back to index2020-7-12 Katarina Liu baptism
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My name is Katerina and I have the privilege of sharing my testimony with you all today. 00:00:11.840 |
I grew up in a Christian home with parents who taught me about God, brought me to church 00:00:19.880 |
I was often described as a good kid as I followed the rules and I stayed out of trouble. 00:00:26.280 |
But good appearances are not enough to save me. 00:00:29.960 |
God is all-knowing and he saw the depth of my sin. 00:00:34.400 |
God is also holy and so my sins against him were not just minor indiscretions but cosmic 00:00:42.680 |
I deserve judgment but God was rich in mercy and he loved me greatly. 00:00:48.320 |
He sent his only son to be condemned in my place. 00:00:52.880 |
Some of you may know that my husband and I are adopting a little boy from Korea. 00:00:58.040 |
I can't even begin to fathom the amount of love it must have taken for God to give up 00:01:05.720 |
This profound display of love and gospel truth changed my life at the young age of five. 00:01:13.480 |
I still vividly remember finding a small space in our home on our playground and praying 00:01:19.280 |
quietly that the Lord would forgive me of my sin and that he would use my life for his 00:01:26.400 |
In that moment I was justified but I'm still being sanctified. 00:01:31.400 |
In particular I struggled a lot with control. 00:01:35.520 |
Those who know me know that I like things very neat and very tidy. 00:01:41.160 |
I believe that if I worked hard at something that it should yield the results that I expected. 00:01:48.840 |
This was often manifested in my relationship with other people. 00:01:53.120 |
I worked hard for other people's affirmation but disappointments would often cause me deep 00:02:02.040 |
In hindsight I see how God withheld certain friendships from me because he knew that they 00:02:11.180 |
It is in vain that I struggle to control my life. 00:02:14.380 |
My hope cannot be placed on things that change because otherwise my hope and my joy will 00:02:22.240 |
Rather the safest thing for me to do is to trust and surrender in the Lord, one who is 00:02:26.840 |
unchanging and in control of all things, because then I can be content in every circumstance. 00:02:33.840 |
At the age of 16 I chose to undergo sprinkling as a profession of my faith in Jesus. 00:02:40.400 |
At the church that I grew up in this was the method of baptism and I believed at that time 00:02:45.120 |
that it was sufficient as an act of obedience. 00:02:48.920 |
This past year God has led me to meditate on Romans chapter 6, specifically verses 3 00:02:54.000 |
to 5, which states, "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ 00:03:02.440 |
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was 00:03:07.960 |
raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 00:03:12.680 |
For if we have been united with him in death like this, we shall certainly be united with 00:03:19.840 |
Through this passage God led me to realize that baptism is meant to display his death 00:03:27.240 |
Just as he died, was buried, and was raised, my baptism shows how I die to myself and my 00:03:35.720 |
I am buried and then raised to live a new life with him. 00:03:40.280 |
My decision to be baptized through immersion is an act of obedience to the convictions 00:03:44.800 |
that God has placed in my heart through his word. 00:03:47.960 |
I am a child of God and my aim in this life is reflected through the words of Apostle 00:03:52.760 |
Paul in Galatians 2.20, which states, "I have been crucified with Christ. 00:03:57.960 |
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. 00:04:01.720 |
In the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and 00:04:35.240 |
Thank you for sharing your testimony with us. 00:04:38.240 |
Katerina, do you understand that by going into the water you still die, yet your union 00:04:44.240 |
with Christ's death by coming out of the water symbolizes your union with Christ in 00:04:50.240 |
I baptize you in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.