back to index2021-08-01 Christopher Lee Baptism
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- Hey guys, I'm Chris and I'm going into my fourth year at UCI and this is my testimony. 00:00:12.240 |
Growing up in the church and in a Christian household, I heard the gospel and attended 00:00:15.520 |
church, Sunday school, and VBS at an early age. 00:00:19.160 |
I would always pray before meals, read and hear stories from the Bible, and discuss church-related 00:00:26.160 |
This all became habitual and I never really questioned it because it was what people did 00:00:32.520 |
Others in the church would share the gospel with me at day camps and every year I accepted 00:00:36.140 |
Christ as my savior without hesitation since I had already heard it and everyone else was 00:00:43.480 |
I thought that as long as I was a good person attending church and simply knew that Jesus 00:00:47.320 |
died on the cross for my sins, that I would call myself a Christian and deem myself a 00:00:53.960 |
Fast forward to middle school and high school, I continued living my life with this mentality 00:00:58.560 |
and pursued academic success with Christ in the background. 00:01:03.080 |
I began to put all my efforts into school and in my academic accomplishments. 00:01:07.120 |
I had a strong work ethic, which is not inherently wrong, but it allowed me to excel in school 00:01:15.560 |
Living in the Bay Area only further motivated my pursuit of man's approval since I was constantly 00:01:19.680 |
surrounded by successful and wealthy individuals and corporations. 00:01:25.580 |
I still consider myself a genuine believer and I did not go out and party or hang out 00:01:29.440 |
with the wrong crowd, but I still wasn't different from the rest of the world since I pursued 00:01:33.400 |
worldly success by constantly chasing the next grade and never being satisfied the next 00:01:38.520 |
internship opportunity or achievement rather than turning to the word or to prayer. 00:01:44.320 |
In some instances, church became an inconvenience for me and I would skip it if I had too much 00:01:50.600 |
I did all of this just to beef up my college application and in hopes of going to the best 00:01:54.600 |
college I could possibly get into so that I could pursue a stable career and live a 00:02:01.480 |
By the time college admissions came around, I did not get into my dream schools and attended 00:02:05.640 |
UCI feeling ungrateful and filled with pride, thinking that I deserved to be somewhere better 00:02:11.680 |
and continue to be consumed by school and success while church hopping every once in 00:02:17.640 |
But God quickly humbled me as I struggled academically for the first time in my life. 00:02:22.720 |
No matter how hard I worked, I was failing to meet the expectations I had set for myself. 00:02:30.560 |
This process of struggling made me realize how much hope I had placed into a temporary 00:02:34.540 |
satisfaction and how far my heart was from God. 00:02:38.840 |
One Sunday while church hopping, I heard a sermon on Matthew 7. 00:02:41.680 |
Matthew 7, 21 to 23 states, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the 00:02:47.220 |
kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. 00:02:53.120 |
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your 00:02:58.400 |
name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' 00:03:02.040 |
And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. 00:03:03.880 |
Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" 00:03:06.960 |
Up until this point, I had only gone to God when I needed him or when I was struggling 00:03:13.440 |
My prayers were filled with self-centered desires to get me through difficult situations 00:03:17.240 |
so that I could continue to pursue what I wanted from the world. 00:03:21.560 |
I had turned God into my therapist and created my own version of him, thinking that I could 00:03:27.620 |
use him to glorify myself and achieve whatever was on my own agenda. 00:03:32.680 |
This all showed my lack of knowledge in the God that the Bible describes him to be. 00:03:36.240 |
And throughout my time in college, I gradually learned more about the loving and sacrificial 00:03:40.040 |
God who sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sins that were blinding me from 00:03:44.240 |
the rest of the truth of scripture and his sovereignty. 00:03:48.200 |
Through his perfect justice, I deserved to be condemned, but through his spirit, I now 00:03:51.080 |
live to serve him and glorify his kingdom rather than my own like I was before. 00:03:56.640 |
I still struggle with sin, but no longer place my hope in perishable things like my success 00:04:01.080 |
or career, but the resurrection and eternity with him. 00:04:06.080 |
Although my plans did not necessarily pan out the way I wanted it to, I can see God's 00:04:12.000 |
He challenged my humility and revealed my brokenness by bringing me to UCI and placed 00:04:16.160 |
people in my life who have encouraged me and challenged me in my faith as well. 00:04:20.040 |
Though I was undeserving and fell short many times, God was patient and welcomed me into 00:04:25.880 |
And through the gospel, I know that I can trust his hand in everything and place my 00:04:31.400 |
First Peter 1, 24 to 25 says, "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower 00:04:39.120 |
The grass withers and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever." 00:04:45.240 |
>> I'm going to ask you to keep your hands up.