Sean's Story

- There was always a sense of something more that I couldn't quite get hold of.
My name is Sean and this is my story.
I used to enjoy going out drinking, clubbing, that kind of stuff.
But sort of on the outside kind of had everything pretty much together, so in terms of what was going on underneath, I had a sense of a void, a bigger, I guess a bigger purpose and reality, but couldn't quite put my finger on it.
I did go to church when I was a young boy, but it didn't really register to me how it was relevant in my life.
For one reason or another, I ended up with an offer to go to Hong Kong with my work.
And it was really out there I think, when I was away from my family, I started to become aware of things a bit more and it all came to a head where I had my auntie and uncle come to visit me.
I was showing 'em how great my life was, introduced them to my friends, showing them the sort of night scene, all that kind of stuff."
So I showed my auntie and uncle all this stuff, and so they're very strong Christians.
And on the very last day they said to me, "We've seen your life here, Sean, "and we think it's great on the outside, "but we get the sense that you're looking for something "and you haven't found it and we've been praying for you.
But what they said really rang true and they left.
And it really just gave me a moment of kind of reflection.
I think the day after I went to church.
I didn't know really where it would lead.
But they advertised a Christianity Explored course and I signed up.
And I got plugged into a small group.
That was really vital because I think otherwise church was just a Sunday thing, but this was actually seeing people, actually looking through the Bible, working out how it affected them.
And I was like, oh, this is really interesting, actually people trying to put this into practise.
There are things that I've done that I regret.
So, knowing that in God you're forgiven, in Christ, is really fundamental.
I think that's what made Christianity really real for me actually was because like I said, I didn't know who God was, but then this sense of needing forgiveness, it all suddenly started to make sense.
When you realise that there's somebody who, God himself, who takes that on Himself and brings you into a new relationship and gives you a new sense of hope, that it's okay that we do mess up, but actually He's a solution.
It's not about me, it's not about my past, it's about my future.