On Sunday February 21st we heard a Local Story from Joe Beverly. Joe grew up as an only child and as a kid his mom took him to church, but he never really felt at home there. “I started to see a lot of hypocrisy in the people in that church and the Christian kids at my school…This behavior ultimately led me and a few of my friends to become Atheists because the God that these people were claiming to follow clearly hadn’t changed them very much.”

Joe mentioned how he wasn’t always combative towards Christians, but would often deny the existence of God or make fun of others for believing in Jesus. He claimed he had “done his research” and was pretty set in his ways. Through high school and the beginning of college, Joe was reintroduced to Jesus a few times through experiences at student ministry events. Eventually he connected with Andrew, the host of a bible talk on campus.

“He was honestly the first person I had met that had a deep historical and practical knowledge of the Bible. This was very intriguing to my logical brain, so I ended up talking to him after and he invited me to sit down with him one-on-one and talk through a few passages of Scripture. I was reluctant and nervous, but ultimately agreed to it…I had more and more questions each time we got together, but each time he would respond with a logical explanation or with a simple, ‘I don’t know, let’s unpack that and see what we can find together.’”

They continued to meet like this for almost a year. A defining moment in Joe’s story was one afternoon when he was laying down to take a nap in his dorm. His roommate’s broken alarm clock that once never worked suddenly turned on and woke Joe up unexpectantly and just in time for him to get to bible study with Andrew.

“This alarm clock had been broken for months and when I met with Andrew I told him the story and jokingly asked him if this was some sort of sign, expecting him to laugh it off. Instead, he pointed me to Ephesians 5:14, which says, ‘Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ I froze and was in complete shock. I had been probing with skepticism this whole time in order to find a flaw in the argument or a foil in the plot, but God was pursuing me here and I needed to wake up to hear what He was saying.”

Joe started reading the Bible regularly and watched various YouTube videos of different arguments that were for the Bible. He learned that the Bible has more manuscripts, historical references, and collected data than any other book in history.

“Through Andrew’s discipleship and my own research, I could no longer deny that God was real.”

Things weren’t perfect for Joe after that point and he continued to wrestle in battles against a worldly lifestyle as well as against a self righteous worldview. Eventually God’s grace became known to him and Joe committed himself to following Jesus.
“Jesus has changed my life. I went from actively fighting God, to seeking Him out each day. My relationship with Him has not been perfect and I still go through periods of doubt and struggle with sin, but God’s grace and love are unending.”

To listen to Joe’s full Local Story you can find it on our podcast app.

LCSP Members: Join us on Sunday, August 30th from 5-6:30p for a Local Church St. Pete Member’s Meeting.

This will be a time to share updates, offer encouragement, pray together, and discuss the path forward — one that keeps our eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.

For more info click HERE.

Shirley grew up in mainland China and shared with us how that upbringing affected her worldview of religion from a young age. ⁠Shirley left China to pursue schooling in the UK and later ended up moving to St Petersburg in 2018. These life transitions began to expose Shirley to more Christian influences. She attended a Christian college, married a Christian man, sought counseling from a faith-based counselor, and even was a part of a Christian faith-based program at her job, yet none of these influences produced any change to Shirley’s worldview or curiosity towards Christianity.⁠ When the pandemic hit, Shirley was in over her head with commitments. ”I felt like the more I did the more I was failing at life and falling behind. My husband, the forever and constant optimist, sat me down and said ‘You always try to solve everything by yourself…’I had no clue what that meant… since when is being independent a flaw? And who else is going to solve it if not me?’”⁠ Shirley decided to use the pandemic as a break from the chaos and one day during her newly found free time, stumbled upon a YouTube video that stood out to her. “I was scrolling my phone and that ever bothersome YouTube algorithm sent me a clip, ‘most Nobel prize winners and scientists are Christians’ My foundation of thinking that you can only be a person of Science OR a person of Faith was finally shaken.”⁠ Shirley began asking her husband questions about his faith and they started exploring the internet together to find answers to some of her basic theological questions. One night, Shirley decided to organize her podcast subscriptions and she became inspired to subscribe to a one-year bible reading program. “I don’t remember all the details, but I remember it made me burst into happiness tears. And thus, a new quest for answers, but this time I knew the question. What does it mean to have faith?”⁠ Shirley and her husband found Local Church St Pete shortly afterwards and they were baptized together last month!⁠ To listen to Shirley’s full Local Story you can find it on our podcast.

Dear Local Church,

We have recently learned that a handful of people within Local Church St. Pete have contracted COVID. In the past, anyone who has contracted COVID has not participated in an in-person gathering before or after within a time frame where they would have placed anyone else at risk. These recent cases seem to be in some way connected with the worship team (myself included) who all served on Christmas Eve. Here is what we’re asking. 

1. We are canceling ALL in-person gatherings until JANUARY 17th. This includes House Group. 2. We ask that if you have symptoms or have been around someone with symptoms – please get tested and take the precautionary measures recommended by the CDC guidelines. We especially want anyone who has been to a Local Church gathering within the past week and half to be aware of how they are feeling and act accordingly. 3. We’re also asking for prayer. Let’s pray for healing and peace, and for wisdom as we move forward. We have guidelines in place for the health and safety of everyone and will be re-evaluating those guidelines as we move forward. 

I love Local Church St. Pete. With all my heart. I want to thank everyone who has been serving and abiding by guidelines along the way to make a Sunday Gathering happen. We will get through this – like a strong family always does. As we walk through this unique season let’s remember God’s love for us in Christ Jesus is a relentless, unshakable love. Jesus is anything but indifferent. He’s present. He’s active. He stepped into our mess to do something about our brokenness – to rescue us. What we have been given through Jesus can never be taken away from us. So let’s fix our eyes on him today and the weeks ahead. 

We’ll be “gathering” online Sunday JANUARY 3rd and JANUARY 10th at 10a. We hope you will join in and stay connected that way. 

– Daryn

Created to help you follow along with our Sunday Talks and bring to your Digital House Group for discussion. Find here: https://localchurch.churchcenter.com/groups/sunday-handout/sunday-handout

On Sunday November 15th, Josh Page shared a Local Story with us of God’s breathtaking mercy in the life of his family. “4 years ago, when our oldest son, Simon, turned 1, we learned we were pregnant again! This thrilled our hearts because we had been praying that Simon would have a sibling. 5 months later, our lives took the most unexpected turn.” Josh shared of the heart wrenching news their family received when doctors concluded there were several complications and that their baby’s survival chance was slim. Their family pressed on in faith and prayer. “At 41 weeks and a day, our beautiful, long-awaited daughter, Roary, was born, but it was only her lifeless body that we held in our arms. She was already with her Savior in Heaven. Her first gaze wasn’t upon mommy and daddy, but upon her Creator. Her first experience was in Glory.”

Josh continued to beautifully share of the pain that his family endured after losing Roary and the continued agonizing experiences they went through as they lost 7 babies in the course of 3.5 years of trying to conceive.

He continued by saying “We were bombarded with the voice of the enemy every turn of the way. His lies were so convincing, and it was everything we could do to cling to God’s precious Word & trust Him by faith. In one of those periods of agony, we encountered Psalm 63 where David said, “My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” The Lord ministered to us that it’s not really our clinging to Him that gets us through life’s pains and trials; it’s Him holding on to us! In another psalm, David says, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up.” Little gems like these were invaluable to us. Despite the devastation and the haunting questions lingering in our hearts, we always had a sense of God’s nearness.”

This season for Josh and his wife Malissa broadened their faith and they discovered a massive truth: “God often does give us more than we can handle — but with more grace than we can fathom.” Thankfully after much prayer and their increase in peace and faith, Malissa became pregnant again and 2 months ago they delivered their healthy son Samuel James Page.

Josh finished his story by emphasizing “Through all this, we have learned to not despise the tools God uses for our sanctification — they are for His glory and our joy. Though not pleasant in the moment, they produce Christ-likeness within us. The end result is far more glorious than what we desire to have immediately. We wanted more children, but God gave us so much more than that — He gave us a closer walk with Him and eventually, in His time, another son.”

You can listen to Josh’s full Local Story on our podcast.

Micah Singleton shared his Local Story with us on Sunday October 18th. “My story is not full of dramatic rescues, but it is built on steadfast Grace. I haven’t climbed back from any shocking front page news type sins but have been shown infinite forgiveness given to a very wretched self righteous sinner who is and was like the Pharisees at times.”

Micah became a believer and was baptized at a young age. He shared that during his adolescent years how he had a desire to deepen his faith and the goal to pursue pastorship or missions. “There were significant times of spiritual growth and what I would call sanctification, however, I still tied much of my Christian life to good works and ‘trying to be better’.”

Micah then shared of the time where he read the book “The Prodigal God” by Tim Keller and was confronted with the true Gospel. “By acting like both the older self righteous son and the rebellious younger son at different points in my life, I began to understand that I not only was misunderstanding what the Gospel for everyday life meant, but was progressively continuing to harden my heart in my pursuit of legalistic righteousness. I repented of this vain pursuit and embraced this deepening understanding of the Grace of God for all believers.”

He went on to share stories from the next 10 years where God continued to work through seasons of suffering and uncertainty. “In Romans 5, Paul talks about ‘Rejoicing in hope of the Glory of God.’ There is a very real sense of the now and the not yet that you and I must deal with. But like the rest of Romans 5 tells us, ‘We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.’ That is the Gospel message to our searching hearts. To our younger brother rebellious hearts, and to our older brother self righteous hearts.”

You can listen to Micah’s full Local Story on our Podcast App.

Reach St. Pete is another Local Mission group that we are proud to partner with.Reach St. Pete provides needed supplies and services to homeless and low-income populations to help equip and empower them for a fresh start. Volunteers are greatly needed for their 3rd Annual Pumpkin Painting Fundraiser at 3 Daughters Brewery on October 25th from 12-7PM.  For more info on the event visit: www.reachstpete.org

Ann Marie Henning shared her Local Story with us on Sunday September 20th. Recently she has found God gently reminding her to “Let go of my plans and follow His, to choose an attitude of joy, and daily nurture my personal relationship with Him.” Ann Marie went on to describe what that has looked like for her in her life. A diagnosis of cancer was a first example she gave. “I hold onto to this promise that I am His child, His workmanship and God designed me uniquely and with a specific purpose – to assist in carrying out His master plan. Usually this means watching my plans take a backseat while God walks me through the ‘storms’ of life.”

She then shared how meditating on scripture has enabled her to choose joy. “The reminder I use most often is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. ‘Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances: for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.‘” Ann Marie went on to share that she cannot do any of these things without personal involvement with the Lord in her life. “It is during these moments of being still and knowing God where He gives me His Fatherly guidance for my life. This call to be still is a call for me to surrender…My encouragement for you is to start or continue to cultivate your relationship with the Father. This looks different for each of us but if you use the gifts He has given you to creatively stay connected you will see God working out His master plan with you!” You can listen to Ann Marie’s full Local Story on our podcast app.

As we grow in our understanding of what it means to live under the influence of the Spirit, we want to carve out time to practice the habits of expressed dependency of prayer and praise.
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Join us on Sunday, September 27th from 5-6p for a Night of Prayer & Praise. We’ll gather as a church community at 5pm to worship and pray.
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This will be a special time to rejoice in His goodness and call on Him together, believing God will meet us and work in us and through us!