Before I came to Grace, I had given up on the whole "church" thing.  When I was younger I remember walking into the foyer of my former church and feeling almost lost.  Church was a place I had to go to every week, rather than something to look forward to.  To be completely transparent, the only thing I really looked forward to was the service being over.

I was invited to Grace Commuity Church by my uncle, and after much prodding, I decided to try it out.  I admit, I wasn't enthusiastic about the idea.  However, as soon as I walked through the doors, I knew this place was different.  Immediately I was offered coffee, a friendly smile and a super-welcoming environment.  "What is this place?" I thought. "How can they be so nice when I am a perfect stranger to them?"

As if the music and videos didn't impress me enough, the preaching blew me away.  I don't remember what Matt preached on that weekend, but I remember that it made me stop and realize that I had a very skewed view not only of church, but of God as well.  Never had I been to a place that promised to come alongside of me and discuss struggles that I was really having instead of yelling at me for the things I had already done.  Never had I been to a place that wasn't afraid to take the "church" masks off and talk about a relationship with God.  Though I considered myself a Christian my entire life, it was not until I went on a mission trip to Kenya with 20 other people from Grace that I truly realized God's love for us.  Thanks to Grace Community Church, I know for a fact that God is REAL, God CARES, and He HEALS.

Before I found Grace Community Church, there was a period in my life where I was totally disconnected from my faith and I did not go to church for years. I had always thought that church was so boring and for a long time I did not have any desire to go to church or to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. After being married a few years my husband and I decided that we finally wanted to find a church so we did the church tour of Cranberry Township, trying a new church every weekend. The outside sign of Grace had always caught my attention when I drove past, it said “The Church You’ve Been Looking For.” We gave Grace a try one weekend and we have loved this church since! I can honestly say that I do not hate going to church anymore and I look forward to going every weekend! My life has changed for the better from attending Grace Community Church. I have finally realized that God loves me and He has a plan for my life!