- Hey guys, I'm Chris and I'm going into my fourth year at UCI and this is my testimony. Growing up in the church and in a Christian household, I heard the gospel and attended church, Sunday school, and VBS at an early age. I would always pray before meals, read and hear stories from the Bible, and discuss church-related topics with friends and family.

This all became habitual and I never really questioned it because it was what people did around me. Others in the church would share the gospel with me at day camps and every year I accepted Christ as my savior without hesitation since I had already heard it and everyone else was doing the same.

I thought that as long as I was a good person attending church and simply knew that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, that I would call myself a Christian and deem myself a genuine believer. Fast forward to middle school and high school, I continued living my life with this mentality and pursued academic success with Christ in the background.

I began to put all my efforts into school and in my academic accomplishments. I had a strong work ethic, which is not inherently wrong, but it allowed me to excel in school and take pride in my success. Living in the Bay Area only further motivated my pursuit of man's approval since I was constantly surrounded by successful and wealthy individuals and corporations.

I still consider myself a genuine believer and I did not go out and party or hang out with the wrong crowd, but I still wasn't different from the rest of the world since I pursued worldly success by constantly chasing the next grade and never being satisfied the next internship opportunity or achievement rather than turning to the word or to prayer.

In some instances, church became an inconvenience for me and I would skip it if I had too much work to do. I did all of this just to beef up my college application and in hopes of going to the best college I could possibly get into so that I could pursue a stable career and live a comfortable life.

By the time college admissions came around, I did not get into my dream schools and attended UCI feeling ungrateful and filled with pride, thinking that I deserved to be somewhere better and continue to be consumed by school and success while church hopping every once in a while. But God quickly humbled me as I struggled academically for the first time in my life.

No matter how hard I worked, I was failing to meet the expectations I had set for myself. This process of struggling made me realize how much hope I had placed into a temporary satisfaction and how far my heart was from God. One Sunday while church hopping, I heard a sermon on Matthew 7.

Matthew 7, 21 to 23 states, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you.

Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" Up until this point, I had only gone to God when I needed him or when I was struggling with selfish things like school. My prayers were filled with self-centered desires to get me through difficult situations so that I could continue to pursue what I wanted from the world.

I had turned God into my therapist and created my own version of him, thinking that I could use him to glorify myself and achieve whatever was on my own agenda. This all showed my lack of knowledge in the God that the Bible describes him to be. And throughout my time in college, I gradually learned more about the loving and sacrificial God who sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sins that were blinding me from the rest of the truth of scripture and his sovereignty.

Through his perfect justice, I deserved to be condemned, but through his spirit, I now live to serve him and glorify his kingdom rather than my own like I was before. I still struggle with sin, but no longer place my hope in perishable things like my success or career, but the resurrection and eternity with him.

Although my plans did not necessarily pan out the way I wanted it to, I can see God's faithfulness and patience with me. He challenged my humility and revealed my brokenness by bringing me to UCI and placed people in my life who have encouraged me and challenged me in my faith as well.

Though I was undeserving and fell short many times, God was patient and welcomed me into his body. And through the gospel, I know that I can trust his hand in everything and place my hope in eternity. First Peter 1, 24 to 25 says, "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever." Thank you. >> >> I'm going to ask you to keep your hands up. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> So we can see you. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay.

>> All right. >> Thank you. >> >> >> >> >> >> >>