back to index2020-9-20 Nicholas Huynh Baptism
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My name is Nicholas Nguyen, and this is my testimony. 00:00:13.240 |
So coming from a loving, non-Christian family, religion was a very small aspect of my life 00:00:19.480 |
The first time I attended church was when I was 13 years old. 00:00:22.920 |
At that point, I was curious about the faith, but I was far from being saved. 00:00:27.120 |
I did not understand how Christ dying on the cross was an act of love, but I knew that 00:00:33.640 |
And since I just wanted to fit into the church setting, I would pray thanking God for saving 00:00:38.620 |
us from something I could not understand—sin. 00:00:42.000 |
However, seeing how some of my peers who called themselves Christians performed questionable 00:00:46.560 |
actions, I thought that as long as I was a good person, I would go to heaven. 00:00:51.520 |
With this shallow understanding and a hardened heart, it did not take much for me to stop 00:00:57.560 |
Entering college, I had no thought of joining a college ministry on campus or attending 00:01:02.400 |
Through my experiences, I never understood the importance of attending church if people 00:01:06.600 |
were just going to act the same as good people in the world. 00:01:10.200 |
In a sense, I thought of myself as flawless and self-righteous. 00:01:13.920 |
I would constantly judge others to boost my own confidence, and I thought that I was heaven-bound 00:01:21.960 |
With my ignorance towards sin and my earthly ambitions, I never thought much about my spiritual 00:01:27.560 |
However, even through my arrogance, God still brought me to a college ministry with my cousin. 00:01:33.120 |
When I went to the meeting, I was met by a group of very welcoming people. 00:01:37.240 |
That night, the thing that surprised me was how everyone pointed everything back to God. 00:01:41.600 |
Seeing such a faithful community, it made me question why they were so intentional. 00:01:45.760 |
Through my curiosity, I started attending Breen Community Church. 00:01:50.000 |
The first sermon I heard was about the parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13, 00:01:56.360 |
This parable challenged me to think about the life of a Christian and the difference 00:02:03.080 |
After hearing more messages, one message about compassion and selflessness caused me to examine 00:02:08.600 |
Before, I thought of myself as a pretty selfless person. 00:02:11.120 |
I always wanted to help others when they were in a bad spot and would always make time whenever 00:02:20.360 |
But in the realization that I was just doing all this to gain recognition and self-glorification, 00:02:26.240 |
I understood my own sin and saw my own brokenness. 00:02:29.680 |
Before, through my own standards, I thought that I could judge if a person was good or 00:02:33.760 |
bad, which was why there was a contradiction between God's love and justice in my head. 00:02:39.120 |
But when I realized that even myself, whom I thought was righteous and was broken like 00:02:43.720 |
the rest of the world, I was able to understand the need for a Savior, the need for Jesus 00:02:49.760 |
One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Ephesians 2, 4-6, which says, "But God, being 00:02:54.400 |
rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead 00:02:59.040 |
in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. 00:03:02.240 |
By grace, you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the 00:03:09.520 |
Even though each and every one of us deserves eternal death, God's love pardoned us. 00:03:13.880 |
Through God's grace, I was able to receive Christ into my life. 00:03:17.440 |
I felt a deep joy knowing that my debt from sin was paid. 00:03:21.240 |
After being saved, I continue to see my own need for a Savior. 00:03:24.320 |
My struggle with my own pride and lust continues to be present. 00:03:27.240 |
However, knowing that God has released me from the bonds of sin and loves me, a sinful 00:03:31.320 |
and broken person, I am able to find comfort and peace in Christ. 00:04:02.920 |
Nicholas you understand when you go into the water, you're being united with Christ and 00:04:05.480 |
his death, and when you come out, you're being united with his resurrected life? 00:04:09.520 |
>> Then I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.