What Does Your Public Testimony Say?

Alastair Brooks’ Baptism Testimony: May 22, 2011

“My parents are Christians. [They] took me along with them to our village church, which I remember mainly as a challenge in sleeping on wooden pews. I am very grateful to my parents for my upbringing, teaching me, so I can grow up with an understanding of many of the Bible stories.

“I am especially thankful to them for taking us to the ‘new wine’ summer conferences, which are Christian holiday camps with church services and children’s activities for the week. It was at one of these services I came in contact with the alive and meaningful good news about Jesus. During an evening service the preacher invited those who wanted to become Christians to come to the front. I went forward, accepted Jesus with great joy.

“I believed in Jesus, however, I failed to walk in step with the Holy Spirit of Christ.  I would defend Christianity and its ethics in discussions with friends. For the most part being a Christian to me meant adopting a philosophical framework.

“I knew that this conflict between believing and not acting was wrong and unstable.  My religious way of living moved me to seek the Lord only a few times a year and in times of crisis.  Like hunger being satisfied, once things had resolved, I would no longer want Jesus to have any say in my life and things would return to the way they were.

“Since finishing school, the Lord has been working in my life, changing me. I now know His plan is the best one, and that means a full time living relationship with Him, trusting and serving Him. There are still many times in the past few years when I have made decisions based off of fleshly desires, a world few and even after listening to lies of the devil.  However, the Lord’s chastisements opened doors to find His faithfulness to forgive and mold me into His image.

“Why am I being baptized? People have been surprised when I’ve said I’m getting baptized, assuming I was baptized years ago. My wish to be baptized is testament to the Lord’s unfailing love, the work He has done in my life through His sacrifice and the work He continues to do through His Holy Spirit.

“Jesus is real, He didn’t die just for me. We have all done wrong, angering God and we will be judged according to the lives we have lived. We face death and separation from Him for that [wrongdoing]. God has made a way for us to be right with Him, He sent His only son Jesus to die in the place of those who believe and place their trust in Him.

“I believe that Jesus, as witnessed by the Gospels, is the Son of God and in dying on the cross He took the punishment allotted to me for my wrong doing. There is nothing in me that deserves this salvation or makes me eligible to approach the Lord, I am entirely dependent on His grace. I am looking forward to the new creation, when Jesus will come back again to make things right forever, and by His grace I hope to serve Him faithfully until that time.

After your baptism celebration ceremony, what will be your testimony before the eyes of those in this world, God and Christ?