Sarah Rogers

Growing up outside of Atlanta, my family attended the biggest Methodist church in the south east.  I remember really liking Jesus and love, but not having any interest in God the Father, I saw him as distant, quick-to anger, and harsh.  I was raised that it was important to have the appearance of being a good person, because being a good person first and calling on the name of Jesus second was what got you into heaven.  

I was very rebellious and against any authority, especially my parents.  My rebellious ways set me up to create my own version of Jesus and God.  And so I didn’t recognize my sin when I started dating women at a young age. I had a shaved head and dressed in men’s clothing. 

I still remember the boiling anger my parents had when they found out. They threw several scriptures at me in anger about my final destination of hell.  This mirrored the angry God I pictured in my head.

When I was in my mid-20s, I had a long time partner. We moved to St. Louis for my career but after a few weeks she moved back to Richmond.  That’s when God took the opportunity to grab my attention.  

Several months later, I was driving home from work one day, when I heard a voice simply say “You will no longer date women.”  And with that, everything was gone, and only to the Lord’s credit can I say I never struggled with any same-sex feelings after that day. I would like to state that I know brothers and sisters in Christ that struggle with same-sex attraction that have a different story than mine. I praise the Lord for what he has done in me, and I continue to pray with others for deliverance from their struggles.   

After turning from homosexuality I felt like I could attend church again, but the guilt and shame was more than I could take sitting in the pew on Sundays. I couldn’t hear about God’s mercy, because I lived in fear of unforgiveness. 

So I ran from God again, and I returned to a rebellious sexual lifestyle but this time only with men. My sin weighed me down and during this season I felt very broken. I would note mentally when I committed sins against God’s law and I knew I was finally beyond redemption. 

By God’s grace, I moved back home to Richmond a year before my father passed away.  Now I haven’t told you much about my father, but he was my idol. While I rebelled against him, I needed his approval and had unhealthily placed him in my life where Jesus should have been.  

Devastated from losing him, I realized I could see him again if I could just follow Jesus. My selfish intention to come back to Christ was not to know the one who had paid the price for my sins, but to get what I wanted to see my idol, my father again. 

Once again, I tried church, this time attending with my sister’s in-laws, Melody and Jon.  These dear people had loved me since I was a teenager. They had always been clear they didn’t agree with my rebellion but they loved me with patience and shared their love of Jesus throughout the years. In Sunday School and church I sat beside them, usually ready to have a panic attack, ready for someone to point out my sinful past. Daily I struggled with the question, “Could God really forgive me?” 

Then God sweetly put Francine River’s “Redeeming Love” on my reading list. If you haven’t heard of this book it’s a fictional book based on the biblical book Hosea. When I read it, I had no idea there was a book called Hosea. God asked Hosea to marry a prostitute, and when she would run away, Hosea would go retrieve her and bring her home. It is a story of God continually holding his hand out to a rebellious Israel and how he was faithful to pursue them as they ran away. This was my story, and after reading Redeeming Love the Holy Spirit, lovingly convicted me, that yes, in fact God could forgive my sins as far as the east is from the west.

For most of my life, I knew in my head that Jesus was the only one who could save me, despite every time I ran for him. I knew salvation was through him alone, but it wasn’t until September 2014 that I trusted him in my heart, surrendering to him as my Lord and King. I repented and accepted what He had done for me on the cross.  The last seven years have seen ups and downs. God has matured me and grown me in the sanctification process. I have been with him on mountain tops and I’ve gone through the valleys. 

My fellowship with believers for the last three years has been through the Young Professional’s Bible study through Needle’s Eye Ministry. Through this ministry God has given me wonderful brother’s and sister’s in Christ to fellowship with and pursue Christ. I am truly grateful for the accountability and love of Chris, Margret-Ann, Nate, Bekah, and Scott.   

I thought this was enough and that I didn’t need a church home, until last summer the Holy Spirit convicted me that it was time to find one again.    

Finding a church home during a pandemic wasn’t that fun. Last August, I met Peter Burdette, and whenever he spoke about his KingsWay family he did so with a deep love and affection and I was happy to accept his invitation to visit. 

My first Sunday here I met Lynn at the door, it was a pleasure to be greeted happily. Sitting down in the sanctuary, I met Kim Williams, who engaged me in conversation right away. I also met Stephanie who wandered over and introduced herself. I felt so at home. 

In my last several months I have loved getting to know several of you. I love your passion and zeal for Jesus. I am thankful that this church is not seeking to appease God through good works outside faith, but rests solely on the work that was done on the Cross by God through Jesus. 

To sum up, I’ve led a rebellious life, spent many years seeking the fleeting pleasures of this world. I found that nothing of this world outside Jesus can satisfy. I can proclaim that I did not choose Christ, but he chose me. In all my unfaithfulness and running he has been faithful and full of loving-kindness. He has rescued me from the depths and put my feet on solid ground.  God has been the Father to the fatherless, and has shown himself to love me more than my earthly father could have ever loved me. God has saved me from the notion that I could ever be saved by the law, that it is only through Jesus that I am reconciled to God the Father. It’s why Jesus is the name above all names and He is so worthy of praise, it’s why I can sing in freedom and it’s why death has no sting. I hope when my testimony is heard, it is God’s compassion that stands out. 

So, I will end with the last verses of my favorite chapter of the Bible, Hosea Chapter 2: 19-23

I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In favor and in compassion, And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord. “And it will come about on that day that I will respond,” declares the Lord. “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth, And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil, And they will respond to Jezreel. I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, And I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they will say, ‘You are my God!’”