Jordan Baker Testimony

The following was Jordan Baker's testimony he gave before his baptism:

I thank God every day for what he has done for us. As it says in John 3:16 “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” I have realized that I have sinned and fallen short of God’s will. So I have turned my life over to Jesus that he can change me into someone that would please the Father, but this is only possible because Jesus died for me and took the punishment for my sins. By this I can have the hope of eternal life.
I accepted the lord into my life at the beginning of April last year. I was raised in a Christian home. My mom has been a really good example for me. I want to thank her for being there for me and staying strong through what ever life brings. I also want to thank my dad for also being there for me during some tough times. I pray for my parents that they can teach me what I need to know for battles that I will face during my life.
Before I committed my life to Jesus it was like the Bible says in John 3:20 “ for everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” I now want to be able to be held accountable for my actions by my family and the church.
I now hold God in the center of my life. “But you, o Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the one who lifts my head.” Psalm 3:3. I am thankful that “blessed are those lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered.” Romans 4:17. This is where I find my strength in the Lord, and wish to live my life in an everlasting relationship with the lord. I pray that this would be the will for all of Gods people, and that I can be a light and example to those around me.

Cameron Denlinger's Testimony

Cameron provided the following testimony just before his baptism:

I am a sinner and former enemy of God, that He has reconciled to Himself by grace, through faith in the perfect sacrifice of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe with my whole heart that my salvation comes from completely outside of myself, it rests wholly on the work of Jesus on my behalf, that there is nothing I can do to earn or merit God's favor, to obtain salvation, but it is rather a free gift, paid for by the precious blood of Jesus.

I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, fully man and fully God, that He was born as a baby and lived a sinless life, was crucified and rose the third day and is now seated at the Father's right hand interceding for His people. Jesus died for me when I still hated Him and was still His enemy. God through His grace and by His Spirit chose to reveal His Son to me and wash me in the blood of Jesus. I was by nature a child of wrath and there was no good thing in me. I was a slave to sin. God in His mercy gave me a new nature and now I no longer have to serve sin but can instead be obedient to God.

I have been baptized before but it was out of fear and with the idea that my salvation came at the time of baptism. I am getting baptized today because of the work that Jesus Christ has done in my life about two years ago. He brought me through several circumstances to the end of myself. I could go no further, my life was falling apart and I had no hope of recovery. I knew I was a sinner and needed forgiveness and through some counseling and a lot of prayer Jesus broke my heart and showed me what I really was and how desperately I needed him. Although things haven't been perfect things have changed dramatically in my life.

Up to that point in my life I thought I didn't have a very neat testimony, I had never done anything really bad and thought that becoming a Christian wasn't a very big change for me. I know better now, when I was converted I was raised to new life in Jesus from being dead in my sins.

It is my desire to bring glory and honor to God and to in some way help others to see the love and forgiveness that can be found in Jesus. I want to develop a passion for God and a love for others. I want to thank those of you here at Grace that have taken us in, especially when we first started coming, we looked different and didn't know you but you accepted us and loved us anyway. We praise God that you were willing to be used by God to help bring us to where we are today. We love our family here at Grace and the dedication that we see to the Scripture and serving God and to each other.

May God bless you!

Kyrston Denlinger's Testimony

Kyrstron provided the following testimony just before her baptism today:

I was baptized at the age of 14 into the Old German Baptist Church. I did not understand the real reason for baptism. All I knew was that I didn't want to go to hell and all my friends were doing it and I desperately wanted to fit in. And besides that I would get a new wardrobe. I knew real Christians read their bibles and prayed but there was no desire or thirst for the word in my life. In fact I really didn't think prayer worked, cause God had failed to give me the one thing I begged for over and over, for my mother to come back. I also had no real understanding of the depravity of my heart, after all I was a good kid, and that without the calling of Christ I could never choose him. I thought that I had to do all these exterior works to get on God's good side.

I had seasons in my life when I would try hard to throw myself into the Word but when I read I could not seem to understand and I felt so confused. To make a long story short a few years ago we came to Grace and I saw a side of the followers of Christ that I had never seen. I saw a joy in their faces and a love for others and I was reminded of how lost I felt. Then two years ago we left the G.B. church and became regular attendees here. But instead of feeling free I felt even more lost. Through a series of events, sermons and the prayers of my husband and others who knew of my struggles, I came to realize that I was drawing my identity from the things I did and the way I acted instead of from Christ and His work on the cross. So a couple of months ago, through the grace of God I fell on the ONE who could forgive my sins and give me eternal life. And now I know that without Christ all my trying and works are to no avail and mean nothing. I knew this before, in fact I had a lot of head knowledge but it never reached my heart. I was a very good pretender and knew how to act and talk like a Christian, but inside I was full of dead men's bone.

The next Sunday when we went to church I was able to grasp the message not just have it bounce off. This was so exciting for me and I knew then that the Holy Spirit was at work in me, waking my dead heart to a hunger for the truth. So because I know in my heart that this is the first time that I have truly given my heart and life to Him I wish to partake in a believer's baptism. There are a lot of things that I could share with you that the Lord has shown me but I think it best to say in closing, He that has begun a good work in Kyrston will be faithful to complete it in me. May our lives Bring Him glory!

Heidi Dutter Testimony

Heidi shared the following at her baptism Sunday night:

I was born and raised in Georgia and through a rough childhood with an abusive dad and broken home, I came to the decision that God didnt care. I moved to Ohio a couple of years ago and through the help of some of the best friends ever and about a year and a half of searching, I realized God had never left me alone. He had always been there stretching his hands out just waiting for me to cry out to Him. Its hard to believe that Jesus would die on the cross for someone like me, but He did! And the least thing I can do is accept His forgiveness of my sins and live my life for Him. Through faith in my Savior, I hope and pray that I can live my life to show the world the love of Jesus and just how merciful and amazing He is. To show the hopeless there is a way and to show those that feel forsaken they never were and never will be alone.

Laura Everman Testimony

Laura shared the following at her baptism Sunday night:

I am a believer that everything happens for a reason. God has the ultimate plan for each and every one of us. Sometimes we don't understand the plan and we question Him. My struggle started about a year and a half ago when our son was diagnosed with leukemia.

I have been a Christian most of my life and was baptized at a young age, but at this point in my life, I felt like He had let me down. I distanced myself from My Savior. A few of the last words that Dylan asked me were, "Momma, Jesus is Our Savior, right?" With that question he opened my eyes that God had never let go of my hand through all my struggles, but that I had fallen short in my faith in Him. Christ has called me closer to Him through Dylan. Without the strength and love that He has instilled in my heart I would have never made it through. I have been saved by His grace!

I am being re-baptized this evening to celebrate the rededication of my life to Jesus Christ.

God watched His only Son die on the cross for our sins. I can only live my life to try and give back to Him what He has given me! God is my strength!!

Alysha Everman Testimony

Alysha shared the following at her baptism Sunday night:

I have been a Christian my whole life, but there has been a point in my life where I thought I couldn't take any more and that was just this past year or so. I got so down sometimes that I just didn't want to take the time to realize how much in my life I was missing out on and who I really needed to turn to. That all began to change when Pastor Dan came to visit at the hospital during chemo treatments with my little brother Dylan. We did a lot of talking and I realized that I needed to talk to the One who mattered most, Our Savior, Jesus Christ. I have fallen short of what He expected of me.

He has a plan for all of us and I ask the question all the time, "Why did it have to be my little brother instead of me?" But God is trying to teach me something. Through the good times and the bad I know that I can count on Jesus. I have grown close and gained more faith in Him through my little brother because he was a firm believer.

I am being baptized this evening to celebrate my dedication of my life and my walk of faith with Our Savior. God is our strength and our Light. God watched His one and only Son die on the cross for the payment of our sins. I want to live my life to give back to Him.