Baptism Testimony | Chris Lund (Freedom Sunday 2024)
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- Опубликовано: 19 авг 2024
- Hello, everyone. I want to thank you for being here and being a part of a big step in my life as I get baptized. If you don’t know me, I am Christopher Lund and I'm an incoming senior at East Penn. I want to thank my family and friends for supporting me and helping guide me to the decision of being baptized today.
So you may be wondering how I first came to know the Lord. To be honest with you, I don’t exactly remember. When I was small, I used to really-and I mean really-be into Jesus. My dad tells me stories about how I’d walk around with this little Lightning McQueen microphone, and I would pretend that I was preaching about Jesus. Unfortunately, as I grew older I slowly became more distanced from the church and Christ. I didn’t have a real connection to Christ until I first arrived at McBIC (two years ago).
To give a little bit of backstory, in February of 2022 my mother passed away, and it affected me hard, causing me to go into a depressed state, and at that time I cut off everyone. Thanks to Pastor Jen and my dad, they pushed me to start getting connected with the church and the youth group here at McBIC, which has definitely been a big help on my journey of learning more about Christ. When I got connected with McBIC I kind of had my moment of rediscovering Christ; it felt like a breath of fresh air and relief. My experience with Christ has been nothing besides extraordinary after the passing of my mom.
Something that has always been special for me is serving others the way Christ called us to serve people. “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10-11). Being a servant of God has been something that has meant a lot to me, and I’ve had multiple opportunities the past two years doing so, and that will continue this afternoon when I leave for Harrisburg for the high school service trip.
Something that has also been sweet that I have seen in my life is seeing the way God works in my life and His character. A loving God who cares for me and the rest of you so much, loving us sacrificially. It’s something that seems so simple when you think about God’s character but also is so special.
As I mentioned earlier, the passing of my mother was a really big loss and took a massive toll on me. It’s still an ongoing process of healing, but Jesus has been a big part of it. I’ve learned since then that Jesus has been in all the moments I’ve struggled, and it’s been really comforting knowing that he’s been there beside me this whole time. Something I’ve learned is despite feeling abandoned and alone, Jesus is in the room. You just have to slow down and look for him, because he is always in the room with you.
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). This verse has been something that has been a good truth for me over my life when I feel abandoned and alone.
My decision to be baptized was kind of random. I never felt rushed to be baptized. In December, though, I had something tell me that today I was going to be baptized. Of course, I questioned it at first, but after talking to some trusted people in my life, thinking and praying, I decided this was the right choice for me. Again I thank everyone for being here to support me in this, and I believe that this is a big step to living a life that Christ has called me to live. This is just the beginning, I can’t wait to see what God has in store for me down the road. Anyways, let’s get this started!