong and what was right, but I still chose to do wrong.”
John continued living in that cycle until a group of students from Bellevue’s College Ministry put some information in his hand about The Vue, a Bible study that meets at Bellevue every Monday night. Two years after first hearing about The Vue, John and his friend Frank decided to give it a try.
“When I first went to The Vue, I had low expectations, but the intentionality they showed really made me feel welcome. And I knew this place was really special.”
As he continued to hear the Bible preached, God began stirring something in John’s heart. A conviction began to develop that he wasn’t quite sure how to address. But one Wednesday night at Life Group, the leaders opened the Scriptures, and a light came on in John’s heart for the very first time.
“It felt like a normal Wednesday,” John recalled. “They gave an open call, asking anyone who wasn’t 100% sure of their salvation to raise their hand– My heart just started pounding. Before I knew it, my hand just shot up.”
Daniel Harris and Dakota Tucker sat down with John and began to walk through the Scriptures, sharing about repentance, faith, and love–concepts John grew up hearing about but now saw with new eyes.
“I told them, ‘The weight I feel on my heart and in my soul–it’s not right. I feel like I’m a non-believer stepping into something for the very first time.’”
Reading the Scriptures together, John broke down and knew it was time to give his life to the Lord.
“I knew God was telling me plain as day, ‘It’s time to get right tonight–as in tonight tonight. Don’t leave this place without getting things right.’”
That night, as John truly confessed his sin and repented for the first time, he experienced joy and peace and began to pursue a real relationship with Christ.
“It was a sense of relief and joy I had never felt before. I had no care or worry in the world. To know His grace and mercy now, it’s everything– He’s done what no other man could do for me. Now He’s my everything. He gave this believer real belief.”
Now that John’s eyes have been opened, he desires for everyone to set aside the rules and run toward a relationship with Jesus.
“Get right. There’s no other time but now to get right. Don’t play around with your salvation. Then, after you receive Him, let’s go do work. Let’s get ready for the harvest.”
If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus–one that, through repentance, fills you with relief, peace, and joy–don’t put it off. Contact us by texting the name “Jesus” to 901901 or learn more online.
“But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12