Christina Seal

‘Confidence in Christ’

Wow!  As a maths teacher, you would think that standing in front of a church full of Christians wouldn’t be as daunting as a room full of stroppy teenagers!

I first came to church when my grandma, Christine Dann, brought me as a toddler, along with my brother Nick and my sister, Tash as well as my cousins.  We all got to an age where we made a decision to still attend or not.  I chose to continue coming with my grandma and can’t really say when I became a Christian, as it’s always been there for me.  However, I don’t know whether I was being a ‘blind’ Christian before I went on the Alpha Course, just believing in what church told me to believe in because I wanted to be like my grandma!

One of the first sessions on Alpha told us how Jesus was a real person, something that was never in dispute by anyone in those times; it was just who He was that was the argument that is still going on today.  If I’m honest, I never knew this.  I just thought I believed in someone the Bible has told me about and who I have been learning about on a Sunday ever since I was a young child.

Since Alpha, our discussion group has become a house-group and I have enjoyed us sharing cakes and anecdotes about how not to be a weird Christian.  One week was about considering what daily sins we commit.  Mine was road-rage!  After the session, I found myself not getting angry at people who don’t pull out when you flash them until you have physically stopped, but instead saying, ‘have a lovely day!’ out loud like a normal person would!  Our lives are full of choices and I have chosen to try and live like God wants me to.  I have only seen the positives from doing this so far, so I definitely recommend it!

I would like to thank John and Beryl Shirley for teaching me that Christians can become friends with people by just opening their homes to them; Mark Clay for teaching me that Christians can be funny; and Muriel Jarvis for teaching me that Christians can be mischievous!

Here’s the soppy part.  Last year, I married my best friend.  A man who, as someone who didn’t go to church before meeting me, has always supported me in my faith and has tried to embrace Christianity as much as I could ever have hoped for.  It was the interest he showed and the questions I couldn’t always answer, that led me to taking (or dragging!) him to the Alpha Course.  It turned out that the Alpha Course did more for me, giving me an unfound confidence.  I went on the course as a Christian, but ended the course feeling worthy enough to stand here.  I no longer compared myself to other Christians who I thought were better representatives than me.  I believe God loves me as much as He loves every one of you and the reason I am getting baptised is because…

He is my Saviour!

Christina Seal

8th May 2017