back to index2017-07-09 Berean Baptism
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All family and friends and for the brothers and sisters to come and celebrate 00:00:10.240 |
in here and witness the testimony and the baptism of our four brothers and 00:00:15.520 |
Before I pray again, I just wanna give you an encouragement again. 00:00:22.320 |
We're hearing the story of what God is doing in their life. 00:00:33.880 |
discipling them, encouraging them, walking with them, praying with them. 00:00:37.360 |
And so I wanna thank you for all your labors. 00:00:39.520 |
And I think every single one of us who has a testimony can testify that we 00:00:44.520 |
are here in some way because somebody invested in our lives. 00:00:48.280 |
They share the gospel with us, or they met up with us, or 00:00:52.200 |
In some way, God always uses people to reach out to people. 00:00:55.960 |
So again, the presence of all of you here is always important for 00:01:00.040 |
us to, again, not just to hear their testimony, but be a witness. 00:01:03.920 |
We've been sharing on Sundays about confessing our faith and 00:01:07.600 |
confessing that Jesus is Lord and believing that he was raised from the dead. 00:01:11.240 |
And we talked about one of the significant ideas of confessing is publicly making 00:01:15.720 |
a covenant with God, and that's what baptism is. 00:01:18.240 |
Ultimately, publicly confessing that this is what Christ is doing in their life. 00:01:26.160 |
So let me pray, and then we'll jump into the rest of the ceremony. 00:01:29.040 |
Gracious Father, we wanna thank you so much for our poor brothers and 00:01:35.240 |
sisters who are being baptized today, and the work that you've been doing 00:01:38.720 |
in their lives and in the midst of our church. 00:01:41.560 |
We thank you, Father, for each one of them, and 00:01:44.880 |
how you've led them through different paths to come to know who you are. 00:01:48.120 |
And as a result, that they're able to be baptized, 00:01:51.760 |
make a public confession of you as Lord and Savior over them. 00:01:57.160 |
And I pray that our time would be fruitful, that we would be encouraged, 00:02:02.320 |
And again, it would be a great opportunity for 00:02:04.880 |
all of us to be blessed in the midst of what you're doing. 00:02:08.360 |
So I pray from now until the end that you would be in the midst of us. 00:02:37.960 |
Before we hear the testimonies of our brothers and sisters, 00:02:40.800 |
I wanna give a brief encouragement from the word. 00:02:43.160 |
I wanna start by reading a passage to you from Romans chapter six, 00:02:47.560 |
a familiar passage during baptism services, speaking of what baptism is. 00:02:55.120 |
And just briefly, in Romans chapter six, starting from verse one, 00:02:59.080 |
that's what shall we say then are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 00:03:03.680 |
By no means, how can we who die to sin still live in it? 00:03:08.160 |
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus, 00:03:14.200 |
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that just as 00:03:18.160 |
Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, 00:03:30.120 |
Now baptism, as you know, is an incredibly important aspect, service, 00:03:35.200 |
and you can even say, or you should say, the ordinance that we have in the Christian 00:03:39.400 |
faith, it is not a novel idea that early church fathers brought up. 00:03:47.120 |
And as we go and share the gospel, as people are being transformed and 00:03:51.400 |
converted, the church would baptize those who are entering in to the kingdom of 00:03:56.880 |
And today then, as baptism is such a essential core of the gospel, 00:04:02.200 |
I wanna highlight one aspect of it, just highlighting one aspect of the gospel. 00:04:08.360 |
I wanna ask a question that I think all of us can relate with. 00:04:12.560 |
Was there ever a time where you wrestled with some kind of addiction or you had a 00:04:21.560 |
Was there ever a time where you felt like, even though you really wanted to, 00:04:25.800 |
either do something, whether it's go exercise, or not do something, 00:04:33.160 |
Was there ever a time where you felt like you didn't have the power or the control 00:04:39.560 |
I'm pretty sure all of us can relate to something like that. 00:04:42.200 |
All I have to do is even talk about cell phones or smartphones, right? 00:04:49.920 |
We try our best not to waste our time with that thing. 00:04:55.280 |
As a matter of fact, the psychology world is very concerned about America because so 00:05:01.520 |
many people have a deep-rooted addiction to media. 00:05:10.600 |
And so the question is, do you deal with that? 00:05:17.320 |
And denial is a part of a sign of that addiction. 00:05:22.360 |
If you just think about it, I mean, we want to be in control, but in many ways, 00:05:27.880 |
the smartphone and the media is with us all the time. 00:05:32.840 |
We feel an habitual need to go to it in the morning, sometimes even as soon as we wake 00:05:40.160 |
We sometimes take it in hiding to look at it, you know, whether it's at work and you 00:05:44.360 |
take it to the bathroom or something like that. 00:05:47.040 |
All around us and very close to us is this thing. 00:05:50.120 |
And when people, they don't realize they have this addiction, they come to be aware of it 00:05:54.800 |
when they lose their phone and they're like, "Oh my goodness, I'm naked." 00:06:02.120 |
And I can go on about the symptoms, but again, in many ways, we have been controlled. 00:06:08.440 |
I ask that because I'm getting to the core of the question, which is, have you ever felt powerless? 00:06:15.080 |
Have you ever felt that something outside of you is controlling you? 00:06:18.840 |
And even though you wanted to, there was a frustration in you because over the period 00:06:23.480 |
of time, you just can't seem to overpower that thing. 00:06:27.600 |
And in many ways, you probably felt that kind of frustration, not just with media, but other 00:06:33.080 |
And I just give this kind of light example of media, but we all actually have deeper, 00:06:39.040 |
maybe more serious and consequential addictions or things in which we feel powerless to. 00:06:45.760 |
For example, there are some of us who struggle to control our anger and our temperament actually 00:06:52.760 |
feels like an overpowering force in our lives. 00:06:56.080 |
There are some of us who struggle with the opposite maybe of someone trying to take control 00:07:00.280 |
and angry, but rather the fear where there's a habit of running away, scared. 00:07:07.400 |
Some of us struggle with the habitual nature of lust. 00:07:10.680 |
Some of us struggle, and I can just keep going on, right? 00:07:14.000 |
There are things that are more consequential with increasing severity of negative results. 00:07:20.680 |
And so I ask that by way of asking again, coming to the point of, have you ever felt 00:07:26.160 |
the frustration of seeing some of these things in our lives and not feeling the power to 00:07:32.000 |
I know in a room like this, I'm speaking to both individuals who've been Christian and 00:07:38.880 |
And this, what I'm talking about now is a universal sentiment where at one point or 00:07:47.920 |
Because to be without Christ, to be without the power of God is to perpetually feel this 00:07:54.680 |
You see, the problem is, although this is a reality, we all know by personal experience 00:08:02.960 |
and simple assessment of ourselves that our willpower is very weak. 00:08:09.840 |
We all know by the experience of the totality of our lives that just a, "Come on, let's 00:08:18.360 |
And as a matter of fact, that is the case seen throughout all kinds of different disciplines, 00:08:30.520 |
Believe in it meaning we want to believe in our willpower. 00:08:33.440 |
We want to be able to say that I can pull myself up by my bootstraps. 00:08:37.440 |
And sometimes we have friends who annoyingly come to us and give us that kind of worldview. 00:08:48.720 |
You know, maybe the parental voice in them is coming out of saying, "Well, did you, 00:08:54.760 |
And it just becomes annoying to us because we've already been wrestling with that for 00:09:04.320 |
Now the problem that I'm pointing at is from that frustration, we are going to turn to 00:09:13.680 |
When you feel a lack of power, when you feel that need, you want to change but you can't. 00:09:20.120 |
And in this generation, we have been taught to trust our will, our willpower. 00:09:26.120 |
You know, we have little idioms where there's a will, there's a way. 00:09:31.400 |
It's almost like this, you know, very hopeful, you know, you just hope in the power of mankind. 00:09:40.280 |
And I think about even the major philosophers and psychologists of our generation, they 00:09:45.560 |
believe in modification of our behavior by the empowerment of our will. 00:09:51.840 |
Even an individual like Sigmund Freud, he believed that we're, our behavior is produced 00:09:57.400 |
by a lot of unconscious thinking, a lot of unconscious like structure that we've had. 00:10:03.920 |
So all you have to do is unearth the unconscious. 00:10:07.440 |
And once you are aware of it, you can modify the behavior. 00:10:10.800 |
Well, the thing about it is Sigmund Freud, you know, this genius, you know, rightly so 00:10:23.760 |
He had cancer in the mouth and the doctors kept telling him, you have to kick this habit. 00:10:29.160 |
And ultimately he died, not because just that, he gave up and asked his physician, would 00:10:36.520 |
And he made a very controversial death by asking his physician to do it. 00:10:41.840 |
So here's a man who believed we can modify our behavior if we just learn the inside. 00:10:49.800 |
You see, the scriptures, God who knows us well is teaching us, you cannot modify your 00:10:59.320 |
You cannot modify something that is so enslaved, that is so sick, that is so bound and dead 00:11:09.280 |
That we're not simply talking about a weakness right now. 00:11:14.520 |
I've been talking about bad, you know, habits in your life and things that you feel controlled 00:11:19.640 |
More biblically speaking, we have sins in our lives. 00:11:22.200 |
We have passions in our lives and these things dominate us. 00:11:27.720 |
As a matter of fact, one of the first lessons of the word of God tries to teach us is you 00:11:32.280 |
have to realize your willpower is completely insufficient. 00:11:39.560 |
And the more you try, the more you exert yourself, you buy into a lie, you deceive yourself. 00:11:47.360 |
You have to come to a point in which you come to the end of yourself in order to actually 00:11:54.840 |
And so one might be saying, my goodness, how am I starting this encouragement, so to speak, 00:12:01.760 |
The way I'm starting it is your willpower cannot actually help you. 00:12:06.400 |
Your willpower according to the Bible is weak and dying, is fatally sick. 00:12:12.600 |
Your willpower is enslaved because of the lust of the flesh. 00:12:16.700 |
Your willpower is enslaved because of condemnation. 00:12:23.000 |
Earlier I talked about habits, things that we can't seem to control. 00:12:27.160 |
But we don't realize those habits and actions and decisions have incredible consequences 00:12:33.000 |
because some of our habits, there are things like lust, anger, and they have an offense 00:12:42.440 |
Those things you do not just rectify by your will. 00:12:51.160 |
I know I, you know, whatever it may be, you know, transgressed against the law of the 00:13:01.600 |
And you are bound when according to the law of God, even according to even on a humanistic 00:13:07.320 |
level by the law of the land, if you're culpable and guilty, you are condemned and therefore 00:13:16.520 |
Our will is enslaved because we know no other than that. 00:13:22.000 |
And so my exhortation starting from this is we have to realize that life apart from Christ 00:13:43.800 |
Have you felt that moment of feeling like there is no other alternatives? 00:13:50.440 |
Well, apostle Paul described that exact same feeling. 00:13:55.280 |
If you have your Bibles, please turn to Romans chapter seven and this very sentiment apostle 00:14:00.320 |
Paul describes, and then he actually gives the answer to the question. 00:14:07.040 |
If my will is in such a condition, then where can I turn to whom can I, can I even ask, 00:14:17.760 |
And apostle Paul says this, verse 24, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this 00:14:25.480 |
There is your frustration and here is your answer. 00:14:30.920 |
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 00:14:34.360 |
And if you jump over to chapter eight, it says there, there is therefore now no condemnation 00:14:38.640 |
for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the spirit of life has set you free 00:14:43.600 |
in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 00:14:46.880 |
For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his own 00:14:54.640 |
He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might 00:14:57.960 |
be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to spirit. 00:15:06.120 |
What I'm saying is I tried my best to describe a scenario before Christ, whether you have 00:15:13.280 |
been deceived and duped to think it was possible, the reality is there is no renovation. 00:15:24.580 |
You can't take rotten fruit and say, well, if we make it bright, vibrant color, it's 00:15:29.760 |
No, there is only one destination for that kind of situation. 00:15:36.660 |
You can't say, Hey, let's change, let's change policies and let's make better decisions. 00:15:43.040 |
The life prior to Christ is destined to doom. 00:15:46.440 |
There is no other option but to admit there is no hope here. 00:15:55.120 |
Christ did not come in the form of man to renovate. 00:16:01.920 |
The message of the gospel is he came to make new. 00:16:05.600 |
And that's why for every single one of these individuals, even in their testimony, you're 00:16:10.040 |
I read their testimony and was incredibly encouraged. 00:16:12.760 |
They've come to the end of themselves, trying all this kind of different stuff, especially 00:16:17.960 |
trying to rely on themselves and realizing there is no repair or minor modification that 00:16:25.160 |
I need to rely on the gospel of Christ where it says because he came as a man, died the 00:16:32.920 |
And therefore, when I die with him, there is the end of the previous life. 00:16:36.560 |
But through his resurrection, I am made brand new. 00:16:40.240 |
That's why in scripture it says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, 00:16:45.680 |
not a modification, not a self-improvement, but brand new. 00:16:53.400 |
We're not looking forward to better days tomorrow. 00:16:54.400 |
We're looking forward to brand new life by the power of God. 00:17:05.200 |
That's when you can talk about the power of the will. 00:17:10.160 |
That's when you can talk about advancing in life and growth and sanctification, because 00:17:16.120 |
it's then when God has called us to be new with Christ that he works in our lives. 00:17:22.040 |
Scripture says in Philippians chapter two, that it is God who works in you both to will 00:17:32.920 |
When we are in Christ, he will do absolutely completely away with the old and he will grant 00:17:39.320 |
us newness in Christ that we would walk in freedom, not in the feelings of frustration 00:17:46.320 |
and bondage and slavery, but in freedom in Christ. 00:17:51.320 |
Let's take a moment to pray over them as they come up to share their testimony. 00:17:56.120 |
Heavenly Father, we want to thank you for the hope of the gospel. 00:18:03.760 |
Lord, it is not like the offerings of the world where we could simply try to have temporary 00:18:09.640 |
changes, temporary moments of pleasure, a materialism and some confidence, these fleeting, 00:18:20.840 |
But God, we thank you that in the gospel of Christ, we have a hope of perfection in Christ, 00:18:29.640 |
God, that we have a promise far beyond what surpasses understanding. 00:18:37.480 |
And God, now as we listen to the stories of four individuals, we pray that you would continue 00:18:42.800 |
just to magnify yourself through their story. 00:18:45.920 |
We're so encouraged to hear how you've been working in their lives and God for every single 00:18:50.360 |
person here, may we truly be refreshed in your love. 00:18:57.320 |
The first person I want to invite up is our sister, Emily. 00:19:06.320 |
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Emily Leung and I'm going to be a junior 00:19:20.320 |
So like many others, I was born into a Christian home and grew up in the church ever since 00:19:28.320 |
My parents were strong believers and emphasized the importance of God ever since I was young. 00:19:32.320 |
And I went to a Christian school until third grade. 00:19:37.320 |
I remember talking about salvation with my second grade Sunday school teacher and praying 00:19:44.320 |
And in fourth grade, I even made the decision to get baptized. 00:19:47.320 |
I have no doubt that I truly believe that the gospel is true, but I didn't understand 00:19:52.320 |
how the gospel was supposed to look like in terms of a changed life. 00:19:55.320 |
My walk with God seemed healthy, but as I was regularly attending church, going to Friday 00:20:01.320 |
fellowship, and even serving various roles on Sunday, but I soon found my faith to be 00:20:06.320 |
As I began transitioning into my adolescent years, the sins I struggled with became more 00:20:12.320 |
I found myself fighting the sins of lust, pride, and a great idolization of worldly 00:20:18.320 |
The more I engaged in sin, the less guilty I felt and the more I was able to justify 00:20:24.320 |
I soon became numb to my sin and during my junior and senior years of high school, I 00:20:28.320 |
would be able to sin with little thoughts of guilt. 00:20:30.320 |
I knew my salvation was in jeopardy, but I pushed it off in my head as something I could 00:20:36.320 |
I had no sense of urgency that I could die at any moment and that my salvation was truly 00:20:42.320 |
I knew I was living in a life of sin and darkness and I was okay with it. 00:20:46.320 |
My pride caused me to keep my struggles to myself and prevented me from being kept accountable 00:20:53.320 |
When I came to UCI, I was still living in my sinful ways, however, ever since the beginning 00:20:58.320 |
of college, I also had this desire to find a local church. 00:21:01.320 |
I don't know whether it was because church and Christianity were familiar things in an 00:21:05.320 |
unfamiliar place, but more likely than not, I saw the very early stages of when my heart 00:21:12.320 |
Early on during my freshman year, I chose to commit to CCM, a Christian fellowship at 00:21:19.320 |
Halfway through fall quarter, I started doing devotions again and really spent time reading 00:21:26.320 |
I saw all these positive changes in my walk with the Lord, but, and because of that, I 00:21:32.320 |
However, internally, I was still struggling with the same sins that I had struggled with 00:21:35.320 |
in high school and I often became frustrated. 00:21:38.320 |
The difference was that for the first time in a long time, I did not only feel an overwhelming 00:21:42.320 |
sense of guilt, but a deep sense of disgust with the way I was living. 00:21:46.320 |
The problem came when I would repent and then give into my sin once again because in my 00:21:50.320 |
mind, I rationalized it by saying that God is a forgiving God. 00:21:54.320 |
And although this is true, I lacked a true understanding of God's grace. 00:21:57.320 |
I was saying that it was something so cheap that I could turn it on whenever I wanted 00:22:03.320 |
Throughout my freshman year, there were many times when I thought I was saved, but only 00:22:07.320 |
oh so many times when I questioned my salvation. 00:22:10.320 |
However, despite all that, I truly thank God that freshman year was a year of positive 00:22:15.320 |
I was constantly immersed in a community of believers who genuinely cared about me and 00:22:21.320 |
More so, I'm so grateful for a Bible teaching church like Berean that taught me things like 00:22:26.320 |
how to study God's word, what the purpose of the church was, and why surrounding yourself 00:22:33.320 |
However, knowledge in itself is not enough and my heart had to truly be convicted of 00:22:37.320 |
my sin before I was able to fully repent and accept God's forgiveness. 00:22:42.320 |
A few weeks into my sophomore year, I began reading Hosea for my devotions. 00:22:46.320 |
The story of Hosea and Gomer truly reflected the relationship I had with God. 00:22:51.320 |
Despite the fact that I had a God who loved me so dearly, I was chasing after idols that 00:22:57.320 |
The more I read through Hosea, the more I became sick of the way I was living for so 00:23:03.320 |
And I knew I was the only one who could change that. 00:23:06.320 |
When I read Hosea 6.3, it really struck a chord with me. 00:23:13.320 |
He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land." 00:23:17.320 |
If Jesus were to come again at that moment, what would happen to me? 00:23:21.320 |
I truly had no certainty of my salvation because I knew that for so long, I was inherently 00:23:28.320 |
That's why I kept on engaging in sin, and that's why I found it so hard to stop. 00:23:32.320 |
In addition, I didn't see God as the holy and perfect God that He is, and my low view 00:23:39.320 |
I remember praying to God during my devotions that day and truly repenting of my life of 00:23:46.320 |
I was finally ready to change and to accept Jesus as the Lord over my life. 00:23:50.320 |
I truly believed that He had died on the cross for all of my sins, not just the ones that 00:23:57.320 |
I had to remind myself that Jesus came to save sinners, not those who were perfect. 00:24:02.320 |
I told myself that God's grace and forgiveness is perfectly complete, and since I truly repented 00:24:06.320 |
in belief, then I could have that peace that I was truly saved. 00:24:11.320 |
It's so hard to grasp from a human perspective, but it's truly something so beautiful. 00:24:17.320 |
Although this is only the very beginning of my walk with Christ, I truly see a difference 00:24:22.320 |
Things that I once did out of obligation now have become my greatest joys. 00:24:26.320 |
Whether it be the times I get to spend in prayer or the times I study His Word, I see 00:24:30.320 |
each of these as a way to draw closer and closer to my Heavenly Father. 00:24:34.320 |
Evangelism was something I once was scared to do, and I can see why I had no desire to 00:24:40.320 |
It was because I didn't completely believe in this wonderful gift of salvation. 00:24:44.320 |
I am now excited to share this joyous message with my friends and family, and I have a deep 00:24:48.320 |
desire to continue growing into a woman who fears the Lord. 00:24:52.320 |
1 Peter 1, 8-9 says, "Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you 00:24:57.320 |
do not see Him now, you believe in Him, and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious 00:25:02.320 |
For you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls." 00:25:06.320 |
The joy I have is in Jesus Christ, my loving Savior, and though I know that Christian life 00:25:10.320 |
is one of struggles and trials, I look forward to this continual process of sanctification 00:25:22.320 |
I believe you understand by entering into the water, you are uniting with Christ as 00:25:29.320 |
death, and when you come out, you are uniting with Christ in resurrection. 00:25:37.320 |
I baptize you in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, and in the name of the 00:26:02.320 |
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Justin Yee, and I've been coming out 00:26:08.320 |
to Berean for about six months or so, and yeah, just in these past six months, I can 00:26:13.320 |
truly say that I've really grown to love this church. 00:26:17.320 |
What began filled with awkwardness and uncomfort has slowly but surely changed into feelings 00:26:26.320 |
Being raised in a Christian home, church was always a part of my life. 00:26:32.320 |
My whole family went to church, my best friends were from church, and I spent most of my time 00:26:37.320 |
I grew up in a typical Asian family, always being taught to be respectful and to be a 00:26:43.320 |
I attended every year's VBS, and I always went to Sunday school as well as Friday night 00:26:51.320 |
But over the years, it became more clear to me that as I matured physically, I never matured 00:26:57.320 |
It wasn't clear to me until college, where I realized that my whole life, I knew that 00:27:05.320 |
I knew what a Christian looked like and what the church was, but I never truly knew Christ. 00:27:11.320 |
I never appreciated what the cross stood for, nor did I understand what it meant to be justified 00:27:17.320 |
I never appreciated the death and resurrection of Christ, and I never looked at scripture 00:27:22.320 |
I knew all the right things to say and do, but I never had the heart to glorify a God 00:27:28.320 |
I prided myself in doing good and looking good, but like everything else in this fallen 00:27:33.320 |
world, my so-called good morals fell as well. 00:27:36.320 |
I became exactly the person I prided myself on never becoming. 00:27:40.320 |
I remember vividly thinking of myself as righteous because of my good morals and separation 00:27:47.320 |
But in the end, I became a person no different from the world. 00:27:50.320 |
In fact, I was so lost that people were even surprised I identified myself as a Christian. 00:27:56.320 |
I was lost in sin, living a lie on Sundays and living for the world for the rest of the 00:28:05.320 |
I had no foundation in Christ, and so I crumbled to the temptations of sin. 00:28:10.320 |
But through this darkness, God's grace abounded all the more. 00:28:14.320 |
Despite being deep in my own selfishness and blindness, God continued to be faithful. 00:28:19.320 |
I will never be able to fathom or understand why God chose to cling on to me when I chose 00:28:25.320 |
But I am truly thankful that a God who is so patient and merciful decided to soften 00:28:31.320 |
my calloused heart and allow me to see myself for who I truly was, a sinner. 00:28:36.320 |
He opened my eyes to show me that I needed a Savior and the life I was living was a path 00:28:42.320 |
He chose to lead me to the truth and give me a hope that He had something infinitely 00:28:48.320 |
Looking back just a few years ago, when I believe I first truly became a Christian, 00:28:53.320 |
I remember how confused in heart it was for me to leaving my sinful life behind. 00:28:58.320 |
I remember so clearly struggling in my heart, wondering, "Why do I still have these desires 00:29:08.320 |
Why do I still long for the world so badly, and why aren't I satisfied in Christ? 00:29:13.320 |
I remember envying my friends who were able to confidently say, "My hope and joy is in 00:29:17.320 |
Christ," while fervently praying for God to give me a new heart. 00:29:21.320 |
Fast forward to today and how awesome it is to realize how much has changed and how God 00:29:28.320 |
It truly is amazing to see that God can transform hearts, especially when it's your own. 00:29:33.320 |
God has continued to mold me through trials and victories over the past years, and when 00:29:38.320 |
suffering has been the hardest, His grace has been the most evident. 00:29:42.320 |
Being baptized is a public proclamation of genuine faith and identifying yourself with 00:29:50.320 |
I was baptized in high school, but since becoming a true believer later on, I've always wondered 00:29:57.320 |
Through prayer, talking to pastors and brothers, I came to the conclusion that as a Christian, 00:30:04.320 |
being baptized is what would glorify the Lord the most. 00:30:07.320 |
So today I stand in front of you confidently identifying myself with the death and resurrection 00:30:11.320 |
of Christ through my baptism, openly proclaiming my hope and joy is no longer in the world, 00:30:16.320 |
but in Christ, fully willing to bear the burdens of the church body, but also sharing and rejoicing 00:31:11.320 |
Hi everyone, I'm Mallory Kwan and I'm going to be a junior at UCI. 00:31:22.320 |
My family grew up, or my mom grew up Christian, but she fell away for a while. 00:31:28.320 |
So I was always able to remember I've always believed in God. 00:31:31.320 |
My mom signed me up for a Christian preschool because she thought it was good for me, but 00:31:39.320 |
In second grade, my mom signed my brother and me up for Oana at the church where I went 00:31:44.320 |
Oana was on Wednesday nights, but I still never went to church on Sundays. 00:31:48.320 |
When I first started going to Oana, I was very excited to memorize verses, sing songs, 00:31:53.320 |
After a while, I went through the motions of seeing and memorizing verses because I 00:32:03.320 |
I did learn the basics of who God is and what Jesus did for us, but I never really thought 00:32:09.320 |
Also in second grade, my dad signed me up for a basketball team that was part of Wintersburg 00:32:15.320 |
This particular team was not the team that I signed up for because there was a mix-up 00:32:21.320 |
When I found out that I was supposed to join a different team, I was very upset. 00:32:24.320 |
At this time, my heart was very hard and did not take change very well. 00:32:28.320 |
Things had to go my way or else I did not know how to handle the situation and I would 00:32:34.320 |
Most of the girls on my team grew up Christian and always went to church, while I had not. 00:32:38.320 |
When we got into fourth or fifth grade, my teammates started talking about this one week 00:32:45.320 |
I would go there from fifth grade to twelfth grade. 00:32:47.320 |
I had no idea what they were talking about, but I ended up going because it sounded like fun. 00:32:53.320 |
I thought this camp was going to be like the camp in the movie The Parent Trap. 00:32:57.320 |
Mount Hermon was somewhat like the camp in The Parent Trap, except we would listen to 00:33:02.320 |
sermons from two guest speakers multiple times a day and then discuss our cabins about them. 00:33:09.320 |
The messages that the pastors preached were also new to me and I learned so much about 00:33:15.320 |
But unfortunately, I would forget a lot of stuff that I learned when I came home. 00:33:19.320 |
Every year, Mount Hermon gave me a spiritual high, but I was not able to keep that high 00:33:23.320 |
for very long, especially since I was not exposed to more Christian people. 00:33:27.320 |
I would only open my Bible up at Mount Hermon and Ilana, but never at my own leisure. 00:33:31.320 |
The summer going into seventh grade at Mount Hermon, everything that I had learned in previous 00:33:37.320 |
Everything started to click and made me realize that I had a purpose and that I did not need 00:33:43.320 |
Even though I realized that, I still did not open my Bible that often, but I opened it 00:33:49.320 |
That same year, my mom came back to Christianity. 00:33:52.320 |
At this time, she would give me verses to memorize to help me not worry. 00:33:58.320 |
I thought I wanted to go to church, but I did not want to go. 00:34:01.320 |
I used to do nothing on Sundays, so I would be defiant, and that would cause my mom and 00:34:07.320 |
After a little while, my heart changed and I went to church with no problem. 00:34:15.320 |
I did this until about junior year in high school. 00:34:18.320 |
The summer going into senior year was my last year at Mount Hermon. 00:34:21.320 |
It was the year that the teachings I heard years ago affected my heart. 00:34:25.320 |
That year, I truly believed that I am a sinner and that I do not deserve Jesus' sacrifice 00:34:29.320 |
because of an exercise I did with my cabin and my brother's cabin. 00:34:33.320 |
Each of us got a rock and labeled it sin to signify that our hearts are full of sin, making 00:34:37.320 |
our hearts a heart of stone, and only true repentance of our sins would give us a new 00:34:43.320 |
I was very convicted after that, and in a time of prayer, I started to clear my heart, 00:34:47.320 |
and I decided that I did not want to keep on living the way I had been living. 00:34:51.320 |
I was living a life where I did what I wanted to do and not what God wanted me to do, which 00:34:56.320 |
was not pleasing to God because His ways are righteous and without sin, all mine are not. 00:35:01.320 |
I ended up repenting and my heart felt lighter like a weight was lifted. 00:35:07.320 |
I would gladly go to church and pay attention. 00:35:09.320 |
Senior year was when I let God take control of my life. 00:35:12.320 |
I remember that He had a special plan for me and I had to let Him lead me there. 00:35:16.320 |
But my life didn't reflect my beliefs because I still lived pretty worldly. 00:35:21.320 |
This was because as a new Christian, it was easy to fall back into old routines. 00:35:30.320 |
I thought I was going to be able to make friends easily or get closer to the ones I sort of 00:35:36.320 |
Neither of these things happened for me at the beginning of college. 00:35:39.320 |
I thought I could make friends all night long, but I was humble. 00:35:42.320 |
My mom told me to spend time with God and just wait for His timing. 00:35:45.320 |
I knew that was the answer, but I was getting impatient. 00:35:48.320 |
I did start to spend more time in prayer and devotions. 00:35:51.320 |
I started not to care about having friends until they just showed up one day during winter 00:35:57.320 |
When this happened, I realized that I needed to give my life back to God because He is 00:36:03.320 |
This event strengthened my relationship with Him and made me realize that He needs to be 00:36:09.320 |
It reminded me to put my complete trust in Him even though it can be hard. 00:36:26.320 |
Do you understand that as you enter into the water, you symbolize your union with Christ 00:36:31.320 |
And as you exit the water, you union with Christ in the resurrection. 00:36:34.320 |
I baptize you in the name of the Father, the name of the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:37:07.320 |
Let me just start off with, before I came to Christ, I was full of anger, anxiety, and 00:37:16.320 |
I didn't respect my mother or family members, and I felt like she only wanted to use me 00:37:25.320 |
I developed a strong sense of independence and bitterness, so I moved out after my first 00:37:31.320 |
I lived with a frame of mind that if you had enough willpower, you could do anything, be 00:37:39.320 |
And so I exerted my strength to any means that I could grasp to transform my way of 00:37:45.320 |
Through sheer determination and to simply to follow the formula, if you do X, you will 00:37:50.320 |
Therefore, you will be happy and reap the rewards of a full life. 00:37:56.320 |
But the more I exerted myself, the more I became tired of that lifestyle. 00:38:01.320 |
Because my biological father passed away when I was very young, I never really knew what 00:38:08.320 |
I always lived like I had to fend for myself, and whatever mistakes I made or how I was 00:38:13.320 |
treated, I had no one else to blame but myself. 00:38:16.320 |
It made me feel like I was less than a person, that I was damaged goods, because I didn't 00:38:22.320 |
have a father, that I grew up with one that was less than loving, and therefore, I lacked 00:38:27.320 |
something that everyone else seemed to understand about life. 00:38:31.320 |
I worked hard to go to school and support myself until I started becoming frustrated 00:38:35.320 |
with my own lack of progress, as I would continue to struggle with depression and a sense of 00:38:41.320 |
I remember coming to work and realizing how much anger I harbored towards everything around 00:38:47.320 |
Seeking to find some sort of peace, I decided to go to church again. 00:38:51.320 |
At that time, I considered myself someone who was born a Catholic but became agnostic, 00:38:56.320 |
and in reality, I was just jaded and cynical of those who were religious. 00:39:01.320 |
I came to know Jesus intimately through studying the gospel on my own. 00:39:05.320 |
I was captivated by the stories and testimonies of people who were transformed by the Bible 00:39:10.320 |
and thought perhaps maybe I could be changed too. 00:39:13.320 |
And through my desperation, I told myself this was my last chance to change my ways. 00:39:18.320 |
There was no other choice but to be sold out for Christ, and to be honest, I wish I had 00:39:25.320 |
At the crossroads of anxiety and depression, of fear and sinfulness, of need and shame, 00:39:31.320 |
of judgment and mercy, of grace and discipline, Jesus met me there. 00:39:36.320 |
And surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time that my mother conceived me, and 00:39:41.320 |
yet, he sought fit to give me life through his word. 00:39:45.320 |
I was so broken by the trial and torture and death Jesus went through just so that I wouldn't 00:39:55.320 |
In my pride, anger, foolishness, and sinfulness, God did not destroy me according to his judgment. 00:40:01.320 |
I had so deeply offended my Creator, but for him to sacrifice his own son for me and withhold 00:40:07.320 |
nothing less than his pursuit of me, I knew that this was the love I had so longed for. 00:40:12.320 |
I am truly thankful and so in love knowing that he waited for me, he was waiting for 00:40:17.320 |
me all along, to come and humble myself and repent. 00:40:21.320 |
I came to God seeking a father and found the Creator and lover of his people who sent his 00:40:27.320 |
son to remind me that I don't need to associate with the pain and pride of my past. 00:40:34.320 |
Growing up without a father or being surrounded by many respectful men in my life was one 00:40:41.320 |
God directed every step and knew every mistake I would make just so that he would reveal 00:40:47.320 |
I stand before you now knowing that I have a future in Christ and as long as I come to 00:40:54.320 |
God makes everything beautiful in its own time and he has taken my time and redeemed 00:40:58.320 |
it for his good will so that all may come to know him through Jesus Christ. 00:41:03.320 |
And now that I believe in Christ, I am truly able to know the sweetness of following his 00:41:08.320 |
commands and continue to empty myself and kill the old me that feared and desired the 00:41:15.320 |
I found that his laws, terminated and fulfilled by Jesus on the cross, has restored broken 00:41:20.320 |
relationships, heals me from my past and gives me continual hope for the future. 00:41:26.320 |
He is in control of all things and I can rest knowing that God is a good father and Lord. 00:41:31.320 |
I no longer need the wisdom of this world but have the ability to test the truth according 00:41:37.320 |
to the word that God has given that would stand the test of time. 00:41:41.320 |
Where everyone else has failed, including myself, God has promised the sweetest comfort 00:41:47.320 |
that he would always be with us through pain and joy. 00:41:51.320 |
The very patient and tender love that God has abundantly blessed me with causes my heart 00:41:57.320 |
It is the patience of God and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, the very death 00:42:02.320 |
that I so readily deserve for the sinful life I led, that has restored my relationship with 00:42:14.320 |
I will bear my cross for God and for those who are as lost as I was, for I reckon that 00:42:19.320 |
the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which 00:43:10.320 |
It's such an incredible encouragement to hear from our brothers and sisters their testimony 00:43:16.320 |
of witness, of what they experienced, how they felt when they really saw the love of 00:43:23.320 |
And I want to just take a moment to address that anybody who is in here, you know, maybe 00:43:28.320 |
you know about Christianity, you know about maybe what the gospel might entail, but you 00:43:33.320 |
feel that you don't know that kind of experience with God, it's a great opportunity. 00:43:37.320 |
If any of that really resonated with you, just seek the Lord. 00:43:41.320 |
Simple question for us, you know, is not like how we live the perfect life track, because 00:43:47.320 |
Simple question for us is do we desire to know the Lord? 00:43:54.320 |
So as an encouragement to, again, anybody in here just joining us this afternoon, please 00:43:59.320 |
feel free to reach out to any of the pastors and elders, and we'll be more than happy to 00:44:06.320 |
At the end of service, we do have refreshments and light snacks in the back, so please stick 00:44:11.320 |
around to both celebrate, congratulate, and to have some time to fellowship. 00:44:16.320 |
This time I'll turn it over to the worship team