A few years ago, on an average Sunday morning, Doug Ward walked through Citylight’s front doors for the first time. He knew something needed to change. His life was falling apart, and he was looking for answers. He wanted to belong. He had so many hopes and dreams. He found out in the months and years to come that what he needed was Jesus and his Church.
“I was trying to find my value in places and in people and not Christ,” Doug confessed. “They all seemed good. I was worshiping the ideal Christian family life. I thought that was the end all for a Christian man. I wanted to be a good Christian man. I wanted to be a good Christian dad. At that moment, I woke up and saw I wasn’t giving God everything. I thought maybe if I started going to church maybe everyone in my family would follow me. That was always my answer. That would bring us back to God’s purpose.”
After attending Citylight for a few weeks, Doug knew he needed more. He was tired of feeling lonely. Church can sometimes magnify your singleness.
“I don’t want to be by myself on a Sunday,” Doug shared. “The dream is to have my kids go with me. But what could that look like in the meantime at Citylight? I found the Equipping Classes on Sunday mornings. The first one I signed up for was Christian Belief. I was already studying on my own some theology, but I was still off on my own. I wasn’t doing it for the purpose of community. I wanted a deeper understanding.”
That first Equipping Class brought biblical tools and structure to Doug. It also fulfilled a great inner need he still didn’t understand but was seeking desperately... community.
“One of the things that the Christian Equipping classes did,” Doug explained fervently, “was bring other people in my life that I wouldn’t have had. The men’s Bible study has also been good. But for me, I wanted to know people and to be transparent. The Equipping Classes have allowed the conversation to move in that direction. You share things with one another. The opportunities are there. And as you do, you get to know these people around your table. There were a couple of people that I have grown deeper relationships with. They’ve become family.”
Some of the first people Doug met were Greg and Patty, a married couple he sat by. They invited Doug to their City Group to which he’s been a part of ever since. Doug also connected with a guy named Chad who has become a friend. One other couple, Andrew and Megan Bundy, befriended Doug at another class and invited him over for dinner with their family. Even though Doug is at a different stage in life with different family dynamics and stresses, none of it has mattered.
“The Bundy’s were in one of the classes,” Doug shared. “I didn’t know them. They are young parents with young kids. They invited me to Thanksgiving with all the in-laws and steps. I didn’t mind. I love chaos and I love watching it. It’s so innocent and genuine. So needed. You just don’t let it all phase you. I met Chad a few classes back and found out I knew his mom. I was complaining to him that I wasn’t connecting. He asked where I was with serving. He told me that the kids ministry needed volunteers, so I went back there and signed up. I was scared to death, but it didn’t last long. Serving in kids has given me the chance to plant the seeds of salvation. Come to find out that two of the kids in my class that their fathers were in my men’s Bible study. I’m teaching Ryan and Josh’s daughters. All these people and spaces are coming together. I have learned that as Christians, we must put ourselves where community can happen. You can’t walk into church and out and expect it to just happen.”
Little by little, Doug has made himself known and seen. In doing so, he has learned that there are people who want to see him. There are people who love him and care about him. Through Christ and a community that now knows him and wants to walk with him in life, he is beginning to accept the promise offered to him ... He belongs.
“I now see that I had to get to the end of my rope,” Doug concluded, “in order to feel God’s presence. I had to let go to realize that God loves me and is with me always. It’s been hard but I wouldn’t change anything. I had to experience the pain to experience the glory of Jesus. In the Bible, Job’s blessings that came after the pain were far greater. I’ve had to look at what God has given me. He’s given me a lot.”
Looking back on that first Sunday he walked through the doors, Doug is grateful for what God has done and what God has given him. Especially in and through the Equipping Classes offered on Sunday mornings. Doug closed with this:
“As your desire to know Jesus grows, you want to have the input of other people’s experiences. It helps you to learn and grow. That's the Equipping Classes! You have to go and get involved and get information. Go sit in one class. The more you try to get to know Christ and God and get into community, the more you want Christ and God and others. You want all of Jesus in you and every part of you, and the more you get it, the more you want it. You start to discover that the solution to your problems is Christ. The reason for your successes is Christ.”
Join us at the next Equipping Class kicking off this month! >>> citylightomaha.org/classes.