We’ve been interviewing some of our Anchor Family to find out how God has been working in their lives. This week, we’re going to meet Toby Dedden!
1. What do you love about Anchor Church?
I love the people and how I felt at home almost straight away. I love the incredibly gifted musicians. I love how solid the teaching is. I love the commitment everyone makes every week for God’s Glory. And most of all I love how clearly we can see that none of this would be possible without God’s hand upon it and the work that the Holy Spirit is doing in us, so that God’s name would be glorified through Anchor and through everyone!
2. How has God been at work in your life since joining Anchor?
Oh man, he has done so much. It’s quite crazy thinking about it actually!! One thing in particular is that God keeps reminding me how desperately we (as creations of God) need him in our lives, and how we can’t keep relying on ourselves or on others. We need to depend on him knowing that he ‘is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think’ (Eph 3:20).
3. Tell us about your experiences of being in community at Anchor.
I’ve been part of Anchor for six months and I have seen the church grow so much. I’ve seen people come along and only a couple of weeks later decide that they’ll make Anchor home. Through my Gospel Community, I have experienced so much love and generosity, with being offered places to stay and food whilst being tight on money. But I have also seen love shown to complete strangers, just people welcomed into homes and truly loved. I really see God’s work being done through so so many people at Anchor and I know it will only grow, Lord willing.
4. How does Anchor equip you to live on mission in everyday life?
For starters, every Sunday we are brought an incredible message and challenged through the word brought to us by the Holy Spirit’s work through the preachers. And then midweek in Gospel Communities, we discuss how that applies to us and how we can use that to reach out to others in need of Jesus. We are reminded that church is not just a Sunday thing that people do, but the church is God’s people… Us! And God has given us the ministry of reconciliation so that we can go and make disciples who make disciples.