Prospective New Member: Shaylan Pratt
As a church, we are excited about how God is working among and through us. One aspect is seeing people excited to lock arms as they seek to partner with us in Church Membership. If you are curious about what it means to partner with Knollwood in Church Membership or just want to learn more about it, consider signing up for our upcoming Next Steps Class.
Please read the testimony of Shaylan Pratt. Take some time to get to know her over the next couple of weeks.
Shaylan Pratt
I was privileged to grow up with parents who are Christians and who love God. From a very young age, they taught my sisters and I about Jesus and the gospel. Attending church was a normal part of my life, and not something I really thought twice about for the first 6 years of my life. Growing up, we would read the Bible together every day as a family. I remember one day my dad was reading about the events that would happen on Earth after Jesus returned. Those who were saved would go to heaven to be with Jesus, but those who weren’t would be left behind. This terrified me. After this, I began to think seriously about God and what it meant to be saved. I knew that God was real. I knew the story of Jesus. I believed that the Bible was true. But I had a really hard time understanding how I could know for sure that I was saved. I would ask my parents how I could have certainty, and they would always answer to the best of their abilities. One day, my mum reminded me of Acts 16:31, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved”. It suddenly made sense to me, and I believed that Jesus had died for me when he died on the cross. I was quite young when this happened, probably around 6 years old. I did experience doubts when I was a bit older since many people had stories where they could remember everything exactly. It wasn’t like that for me, since I was so young when it happened. But my uncle reminded me that the important thing is what I’m believing now. I know that I am putting my full confidence in Christ’s work on the cross and that is what I believe which has helped settle my doubts. In more recent years (since I’ve moved away to university), I have been learning to trust God in all circumstances of my life. I tend to overthink and worry about many things, but God is good and reliable and trustworthy, and I am learning to bring my worries to Him and to trust him with the outcome.