This is part of an ongoing series of introductions to the churches that are part of the PlantR network. In this post, Kester Smith shares the story of Immanuel Austin.
We in the Immanuel Austin community believe that God created us to be truly human. Being truly human means that we live in trust and obedience to God. Being truly human means living in community since our God, by nature, is in community. We become truly human, learn to trust and obey, and are brought into community through the person of Jesus Christ.
The name Immanuel (“God with us”) is one of the titles given to Jesus. We call ourselves Immanuel as an affirmation that we are called to be the Body of Christ and a reminder that God is always with us, calling us and empowering us to take part in His work in the world.
Immanuel is a community spread throughout the city as house churches. Our hope is that, as we grow, we become increasingly geographically specific as our house churches impact the neighborhoods they are in. These house churches gather on Sunday evenings at 5pm and then come together for worship on Wednesday evenings at 7pm. We also have smaller formation groups that gather together to share life more intensely and to serve the city together. We have regular prayer gatherings and can be found every Tuesday evening at The Tavern from 8:30-10:30pm discussing some of the bigger questions of life, the universe, and everything.
The pastors of Immanuel Austin are Kester and Rachel Smith. Kester and Rachel have been married for 11 years and have a five-year-old son, Harry. Kester works as a bookseller at BookPeople on 6th and Lamar and Rachel manages the Starbright clinic for HealthSouth.
Immanuel’s hope is to always be seekers as we develop into disciples. Our vision is to become more like Jesus through our relationships with God, with each other, and with our neighbors, our city, and our world. Our mission is to be Jesus to people and to bring people to Jesus.
We invite everyone to seek God with us. No promises of an easy road…just people who will walk it with you. For more information about Immanuel contact Kester via email or visit ImmanuelAustin.com.