Keepers of the Covenant – Commissioning Testimony

From: Rouse Hill Region Corps (NSW)

Appointment: Corps Officer/Team Leader at Rouse Hill Corps (NSW)

Silver Star recipients: Commissioners Cheralynne and Kelvin Pethybridge

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I have much to be grateful for in my life story. Growing up with faith and ministry modelled from an early age, the presence of God was never seen to be absent, and knowledge of God was always familiar.

Giving my time and skills to serve within the church was never a difficult question, and I developed a strong sense of usefulness within the church. In fact, through many seasons of serving, it became an appealing substitute for the deep, foundational work of developing intimacy with Jesus. So, for many years, I walked near him, but not always with him. 

But God always wanted more. And he was patient. He waited for me to learn the hard way the lesson that the character I had formed was not his. He began rebuilding me – showing me that a life lived being busy near him could never sustain me as deeply or form me as fully as a life lived in close friendship with him. 

Since then, my journey has not necessarily been one of getting to know God more, but of drawing close to let him in to know me and then allowing him to form me into who he always intended me to be – satisfied in him, serving from the overflow of intimacy, and letting him lead. 

Nine years ago, God led me back into service from this deeper place, initially as an auxiliary lieutenant and now as a commissioned officer.

I believe that pursuing service or officership was never his goal, but being led by the Spirit to walk closely with Jesus, to surrender in partnered service for a lifetime, to love the church Jesus loves, and to seek life transformation in the communities they inhabit.

Bible verse: “So guard yourself and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock – His church, purchased with His own blood – over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as a leader” (Acts 20:28 NLT).