Origin
I was blessed to be born and raised in a loving family and environment.
Despite going through the motions for years and being presented with many opportunities, I had invested very little intentional time and effort into cultivating a real relationship with God. I was far more interested in my own mentality and my way of thinking as the foundation of my life.
Life before Christ
This mindset would carry on into college and would eventually lead me down a dark path of self-depreciation and isolation. After realizing my own countless failures and being broken down, I would find myself alone and depressed. My mentality and belief in myself had led me to cause a lot of pain in someone I cared deeply for. In my own mindset, I dove further and further into anything to distract me from my mistakes leading to a spiraling life of sin.
Looking back I can honestly say the one thing that was missing most of all from my life was an anchor called hope.
At the core of my heart, I had no real hope in Christ or Salvation and felt that life was the ups and downs of happiness and sadness.
My own mindset which I had trusted to guide me through life had taken me to a place where I believed I was a genuinely evil person and deserved, if not hell, then some form of divine punishment for the wrongs and hurts I had caused.
Despite feeling abandoned, I would not be abandoned by our loving God who would continue to reach out to me through my family.
Finding Hope in Christ
My parents reached out to me about attending a new church with them in SF which I did unwillingly at first. However, being in that setting and serving and reconnecting with a Christian community sparked hope in my life again.
After feeling alone and isolated for so long, I found hope in Christ through his Body.
Verses that I had studied and learned as youth had started to mean so much so me as I learned more and more with my community and Pastor.
God is just but his nature is to love us with compassion.
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
One verse that my previous pastor shared with me was…
Isaiah 55:7
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
In many ways, God did not only show me hope and compassion but drove out feelings and thoughts of self-loathing.
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
And once I started to understand God’s heart, I also started to understand what it means to really “Love my neighbor” which should reflect the love that Christ showed us/ME, not just “us” but Love I could feel in my own heart, a love that I am a witness to.
In 2022 before moving to Dallas, In SF, I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior and Lord from my mouth and heart. At that time, I was born of God and become a child of God.
I now have a deeper appreciation for the level of love and redemption that God has in store for our failings. There is no point too deep or too far to escape the love and redemption of God.
END
Although I received Jesus Christ into my life in 2022, I was not baptized at that time. I now want to publicly confess my faith in Christ through baptism.
I thank God for using my life as an example of his redeeming nature. I thank God for bringing me back into his Flock when I felt I could never return. I praise God for Granting me this life and these opportunities to serve and grow with this loving family and ANF community.
From now on I will live my life as a Christ Follower
- Commiting to the community and seeing the members grow in faith and maturity.
- I also commit to helping and praying for this body of Christ and celebrating with each other in the good times. Sharing in the burdens and celebrating the Victories.
- I also commit to Sharing in the duties of the church; Helping the Sick and needy, supporting Missionaries, and inviting/Seeking God’s lost sheep.
Thank you~
All Nations Fellowship 