back to index2015-08-30 Baptism Service
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been faithful in their life and preaching the gospel to them, bringing them to church, 00:00:08.000 |
and how God has used them to bring them to the faith. And we 00:00:12.000 |
stopped doing that a while back because it was just getting too long. You know, so 00:00:16.000 |
we had so many people and so many people praying, and so for the purpose 00:00:20.000 |
of to be able to do all this in the same time, we stopped 00:00:24.000 |
doing that. But nevertheless, that was a really important time to recognize 00:00:28.000 |
all the people who have labored in their lives. And I know that each one of the 00:00:32.000 |
people who are being baptized today, that many of you have encouraged 00:00:36.000 |
them, shared with them. Some of you directly was able to share the gospel with them. 00:00:44.000 |
my children that there's a lot of people, even in this room, 00:00:48.000 |
that share the gospel with my two boys who are being baptized today. And I remember 00:00:52.000 |
even when they were little, little kids, you know, like in Sunday school, 00:00:56.000 |
literally the Sunday school was them, and then a few of my nephews, 00:01:00.000 |
and that was usually the Sunday school. And those of you who taught Sunday school at that 00:01:04.000 |
time, you know, and I know that you guys share the gospel with them, and the 00:01:08.000 |
youth group, youth teachers, and pastors who have been faithful in their lives. 00:01:12.000 |
And so again, I'm very thankful that the room is filled with people who labor. 00:01:16.000 |
Again, not only in my children's lives, but every single person that's here, 00:01:20.000 |
that God uses the body of Christ in different ways. Sometimes you don't 00:01:24.000 |
even know how you're being used. Sometimes you'll hear in their testimony how 00:01:28.000 |
you welcome them into the church, and how that kind of opened the door 00:01:32.000 |
for them to hear the gospel message. And it may mean nothing 00:01:36.000 |
at that time, but how God uses different gifts and different people in their lives 00:01:40.000 |
to be able to get them to this point where they're able to make a public profession. 00:01:44.000 |
And so again, we want to thank all of you for laboring. And again, 00:01:48.000 |
I hope that, and I know that their testimony will be a blessing to you. 00:01:52.000 |
I wanted to just briefly share as a reminder about what the baptism 00:01:56.000 |
is and what it is not. And then I'm going to give the rest of the time so that you can 00:02:00.000 |
hear their testimonies. Baptism, in and of itself, 00:02:04.000 |
has no power. So just because you're baptized 00:02:08.000 |
or you're not baptized, it doesn't affect your salvation in any particular way. 00:02:12.000 |
Because baptism, in and of itself, there's no power in those 00:02:16.000 |
waters where you go in and you're washed, and you come out and all of a sudden you're clean. 00:02:20.000 |
It's like marriage. Marriage ceremony, the ceremony 00:02:24.000 |
itself is just what you do on the outside. But the ceremony in and of itself 00:02:28.000 |
has no power. People get married on television all the time, but 00:02:32.000 |
they're just playing. They don't make a movie and a show and they dress 00:02:36.000 |
up and then they pretend like they get married and they say, "Oh, you're married now because you went through the 00:02:40.000 |
ceremony." Ceremony is an outward expression of what is 00:02:44.000 |
actually taking place inside. And so the real power 00:02:48.000 |
behind what's happening is what God has been doing in their life. And so the baptism 00:02:52.000 |
ceremony is just a public expression of what the power 00:02:56.000 |
of the gospel has been doing in their lives, either at a point or 00:03:04.000 |
baptism then? Baptism, the word in and of itself means 00:03:08.000 |
to immerse. "Baptizo," it was not a uniquely Christian word. 00:03:12.000 |
It was a word that was described in the Greek culture when somebody 00:03:16.000 |
decided to convert. So, if somebody wanted to go into 00:03:20.000 |
public office, they would have a baptism ceremony, meaning that they're going to 00:03:24.000 |
put aside their private life in order to serve the country in a particular 00:03:32.000 |
to be immersed in something, to change from one to another. 00:03:36.000 |
And so the significance behind the baptism is, again, 00:03:40.000 |
that each one of them, as they're being baptized, they're making a public profession 00:03:44.000 |
that because of their union with Christ, their old life is being put away, 00:03:48.000 |
and that they're, again, being united with Christ in His new life. 00:03:52.000 |
Well, you might just say, "Well, if that's the case, if it's just a 00:03:56.000 |
public ceremony, and the real power is already what's been taking place inside, 00:04:00.000 |
what's the point of the ritual? Why is this so important?" 00:04:04.000 |
Well, we know that in the Bible it's important because before Christ 00:04:08.000 |
came He sent a messenger six months ahead of Him to prepare the way. 00:04:12.000 |
Baptism was such an important part of His ministry that they actually called Him 00:04:16.000 |
John the Baptist. That's just like some of you guys saying 00:04:20.000 |
David the boba lover, or Eric the Jeremy Lin fan, 00:04:24.000 |
or whatever it is that describes who you are. So, John 00:04:32.000 |
the baptism was such an integral part of His ministry that 00:04:36.000 |
they actually called Him John the Baptist. And so, John 00:04:40.000 |
the Baptist in His preaching, His primary preaching meaning was, "Repent for the kingdom 00:04:44.000 |
of heaven is at hand." And so when people would come to Him saying, "I want to receive 00:04:52.000 |
teaching to them was, "Come and repent and be baptized." And baptism 00:04:56.000 |
meaning to put away your old life and to receive Christ 00:05:00.000 |
in repentance. So, the real meaning behind the 00:05:04.000 |
baptism is this, is to repent. It's to repent of our sins, 00:05:12.000 |
3-4 it says, "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized 00:05:16.000 |
into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?" 00:05:20.000 |
To be baptized into His death. So when they go into the water, I'm going to ask them the question, 00:05:24.000 |
"Do you understand that when you go in you're uniting with Christ in His death? 00:05:28.000 |
And when you come out you are uniting with Christ in His resurrection. 00:05:32.000 |
But what does it mean to be baptized into His death?" 00:05:36.000 |
As I said, the word "baptized" means to be immersed. 00:05:40.000 |
So, literally, to be baptized means to be immersed, 00:05:48.000 |
In Isaiah 53, 4-6, "Surely He has been born of our grief 00:05:52.000 |
and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, 00:05:56.000 |
smitten by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, 00:06:00.000 |
He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon Him was the chastisement that brought 00:06:04.000 |
us peace, and with His stripes we are healed. 00:06:08.000 |
All we like sheep have gone astray; we all have turned, every one of us, our own way. 00:06:12.000 |
The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." 00:06:16.000 |
So to be united with Christ isn't simply that, "You know what, there's some sins 00:06:20.000 |
that I need to get rid of, and so I'm going to come and I confess that sometimes 00:06:24.000 |
I lie, sometimes I do this." Just as the word 00:06:28.000 |
"baptism" means, it means to be completely consumed and immersed. 00:06:32.000 |
There is no partial regeneration. There is no partial 00:06:40.000 |
His death means that every part of us, everything that we know of us 00:06:44.000 |
is united with Him in His death. So we are consumed in 00:06:48.000 |
His death. We're absolutely overpowered by His death. 00:06:52.000 |
That's what that word means, to be baptized into His death. So that's why 00:06:56.000 |
when we have our baptism, the person going into the water, 00:07:00.000 |
the actual ritual is burial. That's what that 00:07:04.000 |
water signifies. That when they go in, if they go in and a part of their head 00:07:08.000 |
is sticking out of the water, we'll make sure that all of it is under the water. 00:07:12.000 |
We'll make sure. Make sure that when that individual comes out, 00:07:16.000 |
there's not a dry part of his body. There's not a single strand that hasn't 00:07:20.000 |
been wet. Because that's the meaning of baptism, into His death, to be completely 00:07:24.000 |
consumed and immersed. And that's why a Christian 00:07:28.000 |
is described in 2 Corinthians 5.17, if anyone is in Christ, 00:07:32.000 |
He is a new creation. Completely new. You're not a better version 00:07:36.000 |
of the old. You're not, you know, Jeremy 2.0 or 00:07:44.000 |
You're a completely new creation. He says the old has passed away, completely 00:07:48.000 |
gone. Behold, the new has come. And that's what the baptism 00:07:52.000 |
signifies. That we are surrendering our life to Christ and 00:07:56.000 |
He gives us a completely new life. We put on the new, 00:08:00.000 |
newness of Christ. But not only are we consumed in His death, 00:08:04.000 |
the Bible says we are also united with Him in His death, in order 00:08:08.000 |
that we may be united with Him in His resurrection. 00:08:12.000 |
It's not just about the death. It's about the new life, to be 00:08:20.000 |
death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where 00:08:24.000 |
is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. 00:08:32.000 |
the individual comes out of the water, it signifies the same 00:08:36.000 |
resurrection of Christ. That as He was resurrected, and that same power that 00:08:40.000 |
resurrected Him will resurrect up because our sins were consumed 00:08:44.000 |
in His death. When a Christian dies, you know, there's 00:08:48.000 |
no individual who actually looks forward to death, the physical aspect 00:08:52.000 |
of it. But every Christian who has been born again, has been 00:08:56.000 |
united with Christ in His resurrection, it is in death, physical death 00:09:00.000 |
that we will really live. That we will put away this fleshy body 00:09:04.000 |
that keeps us away from being with the Lord. And so, 00:09:08.000 |
when a Christian passes from this life, this physical life to the next, it says 00:09:12.000 |
that we will be united with Christ permanently and eternally. 00:09:16.000 |
So, I remember when my father was passing away, you know, I've been 00:09:20.000 |
as a pastor I've been in the bedside of individuals who were 00:09:24.000 |
passing away. I've attended many funerals. But I remember my father as 00:09:28.000 |
he was passing away, it wasn't sudden, it took a long time. And I remember that process 00:09:32.000 |
that the longer my father, or the more that my father 00:09:36.000 |
knew that the time was coming, the more he seemed like he was looking forward to it. 00:09:44.000 |
and gone through the ups and downs of life of being a servant 00:09:48.000 |
of Jesus Christ. And I remember at the end of his life, he was leaving 00:09:52.000 |
in peace because he wasn't going into eternity that 00:09:56.000 |
was mysterious. You know, obviously it would be first for him, but he 00:10:00.000 |
looked like he was eagerly anticipating, it's time for me to go and I need to go. 00:10:04.000 |
And so, when he passed, of course it was sad for us that we were going to physically miss him. 00:10:08.000 |
But there's also a joy that's in us because we know that he's with our Savior. 00:10:12.000 |
So, in the resurrection, not only is this the resurrection of our physical 00:10:16.000 |
flesh, but it reminds us of the hope that every single 00:10:20.000 |
one of us has. That death has been consumed in victory 00:10:24.000 |
in Jesus Christ. And that's what this baptism ceremony really is. That every 00:10:28.000 |
single person who has this hope in Jesus Christ, because of our sins being 00:10:32.000 |
washed away, there is no barrier between us and God. And therefore, when we die, 00:10:36.000 |
we will be in his presence. And we can literally enter the throne 00:10:40.000 |
of grace with confidence. And so, we encourage all of you, 00:10:44.000 |
again, as Christians, as we hear their testimony, it's a reminder to us that this 00:10:48.000 |
is why we worship God. This is why we surrender and give our life to 00:10:52.000 |
him. For those of you who are here as our guests, again, we want to 00:10:56.000 |
encourage you that, again, whether you believe this or not, this is at 00:11:00.000 |
the essence of what Christianity is. That Christians are supposed to be nice, 00:11:04.000 |
they're supposed to take care of the poor, and all of these things are things that the Scripture teaches 00:11:08.000 |
us. But at the core of Christianity, why Jesus came, 00:11:12.000 |
he says he has come to set the captives free. To set us free from 00:11:16.000 |
our sins. And to forgive our sins. And he made an 00:11:20.000 |
invitation years ago, that if you confess your sins, that he 00:11:24.000 |
will be faithful and just. And he is compassionate and loving. 00:11:28.000 |
That he will forgive you of your sins. As long as we acknowledge that we 00:11:32.000 |
are sinners, as long as we acknowledge that he is the answer to our sins, he says he 00:11:36.000 |
will forgive us. So, again, if you are here as a guest, hearing the Gospel for the 00:11:40.000 |
first time, we encourage you that maybe at this moment you are 00:11:44.000 |
not a believer. Maybe you are just kind of, is he? Is he real? Is he not real? 00:11:48.000 |
Well, the best way to find out is ask him. You don't need to 00:11:52.000 |
come to a ritual. There is no special ceremony that you need to be a part of. 00:11:56.000 |
If God is real, just close your eyes and say, "God, if you are real, would you open my eyes 00:12:04.000 |
And again, we want to encourage you, if you have any questions, we are more than 00:12:08.000 |
willing to stay and answer questions. You can email us and we will try to do that. 00:12:12.000 |
But again, for all of us, we ask that as you pay attention to the testimony, 00:12:16.000 |
don't just listen to it like, "Oh, that's great. That's happening to them." Every single 00:12:20.000 |
thing that they say, every Christian should be able to relate to. And I pray that 00:12:24.000 |
as you are listening, that you may be encouraged and to be reminded again 00:12:28.000 |
of the grace that all of us are under. So, at this time, we are going to 00:12:32.000 |
begin with our brother, Mark. And he is going to come and give his testimony. Let's welcome him. 00:12:52.000 |
Protestant father and a Jewish mother who decided that it would be 00:12:56.000 |
best to raise me in the Presbyterian Church, where I was baptized 00:13:00.000 |
early in my elementary education. It was not much later after that 00:13:04.000 |
that I began to grow a dislike for the Church and for Christians in general. This was 00:13:08.000 |
due to a combination of bad experiences with Sunday school teachers, 00:13:12.000 |
my own thin-skinned nature, and my own feelings 00:13:16.000 |
that I never really fit in. So, slowly I began with my 00:13:20.000 |
withdrawal from the Church. And during this hiatus, 00:13:28.000 |
I don't know if I really had one, but my understanding of Him was more 00:13:32.000 |
akin to Santa Claus. So, up through my high school education, 00:13:36.000 |
it was basically, I just tried not to do bad things so that God wouldn't 00:13:40.000 |
punish me. During the fall of my sophomore year in high school, I 00:13:48.000 |
required me to have surgery and effectively ended my 00:13:52.000 |
hopes of any athletic greatness that every high school 00:14:00.000 |
from the surgery, I began to feel more out of place and withdrawn than I 00:14:04.000 |
usually experienced. So, this magnified my inner monologue that 00:14:08.000 |
I, again, did not fit in or belong. So, I began to spend a great 00:14:12.000 |
deal of time contemplating my life and my belief 00:14:16.000 |
system. During a particularly deep period of depression, I remember stepping outside 00:14:20.000 |
of my room on the second floor of the house and looking down at my father 00:14:24.000 |
who was in the living room. While I was dealing with my own personal 00:14:28.000 |
problems, my father was dealing with unemployment 00:14:32.000 |
and an upcoming eviction from our home. As I looked down 00:14:36.000 |
the stairs at my father while he was doing his daily devotionals, 00:14:40.000 |
a feeling of peace came upon the house that was palpable. 00:14:48.000 |
peace that my dad had experienced in this. And 00:14:52.000 |
I then knew what I wanted and what I needed in my life. I began 00:14:56.000 |
attending church more often with the juvenile understanding that true worship of 00:15:00.000 |
Christ involved self-deprecation and groveling 00:15:04.000 |
in shame before him. Shortly after my return to church, I began to get involved 00:15:08.000 |
with the youth ministry at my mother's strong urging. 00:15:16.000 |
named Bill who was a young seminary student at the time. 00:15:20.000 |
He encouraged me to dive into the scriptures and grow 00:15:24.000 |
my knowledge of God through that. And so I began reading the scriptures 00:15:28.000 |
and reading the writings of C.S. Lewis with a hunger that seemed to 00:15:36.000 |
It was in this time of growth that I began to understand that 00:15:40.000 |
Christ was a gracious God who is worshipped through love, 00:15:44.000 |
compassion, and self-sacrifice. That he did not come to die on the cross 00:15:56.000 |
understand. It was so unbelievable to me that all I wanted 00:16:00.000 |
was to know Christ more. And with this knowledge I was able to find peace with my 00:16:04.000 |
feelings of exclusion, understanding that I was an alien of this world 00:16:08.000 |
and that my citizenship lies in heaven. This understanding released me from 00:16:12.000 |
the anger that I felt from always being an outcast because 00:16:16.000 |
I knew I belonged to an eternal family that would always accept me. 00:16:20.000 |
And with this foundation I've been able to grow in my understanding of Christ even more 00:16:24.000 |
and find that peace, understanding that all trials I face 00:16:32.000 |
like iron through a forge, they are an opportunity to be purified and strengthened 00:16:36.000 |
in Christ. So I continue to seek to know Christ and the power 00:16:40.000 |
of his resurrection, that I may help others to find the peace 00:16:44.000 |
that transcends all understanding and help them to see the Savior 00:16:48.000 |
who gives me the peace and wisdom in abundance. So, thank you. 00:16:56.000 |
Mark, do you understand when you go into the water you're uniting with Christ in his death and when you come out you're uniting 00:17:16.000 |
with Christ in his resurrection? Yes, sir. I baptize you in the name of the Father, 00:17:44.000 |
My name's Liana. I'm currently an upcoming fourth-year at UCI. 00:17:48.000 |
I grew up in the church, but I was normally the kid who went with the 00:17:52.000 |
flow and didn't really understand what I was learning and didn't really see the 00:17:56.000 |
importance of it. I would go to church usually intending to play with 00:18:00.000 |
my friends and pass time. Also growing up I had a different 00:18:04.000 |
mindset than other kids my age. By blood, my dad 00:18:12.000 |
grandpa like a dad. After my parents suffered a miscarriage, I was 00:18:16.000 |
cast aside to my grandparents at age three to raise me 00:18:20.000 |
while they coped by busying themselves with work. Because of that, I 00:18:24.000 |
hadn't seen my parents often when I was younger. My grandfather 00:18:28.000 |
was a firm believer, and I witnessed to the strength of his faith daily through his 00:18:32.000 |
diligence in reading the Bible and praying every chance he had. 00:18:36.000 |
My church experienced a split, and suddenly I found myself 00:18:40.000 |
being forced to leave my friends and attend another church. In my head, I thought, 00:18:44.000 |
"Great, I have to find new friends," while my parents no longer felt obligated to go to 00:18:48.000 |
church. Still, my grandpa persistently attended without 00:18:52.000 |
complaint, even going as far as taking the bus by himself when there was no one to give him 00:18:56.000 |
a ride. By the time I was in middle school, my grandpa had been diagnosed 00:19:00.000 |
with prostate cancer in his late 70s, which resulted in him 00:19:04.000 |
receiving surgery. Despite my fears, things seemingly 00:19:08.000 |
went back to normal until he had recovered from his surgery. It wasn't 00:19:12.000 |
until four years later that we found out that his cancer had come back and 00:19:16.000 |
spread to bone marrow cancer. He was being treated at home with nurses 00:19:20.000 |
coming in and out of my house, and his lack of strength had prevented him from 00:19:24.000 |
physically attending church, but it did not hinder his faith, as he still spent a majority of 00:19:28.000 |
his time praying and reading the Bible. At the time, I would 00:19:32.000 |
have to come straight home after school to take care of my grandpa while my parents worked 00:19:36.000 |
and my sisters were at school. It wasn't until one day when I was 00:19:40.000 |
handling his IV that he told me about how his faith changed his life. 00:19:44.000 |
From then, I was convicted to take Christianity seriously, but what I didn't 00:19:48.000 |
realize was that it was also conditioning me. I had believed that 00:19:52.000 |
as long as I paid attention in church, I would keep my grandpa's pain away, 00:19:56.000 |
allowing him to stay alive. I was 18 years old at that time. 00:20:00.000 |
In the beginning of my freshman year of college, I hit the lowest 00:20:04.000 |
point in my darkest time that I ever had in my very short life. 00:20:08.000 |
Certain circumstances have left me dangerously unhappy and only got worse. 00:20:12.000 |
On October 26, 2012, I had found out that my grandpa 00:20:20.000 |
my grandpa had passed, I had selfishly chosen to stay in Irvine rather than go home 00:20:28.000 |
It wasn't until later that I found out my grandpa had been asking for me. 00:20:38.000 |
I felt hurt and angry, especially towards God, and I blamed myself. 00:20:42.000 |
I had prayed every day for healing, only to feel like my grandpa 00:20:46.000 |
was taken away from me without giving me a chance to say goodbye. 00:20:50.000 |
I thought that even my grandpa, the biggest believer I knew, was robbed 00:20:54.000 |
of his last moments. My hurt and anger fixed towards the belief that I had 00:20:58.000 |
in Christ and hardened my heart until I refused to have anything to do regarding 00:21:02.000 |
the church or my superficial faith. My anger continued on for 00:21:06.000 |
a year and a half, and I led myself down a destructive and dark path 00:21:10.000 |
to the point where I felt lost and lonely no matter where I was. I surrounded myself 00:21:14.000 |
with friends, thinking I could fill the emptiness I had inside of me. My grades 00:21:18.000 |
slipped, my social life took a dive, and my relationship with my family was hanging on by a thread. 00:21:22.000 |
This cycle stopped when a close friend introduced me to 00:21:26.000 |
a campus ministry called CCM. At first, I had gone for social 00:21:30.000 |
intentions, but ended up inevitably listening to the messages. 00:21:34.000 |
I remember standing for midterms when my thoughts unexpectedly recalled 00:21:38.000 |
the messages that I had heard. Suddenly, I broke down in tears as my heart opened up 00:21:42.000 |
and I realized that God hadn't taken my grandpa away from me, but showed 00:21:46.000 |
his mercy and grace by taking his pain away instead. It was then 00:21:50.000 |
that I realized that my grandpa had spent his entire life trusting God 00:21:54.000 |
until the end of his days while I opened my eyes to the fact that God had a plan for me. 00:21:58.000 |
I prayed that I would find joy in things and I appreciate 00:22:02.000 |
what I had rather than focus on what I had lost. I prayed that I would find 00:22:06.000 |
my way. I also felt guilt for the built-up anger that I had for a year and a half 00:22:10.000 |
and for the sins that I had committed during that time. Above all, 00:22:14.000 |
I had pleaded that God would forgive me for my foolishness, selfishness, and sinful heart. 00:22:18.000 |
The burdens of my sins were heavy on my conscience, paired with the regret of my actions, 00:22:22.000 |
and I was desperate for a second chance. I wanted to make myself 00:22:26.000 |
a new person, as told in Colossians 3, and prove 00:22:30.000 |
myself different. After opening up my heart and after a few months of 00:22:34.000 |
attending Berean, I had accepted Christ and my lifestyle had changed completely. 00:22:38.000 |
My priorities were different. I prayed genuine prayers. I consistently 00:22:42.000 |
did my devils for the first time and I made the choice to become a member. 00:22:46.000 |
Also, whereas previously I would have seen it as unnecessary, now I'm taking 00:22:50.000 |
the next step in my growth and getting baptized. 00:22:54.000 |
I still feel sad and occasionally scared that my grandpa is physically absent, 00:22:58.000 |
but the words of Isaiah 41.10 calmed my fears 00:23:02.000 |
and anxiety and gave me strength to pursue a life with Christ. 00:23:06.000 |
While I was previously walking lost in the dark, I am now walking in Christ. 00:23:26.000 |
You understand you're going into the water, you're united with Christ in His death. 00:23:30.000 |
When you're coming out, you're united with Christ in His resurrected life. 00:23:34.000 |
And I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:24:06.000 |
I know probably most of you guys know that I pretty much grew up here. 00:24:14.000 |
Sorry, I'm nervous. But yeah, I went to this church my whole life. 00:24:18.000 |
I grew up in the church. I learned all the stories. 00:24:22.000 |
I learned the Bible pretty well just going to church every Sunday, 00:24:26.000 |
my parents being devout Christians. But I don't think I ever really 00:24:30.000 |
thought about or comprehended what I actually believed in 00:24:34.000 |
probably until like my, until seventh grade. In seventh grade 00:24:38.000 |
we moved to a different house and instead of going to a different school 00:24:42.000 |
we decided that we would try to, one year of homeschooling. 00:24:46.000 |
So my seventh grade year we were homeschooled and it sucked. 00:24:54.000 |
I really hated it. I got pulled out of school. 00:24:58.000 |
I was away from all my friends and I was at home alone 00:25:06.000 |
This is around the time where I started puberty. 00:25:14.000 |
all over the place and I think I got pretty rebellious 00:25:18.000 |
against my parents. So yeah, I just had a lot of 00:25:22.000 |
emotional stress during that time. I ended up spending a lot of time 00:25:26.000 |
in my room just feeling really lonely and bitter. 00:25:30.000 |
I guess that gave me a lot of time to just reflect 00:25:34.000 |
upon my life. I guess that's when I really started to question what I believed in. 00:25:38.000 |
After all those years of hearing the gospel just like so many times 00:25:42.000 |
I think it finally started to make sense to me during that time. 00:25:46.000 |
I was finally able to just think about what the gospel meant to me 00:25:58.000 |
I'm a sinner and that I deserve to be judged by God but 00:26:02.000 |
God showed mercy upon me and he gave me the opportunity to receive salvation. 00:26:10.000 |
I was able to accept Christ. I don't know exactly when I did but it was in that 00:26:18.000 |
gave my life to Christ. I repented and I truly believe 00:26:22.000 |
that God forgave me of my sins and that I have 00:26:34.000 |
times, there's been a lot of dry patches, times where I've felt really 00:26:38.000 |
distant from God but I look back at all the times that 00:26:42.000 |
I've drifted away from God and God's always brought me back to him. I have complete 00:26:46.000 |
faith that God was with me in all those times and that's such a good 00:26:50.000 |
reminder to me that God will be with me in the future. 00:26:58.000 |
There will be a lot more harder obstacles in my way in the future but I know 00:27:02.000 |
and I have complete trust that God will take care of me and 00:27:30.000 |
And I understand when you go into the water that you're united with 00:27:34.000 |
Christ in his death and when you come out you're united with Christ. 00:28:35.580 |
I grew up in the Seventh-day Adventist church. 00:28:38.700 |
I liked it, but I was too young to truly understand 00:28:58.080 |
my aunt would make, the omelet, the soy milk, 00:29:00.140 |
which were, let's face it, my primary motivators 00:29:11.200 |
I was always motivated by someone else to see God, 00:29:25.080 |
to young adult Bible studies right after I graduated 00:29:28.060 |
high school, a part of me wanted to get closer to God 00:29:45.220 |
and didn't even let myself properly transition to college. 00:29:54.620 |
the main purpose of fellowship was to make friends 00:29:58.700 |
Although I came to church, it was not consistent, 00:30:03.380 |
but to have the feeling of doing the right thing. 00:30:14.340 |
because I was at least trying, but it was the opposite. 00:30:20.300 |
by not valuing my time with God and compromising my purity. 00:30:26.880 |
The sin drew me away from God, from church, from friends. 00:30:36.080 |
and I would feel discouraged to come back the next week. 00:30:39.200 |
Then, two weeks later, two years later, God broke me. 00:30:48.740 |
by how fallen our society has become and will continue to be. 00:30:52.660 |
I was just spiritually awakened by the signs of the times, 00:31:04.600 |
I believed in Christ, but did I live the life of a believer? 00:31:09.460 |
This not only left me scared for myself, but my family. 00:31:16.920 |
but what I didn't realize was that it was out of fear. 00:31:25.840 |
and I needed the help of a church to build up my faith. 00:31:30.840 |
I re-listened to one of Pastor Peter's sermons online 00:31:50.820 |
to salvation, but did I truly know what that meant? 00:32:02.680 |
I sought to talk to a pastor for the convictions I felt. 00:32:09.240 |
Berrien's College Bible Study one Friday night. 00:32:13.140 |
Praise the Lord, because a new Bible study session 00:32:18.260 |
was just starting for the summer that same week. 00:32:22.040 |
I knew I had to repent, but how did I know if I was saved? 00:32:31.080 |
a very simple question, did I reconcile with God? 00:32:40.480 |
for forgiveness of my sins and accepted Jesus Christ 00:32:45.600 |
I felt broken inside and so small like a child 00:32:54.540 |
When I felt all the sin, confusion, doubt, and fear, 00:32:58.100 |
I knew there was no better way to meet Christ 00:33:09.340 |
For the first time, I understood the importance 00:33:12.100 |
of loving our neighbors, how powerful our God is, 00:33:14.980 |
and I understood that we must slowly die to ourselves. 00:33:19.220 |
Last, I came to really understand and truly appreciate 00:33:22.780 |
the love Jesus Christ had for us when he died 00:33:37.140 |
and has made me really depend on him through his word. 00:33:40.620 |
I really hope and pray that I won't drift away, 00:33:43.100 |
but by becoming baptized and one with Christ, 00:33:46.580 |
I want to proclaim this love that grows more and more 00:33:49.980 |
as I seek him by becoming one with my Lord and saver. 00:33:54.960 |
In this, I hope to really turn away from my old life 00:34:11.180 |
- Dianette, do you understand that you're going 00:34:22.420 |
to the water to be united with Christ in his death 00:34:24.620 |
and then to return and come out and be united 00:35:08.020 |
until we had a youth group retreat in the eighth grade. 00:35:14.740 |
I don't remember a lot of the things that we learned there, 00:35:29.860 |
And one of the pastors that was explaining it 00:35:34.340 |
and helped me understand that we're all the prodigal son 00:35:40.340 |
and how sad God is to see us heading down the wrong path. 00:35:50.980 |
or when he saw his son, he ran to him, embracing him, 00:35:59.460 |
because the son was once lost and was now found. 00:36:06.500 |
to see me heading down, having my back turned towards him. 00:36:16.860 |
God still showing his love and compassion towards me. 00:36:21.740 |
having my eyes open, seeing God for who he truly was, 00:36:24.500 |
I repented truly for the first time at that retreat, 00:36:27.620 |
truly meaning my repentance and wanting God to be my savior. 00:36:30.980 |
So after that retreat, I came back down from the mountains 00:36:33.820 |
and slowly I started to go back to my old way of living, 00:36:36.540 |
by cursing at school, cheating, stealing, and so on. 00:36:39.620 |
I would repent over and over, and I thought to myself, 00:36:47.340 |
and I thought to myself that God couldn't love me anymore 00:36:49.540 |
'cause I continued to sin over and over again. 00:36:53.060 |
But I realized just how sinful we really are, 00:36:55.500 |
and that the grace of God and compassion for us 00:36:58.460 |
is so much greater than anything we can ever imagine. 00:37:01.820 |
So acknowledging that, being a Christian means 00:37:07.140 |
acknowledging that we can't do anything on our own, 00:37:12.020 |
and that there's no other way to eternal life 00:37:15.300 |
And again and again, through different times in my life, 00:37:23.940 |
how much my parents had showed their love for me, 00:37:27.100 |
after getting suspended almost twice from school, 00:37:41.900 |
One time how I cursed about my mom to one of my friends, 00:37:51.100 |
how she forgave me before I asked for forgiveness. 00:38:08.060 |
and that he sent his only sign for us to die for our sins 00:38:13.060 |
so that we could have a chance to be with him in heaven. 00:38:15.660 |
Before I knew Christ, I was lost, but now I'm found. 00:38:26.220 |
And when I fail, I will continue to get back up 00:38:30.780 |
for me and you and for everyone who believes in Christ Jesus, 00:38:40.580 |
- You understand that when you go into the water, 00:38:56.580 |
and that when you come out, you're united with Christ 00:39:00.860 |
- And I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son,