“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

~Galatians 2:20

My name is Sarah Cheek, and I have been going to Barabbas Road Church for about two years. I grew up in a very healthy Christian family home life. My mom and dad were very genuine in their faith and walk with God. No rated R movies were allowed–only Christian music, etc. Mom would pray and sing worship songs with us every night before we went to bed. Dad led devotionals if we overslept on Sundays. We had midweek bible studies and saw God provide during tough times.

In my teens I was very shy. I had a hard time making friends. On Sunday nights, we attended an all-adult service, and I would sneak out and loiter around the church and hide from the security team. But one day, another teen found me and introduced herself to me and invited me to youth group. After that, I became very involved in youth and various ministries at church.

At the age of 15, I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. As I grew spiritually, I had a hard time accepting the “Christian culture”. I always felt there was a lack of depth and healthy skepticism within. I met someone who challenged me on my beliefs, which helped me grow, but my skepticism grew as well. I never doubted God, but I had a lot of questions and was very open minded for discussion/ debate. I began to ask questions to the authority of the church that I grew up in and became involved in, which led them to ask me to leave.

Being asked to leave my childhood church was extremely difficult for me and my family. I still knew God was real, but the hurt of leaving was hard to understand, mainly for my parents and siblings, since it was my “skepticism” that led us there. I bounced around churches after that and dealt with the “it’s not fair I did everything right” attitude with God. I felt like I was an Israelite wondering around in the desert. I had to start all over again, had some trust issues with every church I visited, and yet I couldn’t just accept the “Jesus is just alright” mentality that a lot of people had.

Through this time, God showed me some very valuable lessons. One lesson was that I was finding my identity in who I was at church and what I did for God. Being asked to leave my church gave me some time to sit still and not be involved for once, which helped me grasp that He values me just as much as the busy Sarah I was before. My good works will not change His view or my identity in Him. The second and very important thing He taught me was that His people, including myself, are imperfect sinners and although we all strive to live for Him, it is His grace that keeps us in harmony. We cannot take each other’s imperfections personally because we are works in progress. We are also family and there will be disagreements and frustrations, but at the end of the day, we are all family, and we need to make it work to glorify God.

Since my departure and through lots of prayer, the relationships with my old church have been restored. I know that God wanted to show me so much through my “wandering in the desert” and that I could never understand or grasp all the questions in the world.

A couple of years ago, I started getting neighbors in my apartment complex that went to Barabbas Road Church, and they began to invite me. Of course, I “visited” for about 2 years and Pastor Matt answered all of my questions. At this church, I love and adore everyone’s genuine desire to read, understand and dissect God’s word. It’s a fairly young church, and I’m really excited to see what God does and how he uses the church to impact others. I’m glad to be a part of it. My name is Sarah Cheek and I am Barabbas!