back to index2021-03-28 Brian Le Baptism
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Hi Berean family, my name is Brian Le and I'm a fourth year at the Berean College Ministry 00:00:18.400 |
and I'd like to share how God has worked in my life. 00:00:22.400 |
So it's hard to know what life was like without knowing God because all my life I felt that 00:00:34.160 |
We'd have nightly Bible studies and we'd pray every night. 00:00:39.360 |
I grew up with friends and family who were Christian and it felt like I was surrounded 00:00:46.880 |
During this time I remember absorbing all the things from church and the things that 00:00:50.080 |
my mom was teaching me and I took them as truth because that was the only thing I knew. 00:00:56.480 |
I was challenged though early on that I had to make my faith my own and that this can't 00:01:05.240 |
But even with that, naturally I'm just a very obedient person and I like to please my parents 00:01:10.400 |
and so even making faith my own felt a little forced as well. 00:01:17.320 |
However there were times though growing up in middle school, high school where I felt 00:01:21.240 |
convicted by the gospel and God's gift of salvation. 00:01:27.280 |
I remember at a retreat I thought that I felt God's love and the idea of Jesus sacrificing 00:01:36.880 |
So my eyes were really open to just sin in my life and what Jesus did on the cross. 00:01:46.800 |
As growing up I didn't really see my own sin. 00:01:50.880 |
I thought just because I grew up in a Christian household that I was inherently saved but 00:01:59.600 |
I was a sinner and I was against God and just because I may have grew up set apart I still 00:02:12.880 |
And that was kind of shown throughout high school where at my home church things changed, 00:02:20.160 |
leadership changed and every Sunday it started becoming just topical and it was very devoid 00:02:26.480 |
of scripture and Bible and I knew that this was wrong. 00:02:29.840 |
I knew that at this church I wasn't being spiritually fed and the only reason why I 00:02:34.560 |
stayed was because of the friends that I had made since childhood. 00:02:38.640 |
And so even because of this I still continued to stay and I didn't even pursue God on my 00:02:47.640 |
Before I knew that as humans we would sin and I always thought that even though I was 00:02:57.080 |
And even though that's true I neglected the importance of genuine repentance and fully 00:03:01.560 |
surrendering myself to Jesus and that would break the cycle of sin. 00:03:06.080 |
So in college I started going to Bible teaching church but I failed to really integrate myself 00:03:14.520 |
in the community and so each Sunday I would just go receiving head knowledge of the Bible 00:03:19.920 |
and the scripture but never actually applying it in my life. 00:03:24.280 |
And it wasn't until I came to Verion just this year was that I really felt convicted 00:03:30.360 |
by what God was telling me that before God I stand before righteous God and that I am 00:03:40.640 |
fully just and through his son's sacrifice that I can now have that relationship with 00:03:46.760 |
him and that was something that I failed to connect all those years before that now talking 00:03:52.560 |
to God is not just someone I'm speaking out just randomly or blindly but I now have a 00:03:58.480 |
relationship with him and that has been restored through Jesus' sacrifice. 00:04:03.320 |
So from that I really started to see fruit in my life where I didn't see before. 00:04:10.880 |
Now I have a need to spread the gospel whenever I can to any unbelieving friends or family. 00:04:21.320 |
Just having now I have that faith even though before in college where it was just idle and 00:04:30.280 |
dry and I would use Christianity as a crutch now I see it as my faith is unshaken. 00:04:36.480 |
I can completely devote my life to God and now I know that I am filled with the Holy 00:04:42.920 |
Spirit and not something that I'm just surrounded by just because of friends and family. 00:04:50.280 |
I have now a desire to build my relationship with Jesus because I want to read intently 00:04:56.160 |
I know that my body was purchased by the death of Jesus and I need to submit to him through 00:05:00.260 |
complete surrenderance and devotion to Christ. 00:05:03.480 |
I want to strive to become a better brother, a better son not just in my family but with 00:05:07.960 |
Christ and I know that truly it's only through Christ that I can accomplish all these things 00:05:18.800 |
Now looking back at my life I know that God has been sovereign everywhere just from my 00:05:23.880 |
upbringing from where I went to church to who I made friends with I know that his perfect 00:05:28.880 |
plan has brought me from death and into his loving presence and the greatest showcase 00:05:33.360 |
of his love I think is from Romans 5 8 where he says in that while we were still sinners 00:05:41.320 |
Brian you understand when you go into the water you're united with Christ in his death 00:06:09.320 |
and when you're coming out you're united with his resurrected life. 00:06:13.320 |
I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.