Pastor Keith Hamilton

On a Sunday morning in the summer of 1986, I can remember hearing the gospel presented so simply and clearly in a small Calvary Chapel in Arroyo Grande, CA by the soft-spoken pastor, Steve Carr: “it is not what you do for God; it is what God did for you.”  Having been raised Catholic with the mindset of doing good and going to confession to get to heaven, I was struck by how simple the gospel message was, and so that morning I finally made the decision to put my faith in Jesus Christ and trust Him for salvation. There was no great emotion that came over me that day, and if someone was to look on me on the outside they probably would not have noticed much difference between the day before and the day after. It was more of a relief and joy to finally understand the good news of the gospel after “trying” to be saved for the previous couple of years.

Looking back, I can now see how the Holy Spirit was preparing me for that moment in the years leading up to it by the Christians God put in my life, with the most important person being my wife Katie.  Since that time I have grown so much in the Lord and have experienced what a faithful and loving God we have as our Heavenly Father. It is a privilege to serve him in ministry and, not surprisingly, I now find myself getting emotional very easily when I think about what a Wonderful Savior I have!