My baptismal testimony
PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 4:49 pm
hey guys. i got baptised two weeks ago but i never realized that there was a section on this forum to post your testimony. anyways, here's mine:
I grew up in a typical Christian household. My dad was a pastor and I was used to doing all the things an ordinary Christian family would do. Praying before meals, going to church, memory verses, worship songs, and even celebrating Jesus’s birthday of Christmas day, were all things I was accustomed to. I would play around at the dinner table while my dad prayed for the food, and I would mess around during Sunday school. I thought church was just something that we did every Sunday, and it soon became a weekly thing for me. Although the Bible stories kept me interested, I didn’t really take them seriously; and though the songs we sang were fun I didn’t understand most of them. The only thing that I really looked forward to, when I went to church, was the snack.
I first came to know Christ when I was around four years old. One day, I was in my bed listening to my sister read the story of how Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead three days later. After she finished reading the story to me, she asked if I wanted to accept Jesus into my life and become a Christian. However, my sister didn’t really explain things very clearly so I didn’t quite understand what she was asking. However, I knew that as her younger brother, it would be best to simply say yes, so that she wouldn’t be mad at me. She had also told me that I didn’t accept Christ, I would go to Hell and suffer in a pit of eternal fire, after I died. After I said yes, my sister got up and ran to my parents’ room because she knew that I would be going to Heaven when I died. My mom later came to my room and explained to me the story of Jesus more clearly. Afterwards, she asked me if I wanted to ask Jesus Christ to come into my life, as my personal savior. I agreed and then we prayed to God.
When I first became a Christian at the age of four, my mind was not mature enough to fully grasp the concept of being a Christian. That concept was being identified with Christ, as one who was once a filthy and shameful sinner, who is now righteous in God’s eyes (because he has confessed his sins and has received Christ into his life.) Nothing really changed. My view of church wasn’t any different. I still didn’t take it very seriously. I wasn’t much better around my, non-Christian, friends at school either. Every summer, I would invite my friends from school to come out to VBS, but when they’d come, I would mess around with them during the classes, and thus, hinder my friends from hearing about God.
My relationship with God began to change when I was in sixth grade. I began to realize that there was something different between me and my non-Christian classmates. Many of them swore, made crude jokes and remarks, and participated in vulgar discussions. Unlike my classmates, I would make an additional attempt to avoid taking part in these types of conversations. Yes, it was good that I grew up in a family that exercised good morals and manners. However, it wasn’t this aspect that separated me from the rest of my classmates as it was the fact that my classmates knew and acknowledged that I was a Christian and that I attended church, thus they would make an extra effort not to swear around me. As I began to attend TIGS (Teens in God’s Service) every Friday, I found that I would fool around less during class and try to pay attention more to the speakers.
The first year I went to CBM camp, I began to realize that worship was more than just singing songs. It was a way of expressing thanks and praise to God for his many wonderful aspects, and also for sacrificing his only son as a substitution for our sins. When I got back home from CBM that week, I noticed that I would make an extra effort, during Children’s Worship, to sing from my heart, and not just mouth the words, or mumble unenthusiastically. My relationship with God began to grow much more personal. It wasn’t simply something that was thrust upon me by my parents. I had chosen to become a Christian from my free will because I had faith in God and in his word. And I knew that Jesus, who had lived a blameless and holy life, died on the cross as a substitution sacrifice for my sins and rose from the dead three days later.
When I was first confronted with the idea of getting baptized, all I really knew about it was that you had to go up in front of everyone and talk about how you became a Christian. I didn’t feel that this was worth it, if you had to make a big speech in front of everyone, so I decided that I would never get baptized. However, as I grew, I learned that being baptized was more than just giving a speech and getting dunked; and that the juice and cracker were more than just a light snack during church. Even so, I would simply use the excuse of being too young, and not wanting to give a testimony in front of a lot of people, as a justification for not getting baptized.
I am taking the step of water baptism, not only because I think that I am ready to, but also because it is a command of God and of Jesus Christ; as it says in Matthew 28:19. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.â€
I grew up in a typical Christian household. My dad was a pastor and I was used to doing all the things an ordinary Christian family would do. Praying before meals, going to church, memory verses, worship songs, and even celebrating Jesus’s birthday of Christmas day, were all things I was accustomed to. I would play around at the dinner table while my dad prayed for the food, and I would mess around during Sunday school. I thought church was just something that we did every Sunday, and it soon became a weekly thing for me. Although the Bible stories kept me interested, I didn’t really take them seriously; and though the songs we sang were fun I didn’t understand most of them. The only thing that I really looked forward to, when I went to church, was the snack.
I first came to know Christ when I was around four years old. One day, I was in my bed listening to my sister read the story of how Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead three days later. After she finished reading the story to me, she asked if I wanted to accept Jesus into my life and become a Christian. However, my sister didn’t really explain things very clearly so I didn’t quite understand what she was asking. However, I knew that as her younger brother, it would be best to simply say yes, so that she wouldn’t be mad at me. She had also told me that I didn’t accept Christ, I would go to Hell and suffer in a pit of eternal fire, after I died. After I said yes, my sister got up and ran to my parents’ room because she knew that I would be going to Heaven when I died. My mom later came to my room and explained to me the story of Jesus more clearly. Afterwards, she asked me if I wanted to ask Jesus Christ to come into my life, as my personal savior. I agreed and then we prayed to God.
When I first became a Christian at the age of four, my mind was not mature enough to fully grasp the concept of being a Christian. That concept was being identified with Christ, as one who was once a filthy and shameful sinner, who is now righteous in God’s eyes (because he has confessed his sins and has received Christ into his life.) Nothing really changed. My view of church wasn’t any different. I still didn’t take it very seriously. I wasn’t much better around my, non-Christian, friends at school either. Every summer, I would invite my friends from school to come out to VBS, but when they’d come, I would mess around with them during the classes, and thus, hinder my friends from hearing about God.
My relationship with God began to change when I was in sixth grade. I began to realize that there was something different between me and my non-Christian classmates. Many of them swore, made crude jokes and remarks, and participated in vulgar discussions. Unlike my classmates, I would make an additional attempt to avoid taking part in these types of conversations. Yes, it was good that I grew up in a family that exercised good morals and manners. However, it wasn’t this aspect that separated me from the rest of my classmates as it was the fact that my classmates knew and acknowledged that I was a Christian and that I attended church, thus they would make an extra effort not to swear around me. As I began to attend TIGS (Teens in God’s Service) every Friday, I found that I would fool around less during class and try to pay attention more to the speakers.
The first year I went to CBM camp, I began to realize that worship was more than just singing songs. It was a way of expressing thanks and praise to God for his many wonderful aspects, and also for sacrificing his only son as a substitution for our sins. When I got back home from CBM that week, I noticed that I would make an extra effort, during Children’s Worship, to sing from my heart, and not just mouth the words, or mumble unenthusiastically. My relationship with God began to grow much more personal. It wasn’t simply something that was thrust upon me by my parents. I had chosen to become a Christian from my free will because I had faith in God and in his word. And I knew that Jesus, who had lived a blameless and holy life, died on the cross as a substitution sacrifice for my sins and rose from the dead three days later.
When I was first confronted with the idea of getting baptized, all I really knew about it was that you had to go up in front of everyone and talk about how you became a Christian. I didn’t feel that this was worth it, if you had to make a big speech in front of everyone, so I decided that I would never get baptized. However, as I grew, I learned that being baptized was more than just giving a speech and getting dunked; and that the juice and cracker were more than just a light snack during church. Even so, I would simply use the excuse of being too young, and not wanting to give a testimony in front of a lot of people, as a justification for not getting baptized.
I am taking the step of water baptism, not only because I think that I am ready to, but also because it is a command of God and of Jesus Christ; as it says in Matthew 28:19. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.â€
Glad to see you saw the light. And once again, welcome to the happiest family on Earth--God's family! 