Baptism

Baptism 12.14.2025

Margot Anthony

Hi, my name is Margot Anthony. I am 10 years old. I have 5 siblings, their names are Josh, Ashton, Tara, Emmy and Zoey. Josh is 27 and he is married to my sister in law named Brooke. Ashton is 26 and lives in Virginia. Tara is also 26 (they are twins) and Tara lives with us. Emmy and Zoey are both 9 and twins too. I enjoy playing soccer and playing with my friends. I also enjoy going to my uncle's house almost every summer. My family started going to LEFC when I was 5 years old. When I first started going to church I just thought it was going to be fun. Yes, it was fun but I learned more as I got older. I remember learning that Jesus died on the cross for us and I got scared and started asking questions. I remember asking "Why did he die on the cross for us?" I am not scared anymore because I learned that he did it to save us. I continued to go to church every week and saw my friends, learned different lessons, and sang in Created to Praise. Going to church became part of my routine. About 2 years ago my mom bought me a hand held wooden cross to something I was going through. I would before bed just hold it in my hand and say the same exact prayer each night. Praying helped me get through a hard time. This was the first time that talking to Jesus helped me through a hard time and was not just part of a routine he became real to me. This is when I started to open up my heart for Jesus to come into my life.

THis past summer was a big part of my journey to Jesus. A friend from school showed up at our door with a police office. My family found out that she ran away from he house because of a bad situation at her home. Me and my family fostered her for about 3 weeks. I realized what she came through to get to our house. I think this all happened because it was part of God's plan. I said "I don't care if I have to give up my room, I wanna help her." I feel like Jesus put me as her friend for a reason. My friend went to another foster home and right after she left I went to VBS at Grace church. They talked about accepting Jesus into your heart and I just felt ready to say yes. With everything that Jesus did for me I knew I was ready to say yes.

I want to get baptized because I have accepted Jesus into my heart and I want to live my life like him. I want to tell more people about Jesus and what he has done and what he does for me everyday. He makes me fell happy that I can talk to him whenever I want or need to. I want to proclaim to all the people who are in the church that I am accepting Jesus into my heart forever. Jesus is my savior and I wanna live more like him. My favorite verse is John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." I love this verse because it explains that Jesus died on the cross and forgives our sins. I also like that I will be able to see Jesus and have eternal life in Heaven.

Emmy Anthony

Hi my name is Emmy. I'm 9 years old and have a twin sister who looks just like me. I am the youngest of my family. I like soccer, school, and God. I'm in the 4th grade. I like playing with my twin sister. I was around 4 years old when I started to go to LEFC I remember my parents getting coffee before we went to our class. I remember before we started our church lesson we played a little at the beginning and a little when the lesson was over. My parents were sometimes substitutes. One of the first things I remember learning abaout Jesus is that he died on the cross so our sins will be forgiven. I also learned that Jesus did miracles and healed people. I remember learning that if you believe in God that you will live forever in Heaven. These are things that I learned in class at LEFC.

My pop pop lived with us for three years. He was my great grandpa. He was always so nice, he played with me and he would come watch every one of my soccer games. He got older and started to sleep at lot more and stopped talking a lot, he was able to say I love you. I went to sit with him and told him I loved him because my mom and dad said he was going to die soon. Pop pop died not long after we said goodbye and I loved him. I was so sad and I missed him so much and I still do. But one thing was that I was kind of happy because I knew he was in heaven with Jesus. This is when I really thought that even though I was so sad and missing pop pop, I was happy because he was with Jesus. When I started to think about getting baptized and accepting Jesus in my heart, I wanted to work on sinning less and living more like Jesus. I wanted to be a kind and better person. I wanted to treat others like Jesus treated them. I also want to go to heaven and live forever with Jesus. And I will get to see pop pop again.

Now that I have accepted Jesus into my heart I want to be baptized. I want to say in public that I believe in God, he died on the cross so our sins will be forgiven and if we follow him, we will go to heaven and live forever. Since I made the choice of accepting Jesus, I didn't complain as much as I used to. I talk to Jesus in my head or pray when I'm scared and he makes me feel better. He is like my family that is always with me. My favorite story or bible verse is Matthew chapter 14 verse 17-21 "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,' We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,' they answered. "Bring them here to me," he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve baskets full of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children." This is one of my favorite stories because it tells how Jesus does so many miracles for us and would do anything for us. I am so happy to know Jesus and to know he loves me and forgives me. I want to live every day with him in my heart.

Zoey Anthony

Hello, my name is Zoey Anthony, I am 9 years old and have 4 sisters and 1 brother. My brother's name is Josh, my sisters' names are Emmy, Margot, Tara, and Ashton. I am a twin with Emmy, and my older sisters, Tara and Ashton are twins too. I go to Bonfield Elementary School, I play soccer, I play video games, and hang out with my family and friends. The first church I went to was not like LEFC, it was a little older because it had stained glass windows and they did not have a lot of kids that went to church. Me and my sisters were the only kids there and they had one kid class. After we went there a few times, we came to LEFC. At LEFC, when we fist got there the first thing that I saw was a bunch of kids, toys, and a toy kitchen. The first three things that I remember learning in my class was Easter, Jesus in the manger, and him dying on the cross. What it meant to me was special because I realized that there was someone who loved me no matter what.

When I was 7, I was asking my daddy questions about communion and he explained it to me. I went into my bedroom and started talkin to Jesus and in that moment, I gave my life to jesus and accepted Him into my heart. Later that day, we went to Christmas Eve service and it felt different to me. It felt different to me because I had Jesus in my heart. It felt different because I wanted to be more like Jesus. I also asked Jesus to forgive my sins, I said 'Jesus, take my heart and make it new.' And at that moment, it felt like He did.

My life with jesus now is good. I am someone who worries at times and before I gave my life to Jesus, whever I worried I did nothing but ask my mom to help me. I worry a little now, but whenever I do I just pray to God about it and he makes me feel better. Jesus has helped me a lot. I write about Jesus too because it makes me feel good. Something that I wrote about Jesus is this. 'It's one life  changing breathtaking story and that's not because of you and me.' What this means is that we did not make the world, the only person that made the world was Jesus and we should not take credit for his story. Because his story brought me this likfe and brought him to my heart and I know him and I know I will live eternally with Christ. My favorite bible story is Matthew chapter 2 vers i to 11 'After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.' This is the story ofhow baby Jesus was born and how the three wise men came to him with very valuable treasures. This is my favorite story because it tells me how Jesus entered thsi world and he will be the one to save us all. I love the lord and I want everyone to know that.

Baptism 09.14.2025

Brielle Bollinger

Hi everyone, thanks for coming! So for those of you who don't know I attend Lancaster County Christian school. This is my fourth year there and I've been there since seventh grade and I am a sophomore there this year. Growing up i"ve had an amazing Christian influence on my life - mainly my parents but also my friends. My parents both grew up Christian with Christian parents, and I think that is a huge help in my life because my parents are my best friends and they push me spiritually, which is why I'm here. I've been blessed enough to go to a Christian school where I have the opportunity to worship him and it gives me an opportunity to really know God outside of just Sundays or youth groups. In sixth grade we wrestled with changing schools from public to private. But looking back now I'm so incredibly thankful I did. I think being at a Christian school really allowed me to have a personal relationship with him where as in a public school it was much more of a surface relationship.

I remember in sixth grade I gave my life to the Lord through prayer with my parents one night in my room when I felt Jesus inviting me to give my life to him. When I was younger the topic of baptism came up a lot throughout the years just because of my parents and friends in my life but it wasn't until Sixth grade that I really took it on seriously and decided to invest and pursue him forever. Although we go to church every Sunday, I struggled with having a lukewarm relationship. At times I would have a very very high month where every sec I got I was in the word and investing my time into him. Then the next month I couldn't open my bible. The more and more I hung out around people who were on fire for Christ or I listened to worship music and turned my attention to Godly things instead of things of this world, a switch in my mind flipped and I became a billboard for Christ. I heard someone once say "your life should make people curious about Christ, not comfortable in sin" And that was just another reason for me to give my life to Christ once I heard that. Recently in the past year I have felt this overwhelming peace over me from the Lord, with things like anxiety or stress, or worries about my future. And I'm here to just give back everything that the Lord has given my throughout my life and to declare that he is number one in my life.

Then I'll just end with my favorite verse which is Psalm 40:1-3 which says

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
He turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
    Out of the nud and mire;
He set my feet on a rock
     and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
    a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.

Leah Bollinger

Thank you for coming today to support me in my decision to publicly dedicate my life to Jesus. I am 12 years old, and I go to school at Lancaster County Christian School. I began to know Jesus by going to church and regularly praying at home with my family. I gave my heart to the Lord when I was about 9 years old in my room praying with my mom. I knew that if I didn't give my heart to the Lord, I would be guilty of not making the right decision. I understand when I die there is eternal life after death, but without Jesus we would be sinners and go to Hell. My Bible teacher tells us that Heaven is a place for people who love God and want to be with Him forever, and it is not a place for people who are afraid of Hell and are just trying to not go to this evil place. God wants to change our lives by calling us and giving us signs, so we will honor him with our lives and love him with our whole heart. My favorite Bible verse is 2nd Corinthians 12:9-"My grace is all you need, for my power is the greatest when you are weak. Today I commit my life and my heart to Jesus Christ.