1Co 3:5-7 - “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”
This passage captures the truth of how God uses his people to carry out his purposes of bringing new life - and he often does so incrementally.
This past Sunday, we invited Lauren Trew to share about those who planted and watered the gospel in her life and how God used their influence to bring the gospel’s effects to fruition in her soul.
Who has God placed in your life? We don’t know if we’ll be planting or watering, but let’s ask the Lord to help us engage in the process!
The following is Lauren’s testimony from Sunday:
My name is Lauren Trew. I’ve been a Christian for 23 years now and I’m excited to tell you the story about three special people who told me about Jesus!
Thinking through three distinct “seasons” of my life, brought these individuals quickly to mind. When I was a child, I was fortunate to spend quite a bit of time with my great-great aunt Bessie. She was in her 70’s, a widow, and always made me feel special. She sang hymns to and with me, taught me the 23rd Psalm (which we recited while making the bed together) and she talked freely about Jesus. The way she told me about Jesus made Him sound like He was her best friend. Looking back, Aunt Bessie definitely planted the seed of faith, showing me that Jesus is Emmanuel - God With Us.
Jumping ahead to the season of life with two young daughters. By now, we were a church going family. I liked church. I actually liked Jesus at church - a lot. But only on Sundays. I didn’t see a need for Jesus in my life on any other days. My best friend Tiena went to church and also to a Bible Study - on a whole different day! She was crazy about that Bible Study. I just thought she was crazy. But Tiena always impressed me with the way she spoke about her husband. He had the same job as my husband, but Tiena didn’t seem to get nearly as easily angry, rustrated, or irritated as I did. Her language was kinder, gentler. She was more patient. She gave Jesus credit for all of that. I liked Jesus. But only on Sundays. When Tiena found out their family was moving…to Africa!…she insisted I visit her Bible Study with her to check it out. She made sure I joined and is a dear friend to this day! She’s still telling me about Jesus every time we talk!
This Bible Study was where special person number three entered my life. I will forever be grateful to the teaching leader of that class, Bonnie, for opening up the Word of God and telling me the truth about Jesus! I know now that there were others along the way who had told me the Truth, I just either wasn’t listening or my heart wasn’t ready to fully receive it. It was during this season of my life, that God’s Word and the truth that perfect Jesus Christ died on the cross for MY sins - not just “the sins of the world” - finally sunk in! Bonnie’s teaching from the Bible showed me that I am a sinner in need of God’s saving grace.
There wasn’t much fanfare to it, but I remember asking God’s forgiveness for my sin and telling Him that I believed Jesus was who He said He was - God’s Son - given to me so that believing in HIM, I would not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus saved me and changed me from being a rule-following church-goer to a daughter of the King! Week after week, I couldn’t get enough of wanting to read God’s Word, wanting to hear Bonnie tell me more about Jesus, wanting my relationship with my Savior to grow more and more. That was a sweet season of Bonnie telling me about Jesus!
These three women greatly impacted my relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. I thank God for my great-great aunt, Bess Moses…my best good friend, Tiena Wisniewsky, and my Bible Study Fellowship Teaching Leader and friend, Bonnie Zadoretsky. To God be the Glory!
