The Faithful Response - Acts 8 Vs 26-40_2

Good morning everyone. Happy almost New Year and hope you all had a blessed Christmas. Dear Lord, thank you for bringing us all here today, Lord. We just want to thank you for another year, Lord, that you've blessed us with, Lord.

We just pray, Lord, in this following year that we can continue to grow in our faith, Lord, and continue to serve you by serving others, Lord. And we just pray for today's service. We pray that you would calm our hearts, Lord, and just have us hear from you today through your word.

We love and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.

This morning, our first song is In Christ Alone. And I just wanted to share from, you know, we worship a very personal God. And we say as believers, we say we have a personal relationship with Christ.

I don't think there's any other religion on the planet that can say that we have a bona fide personal relationship with Christ if we know him and love him and trust him. And I wanted to read from Psalm 62, just a few verses here, of David when he was in a pretty desperate way, a difficult time.

And yet, no matter what his circumstance was, he could still rejoice. And he says, Truly, my soul silently waits for God. From him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense.

I shall not greatly be moved. And then it goes on to say, and notice how many times he says my. My soul waits silently for God alone. For my expectation is from him. He is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense.

I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory. The rock of my strength and my refuge is in God. So it is clear in this song, in Christ alone, you will see that come through over and over again.

So let's stand together as we sing in Christ alone.

In Christ alone.

I'm going to be reading Isaiah 56, three through five, and I'm New King James version.

Just let you know. Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord speak, saying the Lord has utterly separated me from his people. Nor let the eunuch say, Here I am, a dry tree, for thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and hold fast my covenant.

Even to them, I will give in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than that of the sons of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Thank the Lord for his word.

Okay, let's stand again as we're going to sing. Come now, found and notice the first verses is a praise and the following verses are sort of autobiographical. It kind of tells the story and the man that wrote this back in the 1800s, 1700s, that he went through some difficult trials, different difficult challenges in life.

And then came to the Lord and he actually went into another time of depression. And then someone met him on a train that that had heard his song was singing the song that he had penned years before. And she again talked to this man who was in a in a low place and he recommitted his life.

He came to serve the Lord again. So it's quite a story if you read about it when you get home sometime. So come now, found of every blessing.

To my streams of mercy never ceasing. Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me songs of the Lord his name.

Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8. It is a special sermon on baptism. Acts chapter 8 verses 26 through 40. Acts chapter 8 verses 26 through 40. Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.

This is desert. So he arose and went and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, the queen of Ethiopia, Ethiopians who had charge of all her treasury and had come to Jerusalem to worship was returning and sitting in his chariot.

He was reading Isaiah, the prophet. Then the spirit said to Philip, go near and overtake this chariot. So Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, do you understand what you're reading?

And he said, how can I unless someone guides me? And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the scripture which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before its shearer is silent.

So he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation, his justice was taken away. And who will declare his generation for his life is taken from the earth. So the eunuch answered Philip and said, I ask you of whom does the prophet say this of himself or of some other man?

Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this scripture preached Jesus to him. Now, as they went down the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, see, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?

Then Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and he baptized him.

Now, when they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught Philip away so that the eunuch saw him no more. And he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus and passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father, we're grateful to be celebrating the baptism of our dear sister Tobia. And we pray that you would strengthen her conviction. And we're grateful for the work that you have already done in her heart.

That she is a new creation and she is made new in Jesus Christ. And baptism today, although special, although significant, is not what cleanses her. But it is Christ who died for her on the cross, whom she received a few years ago.

And we pray that if there is anyone here other than Tobia who would like to be baptized, we pray that your spirit would urge their hearts so that we may celebrate their public profession of faith as well.

We ask that your spirit would work in all of our hearts to make alive these words. In Jesus' name. As mentioned before, we're not yet going through Acts, but because today is Baptism Sunday, I have jumped ahead to Acts 8.

But we will revisit Acts 8 soon. After we finish Luke, I plan on preaching through Habakkuk and then Acts. In this instant, one way we need to read Acts is that there are a lot of people being saved in the first century after Jesus ascends.

And really the theme is Jesus is still present with the church and he is still saving souls even though he is not physically there. And that's because of the presence of the Holy Spirit who is working through the church and in the church.

And every time we read a passage in which someone is saved or someone is saved and baptized, it is important not to make a principle out of it, as in this must be the only way you go about. The moment you hear the gospel and you believe you have to get baptized.

That's important because there are cases in which it's different depending on where you are in Acts. And I do have to say that in the first century, baptism immediately followed the profession of faith.

Someone's trust in the Lord. However, throughout church history, that has changed. And it's not a sin issue whether you wait a month or a couple months or a year. It totally depends on whether the Holy Spirit is guiding you to be baptized.

So with that instant, please listen to what the Spirit has to say to you if you have not been baptized, but you are a believer in Jesus. So this one instant is how the gospel impacts a single individual in God's history.

This is by no means how everyone needs to walk the path, right? Everyone has a different testimony and praise be to God, right? We don't have a cookie cutter path to being reconciled with God. However, all the testimonies share the same principle.

The gospel must be explained clearly, and the hearer must respond in faith. And such a faith is outwardly expressed in the decision to be baptized. That's what we see in the book of Acts. This does not mean you have to be baptized on the day you believe, like this Ethiopian eunuch.

But there arises a desire to publicly profess your faith in Jesus Christ through baptism. One thing to note again is baptism does not save. Cults believe that. False religions push that. And the reason really is quite manipulative.

If the clergy is the only ones who can approve what is truly baptism, then the clergy can gatekeep you from salvation. If baptism is part of salvation, and only the clergy can perform that, then they can gatekeep you from being saved.

That is not how you are saved according to scripture. You're saved by your faith in Jesus Christ alone. That he died for your sin, and he took on the wrath of God that you deserved, and he rose from the dead.

That is the only way you're saved. You believe that. Now what does baptism mean? Well, it is actually significant. Baptism is the symbol of your union with Christ. When you're saved, you're not just saved to be a blank slate to start from a neutral ground.

You're saved in Christ. You are taken out of the kingdom of sin and death and Satan, and you're placed into the kingdom of Christ. That's what in Christ means. You're found in Christ. You belong to Christ.

And that's what baptism is. When you go under the water, you're dead with Christ. You're united with Christ in his death. And then when you're raised up, you're risen with Christ. You're united with Christ in the resurrection.

That's what it symbolizes. This means baptism is only reserved for those who truly believe in Jesus Christ. We will not be baptizing anyone who is not a believer, or who is too young to profess their faith as an infant.

Oftentimes, what I think this text helps us to see, is that oftentimes you will hear from unbelievers challenging Christianity by saying, how does God save people who have no access to the gospel? Are you saying that those people who have never heard the gospel, they're all going to hell?

What if they really, really wanted to know God? What if they really, really wanted to know the true God? In this text, although baptism is how it ends, the focus really is, how does God reach the seemingly unreachable?

How does God save people who have no access to the gospel seemingly? I say seemingly because nothing is too impossible for God. So the main point of today's text is, how does God reach those who desire to know Him?

How does God reach those who desire to know Him? First, God uses evangelists to reveal Jesus through scripture to all who desire to know Him. God uses evangelists to reveal Jesus through scripture to all who desire to know Him.

Philip's interaction with this Ethiopian eunuch is a transition from the mass conversions that we see in the earlier parts of Acts. Starting with the Pentecost, where thousands of people are saved. Imagine a megachurch and all of those people experience the Holy Spirit and they're saved upon hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But now, we get to see the individual salvation. The gospel spreads wherever people are prepared to trust the good news of Jesus Christ. The gospel spreads, whether from the massive amount of people, a great crowd, or even a single individual.

The gospel will save. That's how God saves. The first four verses set the background for this interaction. Verse 26 is Philip's commission by an angel of the Lord to go down south from Jerusalem, toward Gaza.

Gaza would have been really the last place in which you could get some water. It's the last water stop before hitting the desert. In fact, Luke tells us it's a desert. This is the last place. And this fact will play a role later on.

This is by no accident that God calls Philip out to Gaza from Jerusalem. Now, the one who sends Philip in verse 26 is not the angel of the Lord that we frequently encountered in the Old Testament. The reason why I want to say this is because the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament often has the same impact and authority of the Lord God Himself.

But, this is an angel of the Lord, one of many messengers of the Lord. A messenger from heaven. And verse 29 has the spirit of the Lord guiding Philip to approach the eunuch in the chariot. And verse 40, 39 -40, it's the spirit of the Lord who takes Philip away.

And what's significant here is that evangelism and mission have to be directed by the Lord. Not us. Evangelism and mission are guided, led, by the Lord Himself. It is not something we do impromptu. It's not something we decide to go just because we like the country there.

It has to be clearly Lord-led. And that is also true for all of us here because we are all missionaries. We're all ambassadors of Christ. God will put into your heart clarity and discernment in order to evangelize to the fallen world around you.

You have to trust God, not your own abilities. Now, verses 27 -28 describe the future recipient of the gospel. When Philip obeys God's command, he immediately sees his mission field. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury and had come to Jerusalem to worship.

And he was returning and sitting in his chariot. He was reading Isaiah the prophet. A eunuch was a court official who was, he was castrated to serve the palace. And Ethiopia, also known as Cush in the Bible, is actually a nation that's south of Egypt.

And it's actually the modern-day Sudan. So it's south. And this Ethiopian eunuch would have looked different than Philip. He would have stood out. He was obviously a foreigner. We also find out that this eunuch is the queen's treasurer.

Think the secretary of treasury. Needless to say, he is an important figure. Yet, he is seeking something greater. Or in this case, someone greater. He is not quite satisfied with his life. I mean, he has reached the top, really.

He doesn't have any kids, because he's a eunuch. He's reached the top of his life's goal. Yet, something isn't quite sitting right. And this secretary of treasury decides to make a trip up to Jerusalem to worship.

And what he comes back is, as he's being driven home, he's reading the ancient scroll of Isaiah. Isaiah is the prophet from the 8th century. That's over 700 years before Christ's birth. The scroll would have been actually an expensive expenditure.

We take books for granted. Books are so cheap to make, because of the printing press. But back then, scrolls were lambskin. And they had to be really long, because you couldn't just flip through. You had to unroll.

And if you haven't read through the book of Isaiah, it's a long book. And imagine an 8x12, so about this, right? Paper, right? 8x12. But if you were to unroll it, it could be as long as 16 .5 feet, or even 145 feet, depending on do you have the whole Isaiah book scroll, or do you have just a part of it.

So that's a heavy, heavy book, and it was extremely expensive. Now, the fact that he visited Jerusalem means that he must have attempted to worship the Lord Yahweh. Or at least sought to do so. The fact that he has the scroll of Isaiah means he actually desires to know God.

He wasn't just a curious visitor. He really wanted to be committed. He committed himself to spend that much money on a scroll of Isaiah. That's commitment. That isn't just someone who visits church on Christmas and Easter.

I've just recently learned the phrase, the CEO's Christmas Easter's only. The eunuch was not a Christmas Easter only. The irony, of course, is that this eunuch could not have entered the temple of the Lord according to Deuteronomy 23.

It precisely says, no one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord. That's really, I mean, it's remarkably specific. And this requires some explanation.

The law, the Old Testament law, used physical phenomena to teach Israel the spiritual truth. And this is something I've said it many times. What does that mean? The Lord has always been perfect and complete.

The Lord is one, O Israel. Right here, O Israel, the Lord is one. What does that mean? There is no inconsistency. There is no imperfection. He's whole and he's one, he's unique. And this is why Israel was not allowed to offer up blemished or deformed animals as sacrifices.

Because if you're going to worship the perfect one Lord, whole and complete, you better offer up what is whole and complete and unblemished, spotless. And in the similar sense, anyone who is incomplete or deformed could not approach the temple of the Lord.

That was the case in the Old Testament. God who is whole is served by worshipers who are whole. That's what it was. The physical phenomena taught them the spiritual truth. However, when we get to Isaiah 56, which was read this morning.

In the eschatological time, in the last days, the Lord tells us this will not always be so. For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant.

I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Not only do we see that a eunuch is not cast off, but rather he's part of the covenant.

And God will provide him with something that is greater than sons and daughters. And what could possibly be greater than sons and daughters? And it is an eternal relationship with God. And he will remember his name forever.

That's what God promises in the eschatological time. And the question is, how is that possible? I thought God couldn't be worshipped by imperfect, deformed people. After all, he's the perfect God. Because someone else bore the eunuchs imperfection and sin.

In order to make him acceptable and unblemished before God. Isaiah 56 actually comes after the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. Who bears the sin and iniquity of others. It is precisely the suffering servant, Jesus Christ, who bore all of our sin and all of our imperfections.

So that us imperfect sinners could approach the holy God. And have an eternal relationship. In fact, that is precisely where the eunuch was having trouble. In the Isaiah scroll. And he asks for Philip's help.

Isaiah 53, 7 through 8. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb before its shearer is silent. So he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation, his justice was taken away. And who will declare his generation?

For his life is taken from the earth. In Isaiah 53, there is a man who innocently suffers on behalf of other people's sin. These two verses show how like a lamb is silent before he is slaughtered. He also was silent before he was killed.

He was humiliated and was deprived of justice. His death was not just. And the rhetorical question drives the point home. Who will declare his generation? Translation, what kind of people would do such a thing?

What kind of generation would do this? How would you even describe this generation? This innocent being is killed despite having done nothing wrong. And we actually have the blessing of reading this. After going through the crucifixion.

In Luke 23. Jesus was innocent. He was declared innocent by all these authorities. Yet he was put to death. And verse 34 asks the burning question. I ask of you, whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of some other man?

In ancient and current Judaism, there are several options to read who this suffering servant is. The first option is that the suffering servant is Israel. The problem, of course, is that Israel never suffered for someone else's sin.

Whenever Israel suffers in the Old Testament, it is because of their own sin. Israel doesn't die for other people's sins. The second option is that the suffering servant is the prophet Isaiah himself.

In fact, that's what the eunuch is thinking. Is this of himself or someone else? And of course, the prophet Isaiah is not the one who's suffering. Because he is the one who's writing. And this leads to the third option.

It must be someone else. Someone else is afflicted unjustly on behalf of the wicked people. And Philip explains thus. Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him.

Philip knew the answer to the eunuch's burning question. Who could this innocent figure be? At another level, Philip also provided the solution to the eunuch's dilemma in visiting Jerusalem in the first place.

How could an imperfect sinner approach the perfect holy God? How could a deformed eunuch approach the one perfect God? And beginning at this scripture, Philip opened his mouth to preach Jesus to him. Isaiah 53 is about Jesus, who was unjustly put to death by a wicked generation.

Isaiah 53 is about Jesus, who bore all of our sin and our iniquities so that God would have mercy on sinners. In the first century Jerusalem, there was no one who could have been farther from God than this Ethiopian eunuch.

First, he was a foreigner. And the scripture reading from Isaiah 56 actually starts with, Let no foreigner say. Because foreigners could not worship in the temple. Second, he's a eunuch. The true God seemed unapproachable to this man.

But that did not stop God from approaching this eunuch through Philip, who was sent to the right place at the right time to the right person. To exposit scripture pointing to Christ. God will never err in his great redemptive plan.

Whether saving thousands or saving one. God does not make mistakes. God does not miss a beat. First, we need to know that God will not turn away who wants to know him. God will not abandon anyone who seeks him in his word.

In fact, some of you may have been saved because you decided to open the Bible. You didn't grow up in a Christian household. You didn't have Christian family. But you were seeking. And you decided, I'm going to read what the Bible says about God.

And God will provide the right people at the right time. Philip may not have known why he ended up in a desert from Jerusalem. Where could God be leading me away from the city of God? But God knew specifically where a desperate, soon-to-be disciple, who desired to understand and approach the true God, would be.

God is the great revealer. He reveals himself to anyone who seeks him. The answer to that hypothetical question of, what if there are people who want to seek the Lord, but have no access to the gospel, is a foolish one.

If there is someone who wants to seek the Lord, the Lord will reveal himself. That's who he is. He is not a mysterious, secret God in which you have to join a cult and pay a lot of money and be part of a secret ritual in order to know him.

He is the great revealer. He is the light of the world. When he shines forth, no one can ignore him. Second, just like Philip, we're also called to be faithful with the gospel that we're given. Philip did not have a seminary degree.

And this Philip specifically was not even an apostle. He was a deacon. He was, however, an evangelist, which means he carried the good news of Jesus Christ. In one sense, you are too, because you carry the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are an evangelist. It did not matter whether a multitude got saved or just one. Philip obeyed God wherever and whenever he was sent to preach that Jesus died for our sin and he rose from the dead.

Similarly, all we need to do is to open our mouths and reveal to the world that Christ from Scripture. And we got to trust the outcome to God. You may not see an enthusiastic eunuch going down south who happens to be reading Isaiah, but you may have been used by God to share the gospel with family and friends, and they may have been unreceptive, but you still were an evangelist and you still were faithful.

And you leave the outcome to God, and you'd be surprised what God can do with the gospel. And we need to reveal Christ from Scripture, right? Not Christ that media talk about. Not Christ that academia attempts to dissect.

Christ who is revealed by God in Scripture. Christ who suffered for our sin so that we may be forgiven in him. Christ who rose from the dead so that we also may be united with him in life. And now what is the appropriate response?

Those who trust Jesus publicly proclaim their allegiance to him. Those who trust Jesus publicly proclaim their allegiance to him. Remember how Gaza is the last water stop before hitting the massive plot of desert.

Well, there, these two men come across a body of water. And, of course, it's not by chance. Nothing is by chance when it comes to God who saves. Now, as they went down the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, See, here's water.

What hinders me from being baptized? The eunuch's first response is not, Let me fill up some water because we're going to encounter a large plot of desert. We're going to get thirsty. Rather, his excitement is in his new relationship with Jesus, and he could not contain it.

Baptize me now, he says. Verse 37 shows the eunuch's profession of faith. He trusts Jesus as the Son of God. Now, some new versions don't have verse 37 because it's missing from the older manuscripts.

But it does not change the meaning of baptism at all. Baptism comes after the gospel proclamation and reception. Baptism is the ordinance reserved for the faithful. So, he commanded the chariot to stand still, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.

Now, when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away so that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. This scene of baptism is the reason why I believe baptism is through immersion rather than sprinkling.

They were about to hit a desert. Could they have gotten a bottle of water or a pouch of water?

Sure.

I'm sure they had a pouch of water. I'm sure they could have carried on the conversation all through the desert. And the eunuch could have said, could you baptize me now just as Jesus commanded? And Philip could have said, yes, let me dip my hand into the pouch and sprinkle some on your head.

That's not true. Nothing in this passage is just by chance. It's not that they just happened to run into the water. Gaza was the last water stop, and that's precisely where the Lord sent him. And, in fact, that's the only type of baptism we read in the Bible.

Just as Philip was sent, he also departs according to the Lord's will. The eunuch no longer needs Philip because the Lord is with him now. Before we close, I do want to speak on baptism. Baptism, just as this eunuch decided, is actually commanded in Matthew 28.

Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Right?

A couple of important things about baptism here. First, baptism does not save you. Look at the order. Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them. You are made a disciple already, which means you're saved, you follow Christ, and then you're baptized.

Baptism is commanded, but it is not what saves you. You receive your salvation from God by grace alone. God graciously saves you. You don't earn it, it's a gift. And you receive it through faith alone.

Your response is faith. You trust that God saved you through Jesus Christ who took on your sin and died for your sin and rose from the dead. You receive salvation by trusting in Jesus alone. A great case example is the thief on the cross in Luke.

He had no chance to be baptized. Yet Jesus boldly proclaims, today you will see me in paradise. To believe that baptism is required for salvation is making our Lord and Savior a liar. Second, baptism is triune.

Notice the grammar here. Baptizing them in the name. It's singular. There's one name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Wait a second, three persons. One single name. Why? Because there's one God, three persons.

Baptism is your public declaration of the reality that you're united with the triune God. You get to declare to the world, just like this eunuch, I am united with the triune God. Jesus saved me out of sin and death so that I could be united with God.

I could be united with Christ who's united with the Father and the Holy Spirit. It's a triune declaration. Now in the first century, baptism came immediately after faith. Whether the Pentecost, whether the Ethiopian eunuch, Cornelius the Centurion, they hear the gospel, what's stopping me from being baptized?

Baptism was the outer symbol for the internal salvation. That's why you'll see how there's salvation and baptism in the same context in Paul's epistles. It's not because Paul believed that you're saved through baptism.

It's that baptism was the outer symbol for what happened inside. The immediacy of being baptized changed after the first century for a couple of reasons. As Christianity became more popular, there were more false believers who came into the church just to get baptized.

The pastors and elders had to guard the flock and the sanctity of baptism. Just as much as we don't want you to not get baptized when you're a believer, we also don't want to baptize unbelievers. It's an important symbolic gesture to be united with Christ, to show that publicly.

And because baptism is the symbol of salvation, some churches decided to be wise to wait and see the fruit of salvation before baptizing any new believers. After all the social pressure, family pressure, can make unbelievers want to get baptized.

The spiritual high can fake genuine salvation for a little bit, but it will not produce any real fruit. Third, because you're not baptized does not mean you did it the wrong way. As in, because you weren't baptized the day you got saved, it means your testimony is a sham.

That's not true. Some of you might not even remember when you were saved, right? And you might not have gotten baptized immediately after that. However, if the Spirit of God is urging you to make your faith public this morning, I urge you do not quench the Holy Spirit.

Listen to Him, who has renewed your soul. Yes, you still belong to Jesus before your baptism, after faith. But if God is stirring your heart right now that this baptism water, there is water, and just like the eunuch, what is hindering me from being baptized this morning?

I want to declare that I am united with Christ because He died for me and rose from the dead. This water is also for you. Yes, we got it for Tovia, but if there is someone out there that God is working in your heart, this water is also for you and God knew beforehand.

And with that, let us pray. And please come find me during the short intermission if you would like to get baptized because I would like to know your faith. Let us pray. Father, we're grateful for this time.

Thank you for providing every single aspect of this baptismal, this gathering of God's people, the church. Thank you that the church can celebrate the public proclamation of the inner salvation of Tovia and whomever you have called to be baptized this morning.

And Father, we're grateful that we're also living in California where it won't be too cold.

And we're grateful.

That even if there are unplanned people who want to be baptized, they will not freeze outside. And Father, we pray that you would work in their heart. Give them the boldness, the conviction that they cannot silence in their heart to be baptized.

Jesus name. As I mentioned before, baptism is the symbol of one's union with Christ. It does not actually save. This is why I told Tovia last week that if Jesus were to come back before your baptism, and there's still a chance, she would still be with Christ.

Jesus will call her name. So I would like Tovia to share her testimony.

So I'm just going to share a small part of my testimony. So even though I was raised in a Christian home, it wasn't until four years ago that I just picked up my Bible over COVID when I had some free time.

And I think that's the moment when I first just saw the gospel. And it began as just a way to see clarity and to just to see if all these things that I were taught were true. But the Lord was gracious and just revealing me himself through his word.

And although at first this was very much just head knowledge and there was no fruit in my life. But I guess over time, he's just been so faithful in that he has transformed my life. And in these last two years especially is when I came to grow in love for the Lord and just in sanctification.

And through his word and also his presence in my life, I finally began to just see his steadfast love and faithfulness in my life every day and the patience and grace he has towards me. And I finally came to see what it means to truly hope in God and place my faith in him.

And then my life is very much a testimony to the power of scripture and its efficiency in saving. And also the faithful witness of other believers in my life such as my parents and this church from a young age.

And also believing friends all of whom showed me what a life lived to God and transformed by God looks like. And a verse that really struck out to me four years ago and I think first picked up the gospel of John is John 5, 24 which said, Truly, truly I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.

He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life. And I remember just struggling to understand this verse because it kind of just said that I had to do nothing but believe and I have eternal life.

And now I just growing in faith I finally see the simplicity of the gospel and just how much grace the Lord has in only requiring faith from me. And yeah, I stand here today because I have passed from death to life and that I would like to be baptized in front of you all just to profess that.

Thank you so much, Tobia. What a beautiful testimony. I mean, hearing the gospel again and how the gospel has transformed your life and even during college too because college is a hard and dark place.

So I would like to pray for Tobia before we go down there. Father, we're grateful for Tobia and also Tobia's family. What a blessing it is to grow up in a Christian household. And thank you that you have revealed to Tobia through scripture.