- All right, good morning everyone. For once, I'm not an undergrad computer science major at UC Irvine, so I'm sorry to disappoint and for breaking that trend. Well, let's go and get started. My name is Enoch, and to start things off, I would just like to say that growing up during my younger years, I absolutely hated my name.

I know there's one other Enoch somewhere in this church. I'm not sure if he feels the same way or if he's braver than I am, who knows? I might talk to him later. But I would have countless nicknames like Enoch, Eggnog, and my personal favorite, Enush. Not sure where that comes from.

So as a chubby Korean 14-year-old boy, I didn't dare correct my massive ex-NFL player of a coach. So for three years, I was formally Enush, right, growing up. But at least my wrestling coach got it right, so I stuck with that sport a little longer. Anyhoo, without digressing too much, like many other Korean Americans, I grew up in a Presbyterian church.

So specifically as a pastor's kid, as I got older, I really began to understand why I was named Enoch. However, as I previously stated, I honestly did not like my name, nor did I really want to live up to what it really meant. So once again, growing up, I was more afraid of people mispronouncing my name at the local Starbucks rather than understanding the strong Christian roots from which it was derived.

So I'm sure as you all know, there's a common stereotype that pastor's kids go one of two ways. They're either very good or terrible and rebellious. So if I told you that my brother was perhaps the most innocent, mission trip volunteering, praise leader, goody two-shoes, you can easily guess where that puts me.

So to be frank, I can truthfully admit that I was not a Christian growing up. Oftentimes I would catch myself leaning towards more agnostic beliefs, especially as I saw the sinful nature of the so-called Christians within the church. So to really put things into perspective, I had to ask my dad, my pastor, my father, whether or not I was even baptized.

So apparently within the Presbyterian church, once you're sprinkled as an infant, you eventually go through a confirmation process at the ripe age of 18. So I have zero recollection of going through that confirmation process. So this really has to be the epitome of going through the motions to appease my parents, who of course I love very much and respect.

So I'm actually someone who unfortunately always learns the hard way. And it was only until the very recent year of 2019 that I went through personal hardships beyond what I could have imagined, whatever happened to me. So I've always thought of myself as tough, you know, as a tough, resilient person who could not really be easily broken, but I was proven very wrong.

So lying alone in the hospital bed of the emergency room on multiple occasions really reminded me how fragile life can be. And honestly, up until that point, I was extremely comfortable constantly giving in to my personal vices without a second thought. So ultimately, this was due to the fact that I was never essentially penalized for my moral behavior, which eventually became habitual.

And once again, ultimately, my sense of morality and faith in God quickly diminished. So hitting rock bottom made me realize how insufficient I am on my own. And I've since accepted Christ into my life to be my Lord and Savior. I was essentially able to recover by his grace, and I was healed mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually by admitting my weaknesses and confessing my sins before God.

However, the primary and most important difference this time around was that I found Christ for myself and not solely to appease my family. I'm very grateful to have taken the chance to come out to Bahrain Community Church. For once, I can say that I'm surrounded by a genuine community of Christ-loving individuals.

And even after such a short time at the church, I definitely feel supported by my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as the excellent leadership team at this church. I just want to thank everyone here for your patience as my walk with Christ is still relatively new, and I will undoubtedly stumble here and there.

So thank you for joining me today on such a huge milestone in my life, and hopefully this time around I can actually remember it. Thanks.