CityLife Church Melbourne Australia

God has always been a part of my life, however, most often it has been a very distant relationship. Over the past few years close Christian friends have tried to prompt a rekindling of this relationship with prayer or inviting me to attend church with them. This year I finally listened to a dear friend who spoke to me about the Alpha program. The ability to learn more about Christian faith intrigued me and I began attending church at CityLife whilst simultaneously enrolling for the Alpha program.

I have found the Alpha program has been the key to unlocking a new and closer relationship with God than I have ever experienced before. The ability to meet with others who are also searching, also questioning, also unsure, also trying to develop either a relationship or a stronger relationship with God, in an environment of trust and support where no question is off limits has been simply incredible. Knowing people all over the world participate in the Alpha program is amazing too. No matter where we are located we are learning together, reviewing the same talks and conversing about the same questions. We are challenging our ideas and developing our knowledge.

Beginning each session with the sharing of a meal was a lovely way to begin. Yummy food coupled with the ability to build community. We then would watch a talk led by Nicky Gumbel which would provide information regarding a specific overarching question for the session. These talks were thought provoking and interesting. You can easily view them multiple times and gain more from them each time. We then broke into groups to discuss, to share our thoughts and ideas or to ask questions. There was never any obligation to say anything, however, when I wanted to I felt a sense of support and there was no question off limits. I experienced an open, honest, supportive and friendly environment. I was able to attend the Alpha day away at CityLife in Knox. I felt that we had been building to this event. We met with so many other from across the CityLife faith community. We shared our experience and continued our learning journey. Celebrating the Alpha program in our final session was rather bitter sweet. It was lovely to join together in celebration of our shared experience, but like all good things you simply do not want the to come to an end.

However, the end of the Alpha program is simply the beginning of a stronger relationship with God. One that continues to develop and grow each and every day. “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:13)

Posted in October 2019

Unlocking a New and Closer Relationship with God