Austin Stillman
God graciously placed me in Christian home with parents that loved God. So church has always been a part of my life, but there is a huge difference between growing up in the Church and growing up in Christ. Being a Christian was a label that made up part of who I was. It wasn’t my identity. I began to look for purpose and identity in other people, instead of in Christ. It wasn’t until I went to a convention called Nazarene Youth Conference in 2011 that I realized that God was more than church. I realized that God was more beautiful than any idol I worshiped in my life. Not only this but that God made a glorious way through the sacrifice of Jesus on my behalf to have a relationship with Him. After this trip, I learned that my identity is found in Christ alone, not in anything that I do for God or anything I have done.
After being saved at this conference, God led me to be mentored by men and women of faith that helped me see how good our Savior is and how wretched my sin is that Jesus continues to cover. This came through seasons of life struggling with addition, isolation, and pride. Through these seasons I realized how vitole having a community within the church is. They pointed me to the truth of the Gospel and the power of God. God loves using ordinary broken people to do the extraordinary work of healing broken people. This led me to having a passion and calling to shephard, counsel, and disciple people.
I recently got married to my lovely wife Bre, who is the associate worship leader here at Stonegate. We met through my best friend Ben Parker. We love going on dates, hosting people in our home, playing video games, board games, and cooking together. I personally enjoy fishing, men’s style, trance music, and backpacking.
My hope for Stonegate is that we would rest in the beauty of the Gospel. That we would be whole heartedly convinced that the Good News truly is the good news for the world and our own lives! People are in need of two things, forgiveness and love. Both of these are found in the good news of Jesus Christ. My prayer is that we would realize that God longs to use us ordinary people to do the extraordinary work of bringing people to the feet of Jesus.