back to index2021-04-04 Joanne Chin Baptism
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My name is Joanne and I'm a second year student at UCI. 00:00:14.920 |
I've been at Berean for a little over a year now and today I'm going to share my testimony 00:00:22.440 |
I was blessed to have been raised in a Christian household and because of my background, I 00:00:26.160 |
grew up thinking that my Christian faith was inherited like a family trait, something that 00:00:30.640 |
couldn't be shaken because I was born into it. 00:00:33.120 |
I partook in church activities that I believed would solidify my role as a true Christian. 00:00:37.360 |
I attended Sunday school, went on several mission trips, helped organize fellowship 00:00:41.540 |
and volunteer events, and took communion alongside my family. 00:00:45.200 |
Back then, I perceived these acts of service as demonstrations of my definite salvation. 00:00:50.000 |
I thought to myself, "I mean, I'm doing things because I love Jesus, right?" 00:00:53.720 |
I believed in a work-based salvation and even got baptized in 2011 at the age of 10 after 00:00:58.920 |
reflecting that these good deeds must equal the marks of a true Christian. 00:01:02.680 |
However, my faith was tested when I entered high school. 00:01:05.920 |
I started to depend on the new friendships I made at church for my spiritual health and 00:01:09.200 |
continuously felt more and more distant from God whenever each of our mission trips was 00:01:14.720 |
Following the splitting of my home church and seeing as a result people get close to 00:01:17.600 |
me, get hurt, and step away from the church, I questioned the validity of Christianity 00:01:22.080 |
and ultimately God's sovereignty over his children if Christians still had the ability 00:01:26.440 |
to hurt each other and act in opposition to what his word laid down. 00:01:30.000 |
I began to feel discouraged from seeking out any further contact with church and eventually 00:01:34.080 |
stopped attending church during my freshman year of high school. 00:01:37.400 |
I would identify myself as a Christian when asked, but truthfully, I lived my life like 00:01:41.440 |
a non-believer and I only sought to live for my own fleshly desires. 00:01:45.760 |
My skepticism of the church carried over to my first quarter at UCI. 00:01:49.600 |
I began to get caught up in the college life that I had yearned for, making reckless decisions 00:01:53.680 |
and trying to forge a new identity under bad influences. 00:01:57.200 |
Strangely enough, however, I was never completely satisfied in my pursuit of the things I thought 00:02:03.360 |
By God's grace, my disappointment in pursuing things other than Christ reminded me even 00:02:07.240 |
more of his constant presence, of the hope and joy that is found only in him. 00:02:12.960 |
In hindsight, I can now fully see how God was working in my life through the people 00:02:18.960 |
Even amidst this whirlwind kind of college environment in which I was exposed to a lot 00:02:22.520 |
of new temptations, by God's grace, he grew a desire in me to know him more and to understand 00:02:29.720 |
Early last year, I happened to bump into my suite mate who had just come back from an 00:02:36.000 |
After telling her how I was curious about finding a local church, she immediately invited 00:02:42.540 |
It was through the parachurch that I first heard of Breein, and I was immediately challenged 00:02:46.440 |
as I interacted with Christ-centered college students who lived out their faith. 00:02:50.720 |
As I began attending Breein regularly and learning more about Christianity through inductive 00:02:54.440 |
Bible studies and Sunday services, God began to convict me to read the word and give me 00:02:58.520 |
a renewed understanding on who Jesus Christ was. 00:03:01.520 |
I began to grow in my faith even throughout the pandemic, learning about God's divine 00:03:05.120 |
holiness as well as the riches of his divine mercy and grace in the gospel. 00:03:10.120 |
I was convicted by the weight of sin, which are transgressions against the holy God who 00:03:13.960 |
commands us to walk in the light as he himself does. 00:03:17.160 |
Christ's death and resurrection atone for these transgressions, and for this we must 00:03:20.320 |
confess our sins as he is faithful and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. 00:03:24.440 |
As I contemplated this new truth, I was continuously humbled by the knowledge of God's love. 00:03:29.280 |
Even though God knows the true depths of my sin, he still gave up his son to pay the penalty 00:03:33.240 |
for my sin so I can be reconciled and have peace with him. 00:03:36.680 |
There is no amount of work or service I could do to earn my salvation, and it was only by 00:03:42.240 |
And because of this new knowledge, I now have a desire to worship him, love him, and follow 00:03:47.460 |
Although I tried to push God away numerous times throughout my life, looking back I can 00:03:50.840 |
truly see his loving kindness to the encouraging brothers and sisters I met over the past year, 00:03:55.280 |
who continuously spur me on to grow more in the knowledge of the Savior who died on the 00:04:03.080 |
My decision to be baptized 10 years later comes with a new understanding of Jesus' death 00:04:06.960 |
and resurrection, as well as my new confidence in affirming his lordship over my life. 00:04:12.920 |
A verse that is especially encouraging to me is Galatians 2.20. 00:04:17.360 |
I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives 00:04:22.000 |
And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved