I’m Randy Overbey. Last week I shared about God’s work in my life as a CSPC greeter. This week, I’m sharing how He’s enabled me to live deeply through the teaching of His Word. 

“I grew up near Kingsport (upper East Tennessee) in a modest rural setting. In my early childhood, I would have never predicted the life God had ahead for me. A 38-year career with Alcoa that took me from engineer to executive, from Knoxville to Washington D.C. to Washington state to upstate New York to Trinidad, into projects across Spain, Italy, Japan, and Australia, meetings with heads of state. I even spent a year on loan to the House Ways and Means Committee as a staff member! But through all of it, God was quietly preparing me for what I now treasure most: opening His Word with a room full of people who are hungry for it. The call to teach came unmistakably, a few decades ago. I powerfully sensed God saying: ‘I want you to start teaching my Word tomorrow.’ I’d never really taught. But, under conviction, I went to our church in Washington state and told the nominating committee chairman I needed a place to teach. He said there was no opening. I said, ‘You didn’t hear me.’ Well, he ended up giving us an empty room and a hint that the church didn’t reach young adults well. Over the course of a few months, the Lord ended up filling that room. People who hadn’t been connected showed up hungry. My wife Carol was right there beside me, as she has been in every ministry endeavor since. From there, we moved to upstate New York and joined a church (the best we could find) where there was no adult Bible study, no Sunday school, no evening service – nothing. So, a friend (Ann) and I started a Bible study. The pastor allowed it but never came. Again, within a few months, God filled the room with people desperate for Scripture. For five years we did that. When we transferred away, the send-off they gave us stays with me still. Then CSPC. It was such a big, well-taught church. I wondered: Would there be any such opportunity for me? The answer was yes. A class asked me to become their lead teacher 25 years ago. Carol and I are still leading it today.

Our class -Saints Alive, Room B139- ranges in age from the 40s to the 90s. We open the Word together and go wherever it leads. No books, no tapes; just Scripture. Some Sundays we’re putting out folding chairs because we can’t seat everyone. I just credit God with all of it – and for letting me get to be part of it. About nine years ago, I became the lead teacher for a Saturday morning men’s Bible study as well. Usually around 30 guys – Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Episcopal. It’s more meaningful to me and to some of the guys than I ever would’ve guessed. One of them told me, ‘This study is my church. You’re my teacher, these are my buds, and I’m happy.’ A kid who grew up from a humble beginning, sitting with 30 men every Saturday morning, opening God’s Word together. I’m as humble about that as I know how to be. There is nothing I’ve done to deserve any of it. A few years ago one of those men asked if we could have coffee. He said, ‘I HEAR what you’re talking about. I’m not sure I HAVE what you’re talking about.’ And I said: ‘I can’t solve that for you. But I know Who can. Go to the Lord in prayer and say the very same things you’ve said to me. I’m confident He will meet you.’ That’s really the whole thing, isn’t it? Whether I’m greeting at a nursery door, or teaching a Bible study, or on the phone comforting a woman in our class whose husband of many years just passed away – it’s not about me. He’s the one doing the work. He fills the rooms. He changes the lives. He just lets me be part of it. That’s why I believe genuine, personal connection -the kind where people feel seen and known and loved – is the fabric of who we are as a church. It’s an echo of how God feels about us, His followers. Without that fabric, you can build all the buildings you want – but folks will not thrive. But when we experience the joy of connection with each other, there’s a richness that’s so attractive- flowing from the fact that we’re also connecting, in some way beyond my ability to express, with God. That’s why people walk through our doors and say, ‘I sense the presence of the Spirit here.’ May that always be said of our church!”