The gospel is the good news of what Jesus has done. It transforms who we are and it transforms what we do.

Below are some ways that we’ve seen the gospel at work in our church in 2023.

This year was a year of transition, celebration, and new beginnings.

2023 for the East site was a year of growth and settling into our new building. In October we marked one year of being at our new site. It has been such a blessing to have the space necessary for hosting folks on a Sunday. Our space has been slowly filling up and is being used for a lot of awesome new things. We have a men’s and ladies Bible study that meet regularly throughout the week in our lobby. Our kids ministry now has the space to expand and split the kids into age appropriate groups to further advance the missions of showing kids how awesome Jesus is! The music and media team has been slowly growing and has enabled us to have a full band most Sundays. In addition to this, we saw 16 people baptized! It is amazing to see the Lord using One Harbor East!

In the last year we saw a few additions to the staff and eldership team. Joey McClure joined the team as a marketplace elder and Toni Phillips joined the staff team as Hospitality director. We are so thankful for the Lord’s provision in these areas.

This year has definitely been one of settling and growth and we look forward to 2024 as the Lord continues to use us to push back darkness and make disciples in Beaufort and Down East.

Parker Marriner

A Story of God’s Faithfulness

My name is Parker Marriner, and I’m a junior at East Carteret. Last year, God picked me up and completely changed my life. Before this I wasn’t on the best path, I grew up in a Christian household but rarely went to church. I was in a very dark place, not knowing what to do or where to go next, but then I found One Harbor, a place that made me want to go to church and didn’t make it seem like a chore. I was accepted there, and I wasn’t judged. After going for a few weeks, I got invested in the youth program, which showed me there were people I could relate to and genuinely become friends with. Later, in February of 2023, I was baptized, which, at that point and still to this day, I feel was the best decision I ever made. A little while after this, I learned about summer camp and was a little cautious at first, but then realized I would be going with the same people I saw every Sunday and who had become family to me. Now, looking back, I’m so glad I went to camp. It was truly a life-altering experience getting to worship and praise God with people I knew and also some new people I met. After camp, I came back more on fire for Christ than I had ever been. I loved One Harbor; they had become like family to me. Later in the year, about mid-fall, I was asked to be a student leader, which was an honor and an answered prayer, allowing me to help set the culture I loved and was proud to be a part of. Now a year later, I’m still loving the church, and the youth program every Sunday brings something new and exciting, whether it be a new face or a new lesson.

Bryanna O’Briant

A Story of God’s Faithfulness

When it comes to finding faith in Jesus, every story is different.  For Bryanna O’Briant her journey has blossomed into a beautiful story full of evidence of God’s grace. 

Bryanna rarely went to church as a kid.  Her family didn’t attend church, it was only when her grandmother took her for holidays that she made an appearance.  In her elementary years, she did visit with a friend, but the ride on the church bus and the long days made it a less than pleasant experience.  It wasn’t until later in her adulthood that she would begin to attend church. 

Being from the area, Bryanna was familiar with One Harbor and many of the friends in her mother group attended as well. She noticed the warm relationship many of the ladies had, their ability to be honest, the love, and the peace they shared. In addition, both of Bryanna’s children attended a local Christian school and many times would come home and share what they had learned from the day. Bryanna realized she needed a little more context for the stories they shared, so she decided to attend church so that she could become familiar with the stories, and hopefully let her children experience the relationships she had with the other ladies from One Harbor. Bryanna hoped that by going to church, she could gain the knowledge needed to help her children, but didn’t want to become a Christian. 

Attending One Harbor, Bryanna fell in love with the worship.  She wanted to sing the songs as loud as possible and lift her hands. Despite her best efforts, she began seeing God in everything.  Reading the book Gentle and Lowly  she began to learn of a God who was a loving father who would never fail her or her kids. Bryanna began reading her bible daily and her family joined a community group. At their community group, they began to experience a welcoming kind of love that allowed them to be part of a community although she wasn’t a Christian.  As the weeks went by, Bryanna and her husband began to discuss more and more the weekly sermons, their community group topics, and Bryanna realized there was something lacking. Bryanna realized she had tried to justify her own salvation, she came to see that she had stepped out of her own way and let God do the work He was prompting in her heart.  With that, she said and believed the sinner’s prayer accepting Jesus as her savior. 

Bryanna has seen how God changes everything. She has begun to see that God has orchestrated her life. There are little moments where she tries to keep hold of her past, and God has been right there to help her let go. She experiences God’s love and forgiveness daily, one of those moments happened after her baptism. 

During college, Bryanna had a moment where she abandoned her roommate in a time of need. She carried the nauseating shame of what she had done for years.  Unfortunately, her roommate had moved to California and they did not keep in touch. Bryanna had wanted to write to her and tell her how sorry she was, but never had the courage. The one regret she couldn’t seem to overcome was being able to ask forgiveness. 

After being baptized, Bryanna and her community group went out for brunch at a local restaurant.  As they were being seated, Bryanna looks up and sees her college roommate waiting on a table next to them. Bryanna calls her by name, they see each other and embrace. Bryanna asks her for forgiveness, they exchange numbers, and Bryanna tells her of her baptism and all that God is doing in her life.  Her roommate is astounded to hear that Bryanna has come to faith. At home, Bryanna finally gets the courage to sit down and write to her roommate the letter she had hoped to all those years prior and text it to her. 

With new life comes new excitement.  For Bryanna, she hopes to find a way to reach the lost who think they are excluded from God’s grace, the same way she thought she once was.  Her desire is to live a life that glorifies God and to share His word with everyone!

2023 was a year of healthy measured growth in attendance and finances. Those aren’t the ultimate measure of health and life in the church, but they are encouraging. Along with numeric growth we continue to see God’s grace at work in our hearts. We continue to grow in integrity before God, others and ourselves. It is an honor to be a part of what God is doing here in New Bern, especially with the next generation. 

Looking around the Sunday gatherings at the beginning of 2023, there weren’t many twenty-somethings. God burdened the leadership over this deficit, and so we prayed. Thankfully, God answered that prayer over the course of the year. We now have a burgeoning cohort of young adults who love Jesus! Additionally, our middle schoolers and high schoolers also experienced something of a spiritual renewal last year for which we are so thankful.

We are so blessed to see the next generation counting for the King! However, we are just as excited for the “vintage” folks too! Our site has been blessed with many spiritual fathers and mothers who are leading the way in exemplifying faithfulness. They are some of our best servers, prayers, and encouragers. Thank you for showing us that passion for Jesus doesn’t fade with age.

All this growth is wonderful, but it also comes with its challenges. We are capped in our kid’s ministry for lack of volunteers. The demand to be in a community group far exceeds the supply. We’ve made due by stretching the per group numbers, which is an unsustainable compromise with negative long-term implications. There is a need for more healthy, called and qualified leaders. Please join us in praying for that as we stand on the threshold of traversing the 400 size barrier.

Jim Lake

A Story of Unexpected Friendship

One of the graces of God on the NWB site is how well we love and care for each other. We are good at weeping with those who weep, and rejoicing with those who rejoice. December 2023 was a time of weeping for all of us as we lost a dear friend and sister to cancer, Nancy Lake. As painful as it was for us it was an especially hard season for Nancy’s husband Jim. Although the grief was heavy it didn’t crush him, in large part due to the way his community group rallied around him. They brought cooked meals to his house, regularly checked-in on him, stepped in to organize the funeral reception, and wrote a beautiful eulogy that honored the woman Nancy was. The day after the funeral Jim said, “I’m so proud of our church in the way they showed God’s love to me and my family.” That is God’s family being family.

BENEVOLENCE MINISTRY

Pushing Back the Darkness of Financial Hardship

We, as a church, are charged to seek the welfare of our city and are focused on loving the people of our communities while glorifying God. We, as God’s people, are called to live, eat, and multiply in the cities where we live – to steward God’s resources well, bear one another’s burdens, and bear the image of Christ to all those we encounter. One way that we live this out as a church, is through our Benevolence Ministry – Pushing Back the Darkness of Financial Hardship.  Each week our volunteers sit down with those who are struggling with their finances, to tell their stories, to offer a listening ear and to pray with them.  We ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and wisdom when determining financial assistance for each individual and family – but most importantly, we hope that the people that we get to encounter feel the Love of Christ through our actions and words. 

Noah Surfass

A Story of Recovery

A little over a year ago I was a lost and broken man, headed down a path of destruction destined for death. Drowning deep in an addiction to alcohol, trying to escape the pain of a betrayal to my wife, and other behaviors centered around selfishness and a deep depression which led me to a decision where I wanted to end my own life just to escape this world. Something had to change! I ran to my sister who took me to a church service and everything changed! The result of attending one service, I said “Yes!”. I said yes to Jesus, and No to my own ways. Immediately He healed me of my alcoholism! I had no shakes, or sickness or any DTs! Gone was the need to drink! I began pursuing a relationship with my father. Jesus has lead me on the “narrow path” persistently and very patiently, teaching me how to be His disciple. He has shown me healing, forgiveness, peace that surpassing my own understanding, and most importantly an unconditional love that I never realized existed. Upon saying yes to Jesus I have grown accustomed to the challenges of this world. With the Holy Spirit comes a sense of clarity. He shows me truly what it means to understand sin and the repentance that is needed to further grow. I see now with wide open eyes the effects of sin, and why it is important to follow the teachings of Jesus. I have been redeemed by my father. Although I am still dealing with the effects of my poor decisions in my previous life, I know that Jesus is molding me into who I was created to be. Each day is a new opportunity to heal. Jesus has a way of digging deep. To reveal and open up wounds that need to be cleansed in order to properly be healed! He has allowed me to face the past, in order to move forward. Jesus is the way, truth, and light! I fully believe He delivered me from my alcoholism in order to face past traumas with a clear mind and healthy body so I could be molded into what I was always meant to be. Jesus led me to One Harbor. Whom I have partnered with. Becoming a member of One Harbor has allowed Jesus to open many doors. From relationships, outreach, and discipling others, He has shown me how to lead a life according to His glory and be an image bearer to Him. Saying “yes” to Jesus has dramatically changed and transformed this man, and I am now on a mission to share my story to others who were lost like me!

One Harbor is part of Advance, a movement of churches that exist to plant and strengthen churches.

It continues to be an honor for One Harbor Church to host leaders, support churches and share resources across the world through Advance. We are better for it. 

We remain grateful for the mutual strengthening of our partner churches and are proud to call them friends.