A Message from our New Elder

It is a great and undeserved honour to be made an elder in GraceCity church. An office that I know I can never live up to or fulfil well, yet at the same time it is an office that is given by God’s grace and is upheld by grace. Believing and growing in my understanding of this truth is something that has driven me most of my Christian life and is one of the reasons I began pursuing leadership and now eldership in the church.

When I first became a Christian I struggled a lot. I constantly doubted my worth, and even my salvation. At the time, grace to me was just a word and meant nothing, I didn’t know what it meant. I also wanted to serve God, but doubted God would ever be able to use me. So initiaIly, I gave up and sat at the back of the church. I paid my respects to God on a Sunday and left. I used to think:

“There was no way someone as sinful and as broken as me could be an effective Christian. Why would God want broken people?”

I was discouraged by leaders who seemed so spiritual and seemed to have a great life. I saw these people as what a Christian should be like. But the reality was I was nothing like these people. I could not see the possibility of following Christ without drastically changing my character — which was impossible — and to be honest, neither did I want too!

A few years later, my friends became Christians. They began encouraging me and helping me with my struggle. I ended up in a church with a pastor who, despite my behaviour, never gave up on me. He encouraged me to use my musical abilities to serve the church.

During this time I began to understand God’s grace, and how the cross is more than enough for all my sin. I realised Christ would never let me go, never give up on me. I learnt that being a Christian was more than simply being a saved person. As a believer, I am one who Christ works through to save others. God works through even the weakest of us, to display the depths of his love and power.

I also learnt that my character is how God made me, and it is part of his plan for my life. God does not save us in order for us to become as the world describes goodness and success. God saves and sanctifies all people, all character types, and all personalities, in order that we (together as the church) can represent the infinite nature of God’s character.

When I came to Japan, I realised others also struggle with the same doubts. It was at this time that a desire to care for and protect the God’s people grew within me. This calling has only grown stronger over the years. The more I learn about grace, the gospel, and the love and power of God, the more I desire to share this — and the more I want to protect the church from anything that seeks to hide or confuse these truths .

This is my passion as a believer, and now as an elder. May God use my life to help demonstrate;

there is no such thing as a useless Christian.
there is no such thing as a Christian who is too far gone for God to reach out to.
there is no such thing as a Christian that God isn’t interested in or longing to empower in His service.

This doesn’t make me an amazing Christian. It simply displays the amazing grace of God. I am still a broken man, someone that is always learning and often struggling to live out the Christian life. But in this brokenness the strength of God to not only save us, but to change us and empower us to serve others, is displayed.

About the Author — Greg Brennan

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Greg BrennanApril 8, 2022