(applause) - Hello everyone, my name is Tim. And despite being raised in a Christian home, and though I was baptized as an infant, my salvation story didn't really happen until eighth grade. Even though I prayed to receive Christ as my personal Lord and Savior at that time, it was hard for me to grasp the magnitude of that decision at that particular age.

I realized the shallowness of my faith as soon as I left for college. Right from freshman year at New York University, I was confronted with my sin and the worldly temptations of the big city life. I got involved in a relationship not centered around God, and it wasn't long that I found myself weeping through many sleepless nights because of my sin, my guilt, and my shame.

Late in my freshman year, a staff member of a Christian campus organization sought me out and shared the truth of God's love and forgiveness expressed through Christ and the need for personal repentance. I was utterly broken, and rather than remaining stuck in the vicious cycle of sin and darkness, I confessed my sin and brought it into the light of God's love and mercy.

It was this experience that set my life on a different trajectory. That summer, I had the opportunity to commit eight weeks for a short-term missions project to India, and it was a life-changing experience in one sense because it revealed that before Christ, I really had zero ambition. But on this new path set before me, God had given me a real passion to share his love and grace to the world.

The question of how might I glorify God the most through my living became central to my existence. It's a theme that derives from the parable of the talents, the idea of maximizing one's life so that God may see me as his good and faithful servant for his name's sake.

So holding these words closely to my heart, I was challenged by the vision and the strategy outlined in Matthew chapter 28 to help fulfill the great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ. And upon graduation, I committed my life into full-time ministry to join those on the front lines of those who are serving the purposes of God for this generation.

And so it brings me to my life today after serving the Lord in ministry for nearly 20 years. I'm walking in a bit of a strange season, not knowing exactly where all this will lead. The one confidence I have and the truth that has remained with me through all of life's journey is that he alone is my unchanging foundation.

It may seem strange that I've been serving for so many years and yet here I am today getting baptized. In doing so, I adhere to baptism by immersion as consistent with God's holy word. And so today I'm excited to express my union with Christ, the portrayal of his death, burial, and resurrection through going down into the water.

Thank you. (audience applauding) (water dripping) - Tim has asked to stay in the water a little bit (audience laughing) longer than normal. So if he doesn't come out quickly, it's because it's his personal request. (audience laughing) Tim, do you understand when you go into the water, you're being united with Christ in his death and when you come out, you're being united in his resurrected life?

- Yes, I do. - And I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. (water dripping) (audience applauding)