Baptism October 10, 2021
Charles Fatjo
When I was very young, a friend from school asked me if I would go to church. The pastor gave a sermon about God’s love and how Jesus had died for our sins. At the end of the service he asked if anyone wanted to come up front and ask God into our hearts. On that day I accepted God into my life. I was so excited and felt so loved that when I got home I talked to my mom about how God loved me, and how excited I was to be a Christian. At that time my family had an estranged relationship with the Lord. Through time and healing we all started attending church and serving weekly while I was in high school. Shortly after high school I joined the Navy. During this time I was told constantly by various people that there was no God. I suffered through some of the hardest challenges I have faced in my life to this point. This time caused me to feel estranged from the Lord although I never stopped believing. I felt alone and like I did not have close friends who enjoyed the Lord’s presence. When I separated from the Navy, the Lord put an amazing woman in my life. I was finally able to be surrounded by my loved ones again. I had been seeing the way the Lord was working in my life and healing wounds left from years of feeling so alone, but my fiancé and I still did not have a church to call home. We both felt like we needed friends that we could walk through our spiritual journey with. While we were looking for an officiant for our wedding we attended a wedding performed by Tyler Morris. We loved Tyler’s service and asked if he would be willing to do our wedding as well. In this conversation Tyler offered for us to come to his life group that met on Thursdays. We were both really excited and have been attending life group and church on Sundays at LEFC. Through our renewed relationship with the Lord we have found new growth and understanding with each other. God has finally given us the community of followers that we have wanted for so long. Even though I accepted God into my heart when I was young I still have not been baptized. In Acts 2:38 Peter says “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” For this reason I am being baptized today. I want to thank God for all of the blessings and community that he has given me. I want to honor him and live my life in a way that shows that I am his servant.
Nicholas Mark