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Youth - Media Archive

 
AUDIO VIDEO PHOTOS STORIES


Audio

  1. 10 NAMES OF GOD Mark Humm - 03.07.11
  2. 10 THINGS ABOUT PRAYER Mark Humm & Mary Bryden - 18.11.12
  3. 10 THINGS GOD WANTS TO SAY Mark Humm - 03.02.11
  4. 10 THINGS JESUS SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES Mark Humm - 31.03.11
  5. 10 WAYS TO EXPERIENCE GOD Mark Humm - 24.02.12
  6. 24-7 IBIZA Peter Bailey- 15.06.17
  7. 40 WAYS TO MAKE JESUS KNOWN Mark Humm - 03.12.15
  8. 5 THINGS GOD CAN'T DO Mark Humm - 19.01.17
  9. AMBITION Temi Ladega - 05.06.14
  10. AN UPSIDE DOWN WORLD Hannah Stocks - 08.12.11 
  11. BEING CHRIST LIKE Joel Marriott - 19.05.11
  12. BIBLE DIFFICULTIES Nick Lunn - 12.07.12
  13. BIBLE DIFFICULTIES QUESTIONS (AUDIO) Nick Lunn - 12.07.12
  14. BIBLE DIFFICULTIES QUESTIONS (VIDEO) Nick Lunn - 12.07.12
  15. BLESSED - PART 3 Mark Humm - 06.10.16
  16. BLESSED - PART 4 Mark Humm - 13.10.16
  17. BLESSED - PART 5 Mark Humm - 20.10.16
  18. BLESSED - PART 6 Mark Humm - 03.11.16
  19. BLESSED - PART 7 Mark Humm - 10.11.16
  20. CAN WE BE USED FOR GOD'S KINGDOM? Hannah Oram - 18.04.13
  21. COMMUNITY Mark Humm - 22.02.18
  22. DANNY'S TESTIMONY Danny Titcombe - 21.11.13
  23. EASTER & UNI STUDENTS Mark Humm - 10.04.14
  24. EFFECTIVE FAITH SHARING Lucy Maguire - 26.11.15
  25. EMMA & TIM: MISSION Emma Bryden & Tim Gibson - 20.09.12
  26. EMMANUEL'S TESTIMONY Emmanuel Amardie-Mensah - 03.04.14
  27. EXAMS: FEAR, WORRY, STRESS & FAILURE Mary Bryden - 10.05.12
  28. EXPECTATIONS VS. IDENTITY - FRIENDS Mark Humm - 05.03.15
  29. EXPECTATIONS VS. IDENTITY - MEDIA Sam Ackerman - 26.02.15
  30. EXPECTATIONS VS. IDENTITY - PARENTS Sam Ackerman - 12.03.15
  31. EXPECTATIONS VS. IDENTITY - SELF Lucy Maguire - 19.03.15
  32. FITTING GOD IN Mark Humm- 27.04.17
  33. FREE FROM SIN Kevin Boyle - 17.06.10
  34. GENERATOR Q&A Hannah Stocks, Matthew Colpus, Alex Parker - 07.12.17
  35. GENERATOR VISION Mark Humm - 18.01.18
  36. GET CONNECTED Mark Humm - 12.01.12
  37. GOD DOESN'T GO ON HOLIDAY Mark Humm - 15.07.10
  38. GOD'S GLORY Hannah Stocks - 27.02.14
  39. GOD'S NAME AND NATURE Mark Humm - 29.01.15
  40. GOD`S NAMES Lucy Maguire- 07.07.16
  41. GOD'S PRESENCE Mark Humm - 20.01.14
  42. HEALING Phil Perello - 17.03.11
  43. HOLY SPIRIT - PROPHECY Mark Humm - 01.10.15
  44. HOLY SPIRIT - TONGUES Mark Humm - 24.09.15
  45. HOLY SPIRIT - WEIRD AND THE WONDERFUL Mark Humm - 17.09.15
  46. HOMOSEXUALITY Mark Humm - 22.09.13
  47. I.S.L.A.M Sam Ackerman - 16.10.14
  48. IDENTITY Hannah Oram - 14.01.16
  49. IMMERGE Louise Chapman- 04.05.17
  50. IMPACT - ACCOUNTABILITY Sam Ackerman - 12.06.15
  51. IMPACT - CONNECTING Sam Ackerman - 18.06.15
  52. IMPACT - INTEGRITY Mark Humm - 14.05.15
  53. IMPACT - MATURITY Mark Humm - 21.05.15
  54. IMPACT - PEACEMAKERS Lucy Maguire - 04.06.15
  55. INFLUENCE Daniela Stremtan & Mark Humm – 08.03.18
  56. N/a
  57. IS JESUS A SUPERHERO? Sam Ackerman - 02.02.12
  58. JAMAL SONDHI TESTIMONY Jamal Sondhi - 09.10.14
  59. JAMES 1 Mark Humm - 02.03.17
  60. JAMES 2 Mark Humm - 09.03.17
  61. JAMES 3 Emma Oram- 16.03.17
  62. JAMES 5 Abbie Harrington- 30.03.17
  63. JAMES BEATT TESTIMONY James Beatt - 22.05.14
  64. JAMES COLLINS INTERVIEW James Collins & Mark Humm - 15.10.15
  65. JESUS, THE JEWISH MESSIAH Iain Smith - 12.05.11
  66. JESUS' JOURNEY TO THE CROSS Mark Humm - 17.03.16
  67. JOY Ginny Bown - 12.12.13
  68. JUST ANOTHER CHECKLIST? Sam Ackerman - 10.12.15
  69. JUSTICE Antoinette Daniel - 27.01.11
  70. KEVIN AHRONSON'S TESTIMONY Kevin Ahronson - 22.03.12
  71. LIFTING UP JESUS James Brooks - 05.05.11
  72. LIVING BY FAITH Mark Humm – 20.10.11
  73. MARK EDWARDS' (MC TEMPO) TESTIMONY Mark Edwards - 06.02.14
  74. MARK MONTAGE Mark Humm
  75. NOT JUST OLD PEOPLE 4 - MARY Mark Humm- 30.11.17
  76. PARABLE -THE TWO SONS Mark Humm - 03.03.16
  77. PARABLE- THE BUILDERS Mark Humm - 10.03.16
  78. PARABLE- THE LOST SON Mark Humm - 21.01.16
  79. PARABLE- THE LOST TREASURES Sam Ackerman - 04.02.16
  80. PARABLE- THE UNFORGIVING SERVANT Mark Humm - 25.02.16
  81. PATIENCE Amy Ginger – 02.02.17
  82. PAUL TRAIES TESTIMONY Paul Traies - 06.11.14
  83. PETER Mark Humm – 15.09.16
  84. POSITION IN PRAYER Lucy Maguire - 30.04.15
  85. PRAYER Emma Oram & Jo Giles - 22.10.15
  86. QUESTION & ANSWER Mark Humm - 17.05.12
  87. QUESTION TIME Mary Bryden & Mark Humm - 26.01.12
  88. RELATIONSHIP REVOLUTION: DATING Mark Humm - 29.04.10
  89. RELATIONSHIP REVOLUTION: DATING A NON-CHRISTIAN Mark Humm - 06.05.10
  90. RELATIONSHIP REVOLUTION: SEX Mark Humm - 13.05.10
  91. RELATIONSHIP REVOLUTION: MASTURBATION Mark Humm – 24.05.12
  92. REPRESENTATIVES OF JESUS Mark Humm - 08.04.10
  93. RESTING IN GOD DURING EXAMS Ginny Bown - 12.06.14
  94. SAM, LUCY & DAVEY'S TESTIMONY Sam Ackerman, Lucy Maguire & David Marriott - 18.09.14
  95. THE BOOK OF ESTHER Erica Stokes - 07.02.13
  96. THE END TIMES Peter Nodding - 22.06.12
  97. THE ESSENTIALS OF FAITH PART 1 Mark Humm - 07.10.10
  98. THE ESSENTIALS OF FAITH PART 2 Tim Gibson - 14.10.10
  99. THE ESSENTIALS OF FAITH PART 3 Mark Humm - 21.10.10
  100. THE OCCULT Mark Humm - 17.11.11
  101. THE TWO BUILDERS Katy Hall - 16.04.15
  102. THE UNKNOWNS PART 1 Mark Humm - 14.04.16
  103. THE UNKNOWNS PART 2 Mark Humm - 21.04.16
  104. THE UNKNOWNS PART 3 Mark Humm - 28.04.16
  105. THE WAY WE USE OUR EARS Mark Humm - 12.11.15
  106. THE WAY WE USE OUR EYES Mark Humm - 05.11.15
  107. THE WAY WE USE OUR MOUTHS Mark Humm - 19.11.15
  108. TIM COLPUS & TIM EDWARDS RAP Tim Colpus & Tim Edwards - 30.04.15
  109. TITHING James Tetley - 11.03.10
  110. TITLES OF JESUS Mark Humm - 13.09.12
  111. TRICIA'S TESTIMONY Tricia - 21.03.13
  112. TRUST Emma Oram- 24.11.16
  113. TWO TESTAMENTS ONE GOD Nick Lunn - 27.11.14
  114. WAS, IS AND IS TO COME Mark Humm - 26.11.09
  115. WHAT ARE YOU PURSUING? Lucy Maguire - 05.02.15
  116. WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT YOUNG PEOPLE Mark Humm - 07.03.13
  117. WORSHIP Daniela Stremtan - 26.01.17
  118. WORSHIP Peter Russell - 24.06.10
  119. YOUR FUTURE WITH GOD Mark Humm - 19.04.12

 

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AUDIO VIDEO PHOTOS STORIES
 

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AUDIO VIDEO PHOTOS STORIES

 

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Stories

AUDIO VIDEO PHOTOS STORIES


adamADAM

I was born and raised in a Christian family and so grew up going to Church. Initially I went because my family took me every Sunday. After a few years my family stopped going and so I did too. For the next few years I still considered myself as a Christian despite not going to church.
When I was 16, one of my friends asked me to go to Generator. I enjoyed the worship and service so continued attending. My brother then got baptised at the Sunday 7.15 service and attended every week. Since then my faith has continued to grow.

agnesAGNES

I grew up in a Christian home where my parents would take me to church when I was young. However, when I went to secondary school I started to meet friends who did not have the same background as me. This was great, but I soon realised that I did not have a strong faith to hold firm in what I ‘believed’ and instead I wanted to fit in. I soon stopped going to church and I would walk out of the room whenever faith or church came up in conversation.
This went on for a year or two until an old friend sent me a message on Facebook inviting me along to Generator and since then I kept attending it. I have had lots of peaks and troughs in my faith, times when I have questioned whether there is a God and times when the Spirit has moved me to say something or pray and amazing things have happened.
I remember one evening at Generator we had a guest speaker from New Life Church in Croydon, they were talking about a trip to Israel where they prayed for healing in the streets. The next morning I was on the way into college thinking over the talk of the night before when I saw that a teacher from there was sitting next to me on the bus.
As I was sat there I had an urge to ask about his ankle, with much reluctance and a good few minutes of waiting I asked him about it but he said he had no problems with his ankle. This led to a conversation and I discovered that he attended New Life Church in Croydon and he knew the people who came and spoke the night before. He did have an injury in his back which gave him bad pain in his shins sometimes, I prayed and as far as I know he has had no pain since.
This encounter left me astounded that God is able to use someone who is young. Every little action of obedience has a big impact in the world.

alexALEX

From as young as I can remember my dad has been a heavy drinker, this environment made my childhood and early teens hard and family life was troubled as a result of the drink especially as I got older.  Being the youngest of four brothers and not drinking myself, I have often felt last. My relationship with my dad has suffered and I don’t have much of a connection with him.  Growing up like this made me question God, why would he let this happen?
My mum did take my brothers and I to church, although they stopped coming eventually.  I continued to attend every Sunday morning, but I never took it seriously, I just went to play the games.  However, I kept attending even though I didn’t really know what I believed or felt about God. I also wondered what my friends would say if I got into this thing in a big way!
I was praying that God would show me who he really is, and one Sunday morning at church I really felt something on my heart saying “You are really loved” I knew this was God. I was 14 years old at this time.
When I was 15 years old, I started to think more seriously about everything!  I soon realised not only that God loved me but that the people in the church I attended also loved me.  This was the start of real change for me, and made me more determined to know who Jesus was because of it.  I started to stay in the services on Sunday mornings to listen to the Pastor preach.
At the of 16, I had made the most important decision ever - I gave my life to Jesus. Something in me changed, I felt different. I didn’t care anymore what my friends would say, I just felt loved by my heavenly Father, something I have not had much of from my earthly father.
In 2011 I attended a Christian festival called New Wine. I went up for prayer and someone from the prayer team shared with me exactly how I was feeling – knowing that I was carrying much in my heart. I was encouraged to give it all up to God, who sees your pain and sees your suffering. But it`s him who heals the broken-hearted and heals the suffering in life with his strength. Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I felt free and knew I should get Baptised.
Later on that year I did just that – it was awesome. Since my Baptism I just simply know that Jesus is walking with me everywhere I walk. Yes, there are still times when I struggle at home with the same family situation but I know Jesus is with me in it all. I know Jesus is working behind the scenes. Jesus never said it’s going to be easy on the journey. The righteous will flourish like a palm tree (Psalm 92:12); when the storms come, the palm trees bend but they snap back into shape. I definitely have a long way to go and much to learn (God has a lot of work left to do), but because of God’s promises I will keep following and trusting him with my life.
I am so excited about what God is doing in my life and all I want to do is keep getting to know Him more. He is the core of my life.

anne-marieANNE-MARIE

Growing up in a Christian household, I never had a lightning bolt moment of “this is it – I’m becoming a Christian – now is the moment”. It’s been a long and messy process of recognising and understanding what the gospel is. Even though I was blessed as a child with a great church and wise, loving friends, I’ve made huge mistakes as I try to walk with Jesus.
Personally I’ve always placed far too much of my identity in academic work, in sport and what other people think of me. Perfectionism: on the outside, maybe it did look nice to flit off to Oxford University, boyfriend in tow – but my misplaced self-esteem crumbled as the workload hit me, and my non-Christian boyfriend was not a godly influence.
I was trying to reconcile the irreconcilable – faith in Christ’s saving love and a lifestyle that did not reflect that belief. It just made me a hypocrite, and caused pain to lots of the people closest to me. The astounding thing is, that even though I wasn’t in step with Christ, he was totally in step with me. He wouldn’t give up on my case... God placed a wonderful Christian housemate in my life. He gave me a solid church family at university that is an absolute rock. He provided the opportunity to take part in a social justice group called Just Love, and the Christian Union, and so many Christian friends who delight in his presence. How unimaginably generous Christ is to me, a sinner who shunned his good plans. He has taken my broken life and carefully reworked it in ways I could never imagine.
Of course there are still struggles, new temptations, I’m not God’s finished product! But the overwhelming evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus himself, as the ‘firstborn from among the dead’ (Colossians), means that I have a future hope and that I am part of His family. With that hope set before me, I can truly say that the Christian life is the good life.

danielaDANIELA

My journey of getting to know God on a personal level started in secondary school. Having moved to England in 2010 with my family, I constantly felt scrutinised, judged and painfully different to other people. I was always taught about Jesus at church and was blessed to have parents to guide and plant a seed of constant hunger for God's character in me, so I always knew I could count on Him in these changing circumstances.
After our family started attending Purley Baptist Church, my desire to learn about God grew, so I started going to the youth club, Generator, where I met many likeminded people! I remember in one of my first times being there, feeling overwhelmed by God's presence around me in worship and when someone had a word from Him, it really resonated with me.
I knew instantly that I wanted more of Him and that my faith in God could not compare to anything the world had to offer me. Having such a reassurance in His promises encouraged me daily! He knows me personally and has specifically chosen a path for my life! At that point I understood that worship and music was one of the most powerful ways in which the Holy Spirit stirred my heart.
Surrounding myself with people that shared the same love for Him helped me cultivate and invest more into my relationship with Him, and when I got the opportunity to serve in the church band, feeling of anxiety and excitement ruled in my heart for a long time; still does today, but having this responsibility has helped me know how to respond and deliver God's word better.
After almost 3 years, becoming a worship leader has definitely been a way in which God has stepped me out of my comfort zone and into a place where He wants me to be. As I grow to know Him more, being able to accommodate people with the same hunger to experience Him and His love through worship continues to change me as a person.
I now am confident in His forgiving nature, understanding that my imperfections don't define me and that my identity lies in Christ who died for me and lives in me today as the Holy spirit. I am looking forward to what He has in store for me as I journey with Him everyday.

hannahHANNAH

I was brought up in a Christian family where I was taken to church and taught about Jesus and taught how to pray. It is such a treasure that I have always known God and His presence in my life. At about the age of 10 my Mum decided to stop taking me and my sisters to church as she became unsure about her faith. My Dad worked for the church, as he still does, and so he kept going.
At first I really enjoyed the fact that I didn’t HAVE to go to church every Sunday anymore but I soon found that I missed it and so I made the deliberate choice to go to church with my Dad and include God in my life. I was confirmed in the Church of England when I was 13 years old. I remember the bishop speaking the words over me, “Hannah, God has called you by name”. It was so special and I still hold onto that truth.
When I was 15 I experienced God in a way that changed my relationship with Him. I was desperately crying out to God to know him more deeply and to hear from him in the way others claim to. A complete stranger came and prayed for me and without me sharing a word with him he explained to me how I was feeling and how God felt about it. In that moment I knew that God could hear me and I could hear his heart for me through His Spirit and His word. It was very exciting and it gave me more boldness to share who God is and his heart with those around me.
I am on a journey with God of growing in understanding of who He is and who I am. It has been a journey full of mistakes but I have been amazed at how faithful and gracious God is through those mistakes. God is my Father and my friend. He is the only one who has been beside me every day, every heart-achy day and every wonderful day, of my life and it is my greatest joy to worship and live for Him.
‘Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.’ Psalm 63:3

isaacISAAC

I was born and raised in a Christian family. I became a Christian when I was 5. From 5 to the age of 16 I attended Church youth events like Generator.
When I went to college, I started having conversations with people of no faith and their questions and views about it caused me to have doubts. At first this really shook me, but as I look back over my life I realised and remembered that God was bigger than the doubts. This doesn't mean that they will just disappear, instead I know that I can trust him through them.

joJO

I have been brought up in a Christian household, although my two older brothers don’t believe in God. I had always attended church and learnt all the facts that everyone knows, but it never truly registered in my heart the same way it did in my head.
I attended Soul Survivor numerous times, and each time was a new experience where I felt that God was trying to teach me that I need to hand over my pain and anger to him rather than bottle it up. I gave my life to God the first time I went to Soul Survivor in 2012 and went on to be Baptised later on the 1st December 2013 after many promptings from the Lord.
During the year leading up to my baptism I felt my faith was definitely tested through obtaining numerous injuries. The most challenging of them was when I broke my finger, which has led to three operations, in three different hospitals by three different doctors, yet I am still unable to bend it. Through this ongoing experience, I am learning to be patient and to trust in God’s timing and plan as well as to be persistent in prayer.
However, at the beginning of the year, I felt really far from God to the point where I felt unable to read my Bible, pray or sing, which was a pretty scary experience. I wrestled with this for months and felt very overwhelmed as I was trying to find God in amongst worrying about my AS levels, my finger injury and finding myself.
By the time Soul Survivor 2015 came around, I couldn’t escape these negative words in my head but with the prayer and support of my friends I managed to gain some hope that I could use the week to reach out to God. By the end of the week, I realised that all the talks I had been to were directing me towards the knowledge that although my faith had been shaken, it was not broken and that I could be restored in my faith.
I received a lot of prayer over the week and even though I had no massive epiphany, I felt several phrases were rooted in my heart, which have allowed me to sing, pray and read the Bible again. My faith is by no means perfect, but it is building and I am learning to trust in His plan with the knowledge that He is always by my side.

joshJOSH

I was born into a Christian family, but I don’t think I truly understood what Christianity actually meant. Having left Live Loud, I moved on to The Big Picture where I felt that I understood what part God had in what we were studying. From there, I decided I should take it all more seriously. I’m surprised it didn’t dawn on me earlier, as after all, it’s not every day somebody dies and comes back to life! From then on I began to see what and who God was – pure love - and as a result I properly decided that I should believe in him and to trust my life to him for the best.
What brought me to the decision to be baptised, was simply by God telling me. During a Generator session on a Thursday, God popped the idea to be baptised inside my head when I was asking him what I should do to come closer to him. I debated the idea for a bit, but I left it at the back of my mind for too long. Until the idea was truly re-awakened when I later went to a weekend at Carroty Wood, a youth weekend away, where I learnt more about God in the sessions and worship.
In a particular worship session, I felt God speaking to me and telling me that, after praying for several people, “This is what I want you to do.” - God wanted me to be a “rock” for others. To do this, I would have to take my faith further; the next step would be baptism.
I’m just so grateful for all my brothers and sisters in God, from Generator, and all my family, who have made my day, every day, and I thank them that they are a great example of what God’s love does.
Simply because God told me I should, I was baptised without question, because I knew that God loved me and that whatever he asked of me would be for the best.

katieKATIE

I started attending my local United Reformed church when I was about seven, but I often found it boring and would usually only go for the biscuits. This continued up until I was around thirteen, when I switched churches and ended up attending a youth group at a Baptist church.
Here, I discovered a very different approach to Christianity, but still felt as if I did not belong. I stopped going after a little while,  because I did not feel included, and almost completely lost my faith as a result.
However, one of my best friends invited me to go to Generator with her in October of year 11, and I knew that I had finally found the church (and the friends) that was right for me. I became a Christian at Carroty Wood in 2014, got baptised on Easter Sunday in 2015 and have not looked back since.
Obviously, I still go through some tough times, but I now know that I have God, my all-loving father, to help me through these rough patches. Before I became a Christian, these darker points in my life affected me a lot more than they do now, as I now know that I can put my trust in God.

lucyLUCY

I didn’t grow up in a Christian family but my mum had started attending Church and invited my sister and me along. As I went each Sunday I kept feeling as though what I was learning about and reading was the truth, something clicked and it just made sense. I did the Christianity Explored course which was amazing as it helped to further my understanding of the bible and who Jesus is (plus, there was free food…!) and that’s when I decided that I would fully commit my life to God.
I had personal issues going on in my family life for a few years and had been praying that God would intervene in the situation. I felt as though he didn’t hear me crying out to Him, it was during this time that I read 1 Colossians 11 which says ‘God will strengthen you with his own great power so that you will not give up when troubles come, but you will be patient.’ Through that time, God had been growing me in my character and it increased my reliance and dependence on him.
When I went to Soul Survivor I asked a group of my friends to pray for the emotional pain I had been experiencing and I was overcome by the presence of God. I just cried and cried and then I felt a warm feeling all over me and I couldn’t stop smiling. All the pain that I had been holding in had finally been lifted from me. It felt as though God was reminding me that his Holy Spirit was living in me and that he is by my side in all circumstances.

madiMADI

Growing up in a Christian family, I had always felt God as being a constant in my life but never felt like he really knew me. I didn’t really know Him even though I was made to go to church every Sunday by my parents. As I grew up and later in 2010 when I moved to England, I realised that God had a special plan for me and that he wanted to have a relationship with me.
I struggled to make time for Him and soon He started to take a backseat in my life. My priorities became academic success and making and keeping new friendships. God, however never really left me. I could always feel him with me. Whenever I needed comfort or somebody to talk to He was there and this slowly brought me back to him.
One of the greatest things that He has done in my life was bringing me to Purley Baptist Church. My family had been praying for us to find a stable church and settle down and the way God brought us to this place was magnificent. He really proved to me that he was there and he was listening to our needs.
That is when I got introduced to Vibe and Live Loud and then to Generator. I met so many people that supported me and encouraged me to pursue God and start to have a personal relationship with Him. Through a lot of support from my friends and family I got to know Him more and more which led me to wanting to discover even more about Him.
I always felt like my life and what was happening in the world was so little and trivial and I was always trying to find something better and above all of this and when I got to know God I felt like I finally found it.
Going to the Carroty Wood House Party in 2014 and 2015 was a real eye opener because it really showed me so many more aspects of God that I had yet to discover and it just made me more curious about him. I still struggle with my faith sometimes and like everybody I get doubts but every time this happens He shows me that He is there and always gives me proof of His existence with everything he has, he is and he will do in my life. He is my absolute rock!

michelleMICHELLE

I was born in Pakistan to Christian parents, but my parents moved back to the UK when I was four, and brought my brother and I up to share their values. I’ve often viewed my upbringing as fairly sheltered – I never went through a rebellious stage or went through serious doubts, and sometimes I’m questioned by others about how genuine my faith is.
Many people see my faith as simply a consequence of my family lifestyle, but it is so much more than that. I am so grateful that I was surrounded by a family that sought to be more like Jesus with every passing day. I can’t recall a point in my life where I wouldn’t have called myself a Christian, but it was at age 8 that I nailed my colours to the mast and prayed a simple prayer asking God to forgive me for everything I’d done wrong and to give my life over to him. A few years down the line, I made a public declaration of the promise I’d made all those years earlier, and was baptised in my church.
Although I can remember the exact days on which I “became a Christian” and was baptised, my journey with God was not a simple “before-and-after”. Many people imagine that God should be like a magician, granting our wishes if we behave well and changing us from “bad” people to “good” people the moment we choose Him. But this is not true.
Change takes time, and I’ve found that God has been taking me on a journey throughout my entire life. He’s not interested in a quick fix before He moves on to fix the next person, He is a personal God who wants a deep relationship with you, and some lessons take years and years for us to learn.
When I was a teenager I moved from the church my parents attended to Purley Baptist Church, where there were more people my age, and it was there that I began to make my faith my own. As I grew up and started making my own choices about my life and my future, I investigated the Christian faith much more thoroughly and found that it was the only way to answer all of life’s questions.
Christianity became a core part of my identity as I discovered more about God and all that He had done by sending his Son Jesus to take upon himself the punishment that I deserved for all the things I’d done wrong. It was in my teenage years that I encountered a Christianity that was not a religion, all about rules and rituals, but a Christianity that was about a real relationship with a God who loves me unconditionally.
Over the past few years, I’ve come to rely more and more on God, and He is slowly teaching me that I am not defined by anything that I do or have done, not by my grades at school or at University, not by how many friends I have and not by what other people think of me.
Instead, I am defined as a child of the guy who made the whole Earth and everything in it – a truth that still overwhelms me sometimes! And, as God says in one of my favourite verses in the Bible: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12 v 9).
Yes, I have my questions, and yes, I still make tons and tons of mistakes, but each time God picks me up, dusts me off and sends me on my way again. I know God is real because the evidence lines up, and I have seen Him move so powerfully in my life and in the lives of my friends, answering prayers and healing them physically and emotionally. God has changed my life, slowly but surely, and it is only in Him that I find true hope.

samSAM

My family are not religious, but there was a strong sense of Christian moral values as I was growing up. I went to a C of E primary school, but I wasn’t really exposed to who Jesus was. I realised my own mortality at the age of seven.
I went downstairs to say goodnight to my father, who was watching a movie called Deep Impact. It’s a disaster movie about an asteroid on course for Earth. They send up a team of astronauts to blow the asteroid up. A small chunk hits Earth and causes a tsunami that kills thousands of people.  I walk in just as this is all happening and suddenly the realisation hit me that someday I’m going to die. I spent the next two weeks crying myself to sleep at the thought of this. I manage to put this to the back of my mind but started thinking of ways to avoid dying. Years later in a Religious Studies lesson at secondary school, we were introduced to a concept called Pascal’s Wager. Pascal’s Wager is as follows:

Pascal's Wager
Believe in God  Don't Believe in God
No God Wrong but dead Right but dead
God Right & in heaven Wrong & in trouble

There are a few problems with this idea, but what it does reveal is that there is a comparatively small cost of believing in a deity that doesn’t exist compared to not believing in one that does. It made me interested in faiths as this was something that would help me overcome my fear of death if nothing else.
Sometime later in the year I was invited by a friend to a PBC Youth Christmas social where I was told about Generator. I’d met some cool people and thought “Why not give it a go? If I don’t like it I’ve only lost a Thursday evening.” So I went along and starting hearing about Jesus and everything He had done for me.
One evening after Mark had finished the talk, he then asked if anyone wanted to become a Christian. I sat there thinking “Do I believe this? Do I really think that this Jesus guy did all this so I could enter in to a relationship with the creator of the universe?” However, I didn’t respond, but as I walked home I kept thinking about all that had been said. Once I got home I went upstairs to my room and there and then I started to pray accepting Jesus as my Lord and Saviour.

stephanieSTEPHANIE

I have been going to Church ever since I can remember because of my parents bringing me and it was never something I wanted to do personally. Sometimes I enjoyed spending time with my friends and playing games, and a small amount of the time I would listen to the leaders and take in what they were saying.
It was hard for me at to realise that I had a God who loved me. I would pray and worship God because I had to or because I needed/wanted something to change. Also, I saw the Bible as a big book and it was hard for me to open it because I never knew where to start.
Then a few years ago I went on a Christian camp with PBC and the preachers at the camp asked people to come up if they wanted to receive a new tongue from God, so I prayed: God if you’re really love me give me a new gift that I can use to worship you. To my surprise I received a new tongue or language which I don’t understand but knew the gibberish must have come from God and make sense to Him.
I use this gift by myself to pray more regularly and to learn to thank God for who he is and what he has done in my prayer when I never did before.
I still struggle with reading my Bible sometimes, but I find it a lot easier to pray which has given me a way to get to know God and start a strong relationship with him, which I hope to keep going. Every day I try to spend time with God whether that’s praying or worshipping him; that I can keep my relationship growing and every day know that he is shaping me how he wants.
In January 2018 I decided to be baptised, which has allowed me, to show my family and friends that I want to live my life for Jesus. I go to Generator every Thursday at PBC which helps me to learn more about God and to spend time with Jesus and to catch up with my friends.

 

tim-eTIM E

Being brought up in a Christian family, I have always thought of myself as a Christian. From birth I have attended church on Sunday. I have always loved Church, the community of friends and the fact that our God is so open to everyone and is available to all.
As I progressed through the Sunday morning groups like Live Loud and Rock Solid I started to really understand what being a Christian meant. I was learning more about God and why being a Christian was just such an honour. The major point for me was when I realized that God is more than someone I pray to every night, I truly understood that He is all around us, and I was so thankful that He sent His son to die one of the most brutal deaths for us.
There have been 3 points I have experienced God on a whole new level, these events were at the Carroty Wood House Party in 2014 and 2015 and Soul Survivor. At these events everyone seemed to have this thing about them that I can't explain. Whatever it was I wanted it. Some of the most amazing work I’ve seen God do was at Soul Survivor, God's presence there was huge. When we were there, myself and some friends were praying for someone from another church, they fell down in the Spirit and they layed on the floor shaking for about 5-10 minutes. It was at this point that I realised "Wow, God really is real".
Since then I have had a hunger to know more and more about God. Although I may have faced struggles being a Christian, I know that God is greater and I know I can put my faith in Him no matter what. That's what being a Christian ultimately means to me-knowing that if I mess up, God is always there for me.

yetundeYETUNDE

I was brought up going to church. That’s to say ever since I can remember, every Sunday I would go to church with my family. Whilst in primary school I enjoyed going to church but mainly to see my friends and play games with them during the service (if there was no Sunday School)! Hangman and noughts and crosses were just two of our favourite games!
At Sunday School I learnt about different Bible characters and their stories, but to be honest I don’t remember any story or character particularly impacting me back then. I knew that “Jesus died on a cross for my sins so that I can have eternal life”. Again, to be honest I didn’t realise the impact of this, let alone what it meant though I knew it had to be important since people go to church and worship Jesus.
When I was 13 years old, I went on a family trip to Nigeria where my parents originally come from. My cousin who is a pastor, and his wife took me on a shopping trip and whilst standing in the shopping mall car park, I remember my cousin’s wife asking me whether I knew Jesus Christ and whether I was “born again”. I remember being unsure whether I actually knew Jesus or not despite being brought up going to church.
I think I was now at an age where I had a little more understanding and could decide for myself. I think I told her that I wasn’t too sure, then she asked whether I wanted to know Jesus, to which I replied yes. She then prayed with me; we prayed for the forgiveness of my sins and for Jesus to enter my life. I must say, after this prayer, there was no magical feeling! However, I had definitely been reconciled with God and Jesus had entered my heart - as the clearly Bible states.
Some years later, from year eight onwards, I started to attend a different church with my family because we moved house. Again, I enjoyed going and I attended Sunday School group where we would discuss various topics whilst learning Biblical principles.
At the time, I was seriously suffering from low self-esteem and having absolutely no self-confidence. I was always feeling super negative about myself, comparing myself to others and generally feeling fearful about life. I really didn’t know what the source of these feelings was, but in retrospect, I think some events from my childhood might have contributed to them.
I remember feeling trapped; I couldn’t shake it off and no matter how much I forced myself to think positively, nothing would make these feelings go away. I even got myself into some bad habits that I knew for sure were not right. I had my good and bad days, but these issues continued to linger. I was my own worst enemy.
I was still having these issue even up until I reached sixth form, but for years I used to pray and pray that Jesus would help me to permanently get rid of these feelings and habits. The feelings did not magically disappear one day and I sometimes felt frustrated. But looking back, I can see how God was slowly transforming my life over the years, and taking His time to deal with my issues at the very core, and He still is in the business of doing this actually.
I can definitely say that I am a completely new person now. I am extremely grateful that when I was going through these tricky times growing up that I knew about God and prayer. Had I not been brought up in church, I don’t know who I would have turned to! Jesus Christ had forgiven all of my sins and He had given me the power to actually overcome sin in my life. The closer I got to Jesus, the more my old habits and old ways of thinking started to drop off of me.
I now have an identity in Jesus Christ, I know who I am and that Jesus loves me. I know what God thinks and says about me, and that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I was not created to beat myself up or put myself down. I have also noticed that I have much more peace in my heart nowadays - I don’t worry as much as I used to.
Throughout my journey with God for the past ten years, I have seen through experience that God answers prayer and that He is always present, even when it doesn’t seem that He is. I have also learnt that God is for me and He is interested in even the finest details of my life. He is totally faithful and trustworthy.
Walking with God has allowed me to take leaps of faith also. God wants to be in relationship with us all and He wants us to enjoy the gift of life! What I love most about God is that He is constant and does not change – unlike humans and all earthly things!

Glenys
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