A couple of years ago, Alonzo and Samantha Gonzalez began attending the Water Mill church of Christ. The path there was ordinary at first. My daughters answered a Facebook request to babysit their children. While they were watching the girls, my daughters started bringing their three daughters to class and worship on Sundays. Before long, Alonzo and Samantha started coming too.
I invited them to the class I was teaching. Whenever they were not working, they came faithfully — Sunday and Wednesday. Then one Sunday they walked up and said, “We like it here and want to know what to do to become members. What should we do next?”
A few years earlier, Rick and Mary Shur had come to Water Mill to introduce Mathetis, the group Bible study platform produced by World Bible School. I had gone through some of the studies myself, but I had never used it with anyone else. This felt like the
right time.
Alonzo and Samantha had already been hearing good sermons and classes at Water Mill for many months. We had also had some rich dinner-table studies. Mathetis added something those settings could not always provide: a way for them to absorb a great deal of teaching in their own time, then talk through it together in a way that made sense. Who is God? Who is Jesus? What did He do for us? What should I do because of that? Those are enormous questions. Mathetis helps walk through them simply and clearly, while keeping the conversation pointed at Scripture.
One day Alonzo texted me. It was time. They were ready to put on Christ in baptism and make the greatest commitment anyone can make. We met them at the church building, and they were baptized on June 4, 2026.
They did not stop at the water. When my dad was recovering from surgery recently, they brought food for several days. They help with children’s classes. They bring visitors. They faithfully attend worship, and their kids are involved in everything. They were not merely baptized, they have become part of the family of God.
Tools like Mathetis can be a valuable aid in Bible study when they point people back to Scripture itself and encourage honest conversation about what God has said. We are grateful for the chance to walk with the Gonzalezes, and for the way the Lord worked through His Word.
Our quarterly flagship magazine mailed to your home or church address.
Our bi-monthly email with success stories, evangelism tips and updates.
Multiple podcast series for in-depth Bible study and WBS updates.
