Pastor Phil Smidt

Mars Hill Church just turned thirteen years old. Thirteen years ago, I made the decision to take my very pregnant wife to Mars Hill, a brand new church plant a buddy of mine told me about. At the time, Jen and I were 3 years into a marriage that was flat and stale, the exact condition of my heart and attitude toward Jesus. I was a moral and self-righteous man but had no idea what repentance and worship was all about.

A month after God gave birth to Mars Hill, my wife gave birth to our firstborn son who was also the firstborn child of the church. We didn’t fit the profile of the rest of the crowd; we didn’t have tattoos or piercings and we had no idea what Indie Rock or Generation X meant. With no other married couples or families, no one older than us, no one else who looked “normal”, it made very little practical sense for us to make this fledgling church our new home. But for one of the first times in my life, I knew God was asking me to do something: make this church my family’s home, settle in and grow roots. And that’s what we did.

How can I truly measure God’s grace and goodness? How can I adequately describe how the Gospel transforms? Thirteen years ago, I was spiritually an infant. Today, I am a pastor. Thirteen years ago, my wife didn’t even like me. Today, I have never enjoyed my wife and marriage more. Thirteen years ago, I was a religious man. Today, I have repented of my piety. Thirteen years ago, people annoyed and bothered me. Today, with love and interest, I teach and counsel people. Thirteen years ago, I had a newborn son. Today, he will soon be a teenager and the eldest sibling to his younger brother and sister. Thirteen years ago there was no nursery for our baby. Today, a thousand children show up on a typical Sunday.

Happy Birthday to us and may God’s grace continue to abound as my son and my church enter into their teenage years.