LWC Stories

Everyone has a story. Everyone longs to belong. Welcome to family, welcome home.

Cecilia

When I first attended Living Water Church my son was only a few months old and I found myself battling depression and struggling with life.

There was the desperate need to reconnect with God and with people that love Jesus, but on the other hand, there was the fear of being disappointed. The need for God spoke louder and He led me to LWC on a blessed Sunday morning when I experienced His overwhelming love and care, just poured out through this ministry and the people of LWC. I was home!

God’s Word is sang, preached and lived out by the church. Help is here, love and understanding, community, and support. Most important of all, Jesus is the center! We are pointed to love God, love people, we are encouraged to study the Word of God and grow in knowledge and faith - and serve.

I am blessed to be part of a ladies small group meeting weekly to study the Bible and to share life. I also love to teach the preschool kids at The Dock- our super cool Children’s Church.

There is so much God has given, His Son! And then He gives us more, a family, church, friends, people to walk the journey together. It is amazing to see God at work and how He uses people and a church group like this to spread love and reach the hurting like I was. Gratitude fills my heart and with it, the desire to serve, bring love and comfort, just as I have been given.

Topher

Hello. My name is Christopher (everyone calls me Topher) and this is my testimony: I was not always a member at Living Water Church, nor a regular attender, nor a Christian if you will allow me to go that far back. Until the age of 21, I was searching for life’s meaning and purpose. Before I knew Christ I was lost. Lost for 21 years of my life, until I was found by Sarah, who would later become my wife. She brought me to LWC in March of 2017.

Before LWC, my only experience with church was for specific events and/or holidays that one would normally attend a church (weddings, funerals, Easter, etc.). Staying true to LWC’s slogan, it was a different experience. Listening to the worship band sing their hearts out to an invisible God and hearing the congregation joining in with freedom to dance, harmonize, or altogether sing off-key with joy really set my emotions and mind for a whirl.

Then, after hearing Pastor Derek Duncan preach about the Love of God and how he showed it through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross I was delightfully confused. LWC’s body came to meet me and welcome me back week after week. Bit by bit my confusion was ironed out and I became convinced.

Eventually, I became compelled through the Holy Spirit to confess my faith and follow Christ’s example in baptism. After my baptism at the end of 2017, I became a little stale. I would attend church here and there and whenever I pleased. I didn’t get involved with any of the events at church, wasn’t plugged in to a small group, and didn’t want to serve.

I was looking for what the church could do for me instead, and, as a result, I felt empty at Living Water Church. It was like being an ostracized member of a family. If it wasn’t for the loving compassion shown by LWC, I am not sure that my family and I would still be at this church. This church family helped me go from convinced in my faith, to committed in the church. Now, I can’t imagine attending any other church. Living Water Church is my family and man do they make me feel loved! I can’t stress enough how important it is to get yourself plugged in and involved with the church however you can!

Jesus said: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mat. 6:21, Luke 12:34). Treasure can mean money, but it can also mean your time, prayers, energy, etc., so if your heart is not in it, maybe you need to make that initial investment with your treasure, first! Much love from a brother in Christ!

daniel

My name is Daniel and I’ve been part of LWC since 2017. Prior to that, my family and I used to be part of another church for many years. That church was grounded in the word and it was there that I truly became a Christian and committed myself to living my life for Christ. As a faithful member who never missed church, I slowly began to notice that something was odd and realized that nothing about my spiritual life had really changed, which made me conclude that just going to church once a week was not enough.  

During those years, I would faithfully attend church every Sunday but that was it. Most of the members there (myself included) went to church but didn’t really want to be committed to doing anything else other than that. I only attended church with the intention of getting as much as I could and never really gave anything back. Suddenly, I was deeply convicted that Jesus did not want me to live my life for Him that way. 

At that time, even as a baptized Christian, if you were to ask me what I was truly pursuing in life, I would probably answer what the average Joe would: health, wealth, happiness, success and so forth. That’s when God began His work in my life, which finally pushed me to leave my “comfort zone” and do something to glorify His name. With that said, my family and I began visiting other churches hoping to find one that had an active ministry. Although there was nothing wrong with any of those churches we visited, they were all pretty much the same. 

When I first visited LWC, I assumed it would be just like the other many churches I previously visited. But I was wrong. It was love at first sight! Not only did I feel like I was home, but the Holy Spirit also revealed to me that that was the church the Lord wanted me to serve. I clearly remember asking the Pastor: I am here to serve, what can I do to be a part of this family and help this ministry grow? Soon after that, I found myself doing many things for the church while constantly being surrounded by people who loved me, cared for me, and treated me better than any family member could. 

Now, 5 years later, I am very proud to say that I serve in a church that is grounded in the word and that offers many different resources / ministries that help people stay connected and support one another. But most importantly, it has helped me change my priorities, so instead of focusing on all those futile things I mentioned above, my main focus has become to serve and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

JUNE

I visited Living Water Church (LWC ) at the invitation of my friend, and I met my Friend Jesus who was waiting for me there.

At the invitation of my friend, I visited LWC on their Bring a Friend to Church Sunday.  I was not a follower of Christ and I did not attend church but I knew about God. I was visiting church that day for one reason only for my best friend so that they would know she has friends and that her friends were not heathens. The service began with the song, What a Friend we Have in Jesus. I was spell-bound. I heard and sang the words of that song many many times at churches throughout my childhood. That Sunday, I heard the words of that song,  for what seems to be, the first time. And, the words "Oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer" filled my heart.  

Throughout the week following my visit to LWC, I pondered on that song and that specific portion of the song and I spoke to my friend and others,  about the effect that portion of the song on my heart that Sunday.  I later learned that the pastor, Pastor Derek, requested that song, just before the service began.

I continued to attend LWC and eventually I began to read the Bible, purchasing my first Bible Fall 2015 with the loving help of ladies at LWC. They took me on a "road trip" to a book store known for a good selection of Bibles. I believed in God since childhood, and believed Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection to save sinners but becoming a repented believer, a Christian, was not my desire. It was not my desire because I believed I needed to do so much, do everything in the commandments, and more, to get to heaven and I knew I could not do all that I believed I needed to do. 

As I read, studied and researched questions I had about the Words of God (the Bible), God began to unveil His love, His justice and Jesus through His Words I read in the Bible. I loved all that I was learning; I loved the Bible and kept reading. Then on December 29, 2015, God's Word blossomed to its greatest transformation power for me and pointed me to Jesus my Savior. I followed in water baptism, publicly professing my faith in Jesus on February 14, 2016 and have continued reading and loving God's Word and have grown to sharing His Word, especially about Jesus.

One of the greatest experiences in my growing relationship with God is hearing Him speak to my heart. After praying about writing my story of how I came to LWC, I began to focus as I have always done, about my friend’s key role in my life in Christ. God immediately revealed the coolest story to me, our story... "My friend brought me to church but Jesus, my Friend met me there... and that is why I kept going back. Wow, just awesome to learn God's thoughts, revealing that Jesus is the Friend that really matters in telling my story. Jesus met me at LWC and Jesus, as a Friend, waited for me to call Him my Friend. Earthly friendship has its roles, but friendship with Jesus is what matters for eternal life.

My Friend Jesus is now also the saving Friend of my Babygirl, my granddaughter, who as a baby, I brought her with me to LWC. God's Word taught in Childern's Church, our Dock, transformed her heart for Jesus, and through water baptism by her beloved Pastor Derek, weeks before he went to be with our Friend, Jesus, she publicly declared her faith in Christ. Our Friend Jesus has also become the saving Friend of her parents. 

God through His Words in the Bible, the Biblical Words that is being taught at LWC, showed our family the path to the relationship God created us to have with Him.