My Story...

At the June Baptism service, Jason Alexander followed the Lord’s command to be baptized. The following is part of the testimony he gave that evening.

The reason why I want to be baptized tonight is comprised of several things; simply, it comes down to my belief in a Man born 2000 years ago named Jesus and who He claimed to be. I wanted to have my baptism here at Berean because this is where God has taught me the most about Himself. From Bryan’s sermons, to the hearts of the people who call this place home, God has revealed Himself to me through this church and I am truly grateful for that.

I’m not standing here tonight as a person who has everything figured out. I’m standing here tonight as a person who is broken and knows he needs a savior. I was blessed by being born into a Christian home and accepted Christ at an early age. However, like many believers, I have been working through what that means for the last 13 years. To be honest, the things God has been showing me haven’t been easy.

You know, the longer I’m on this earth, the more I desire not to be here. The longer I’m here the more I desire to be with God and not feel the pain, the loneliness, the rejection, the suffering and the sin that is so pervasive in this world. As Bryan says, this world is not his home and he’s not putting his faith and time in it and neither am I. There is a place where the injustice is just, where there is no hate, there is no pain and where you and I are loved for just who we are.

The most beautiful thing about what Christ did on that cross for me is that He still continues to love me even though my heart is so black and ugly much of the time. He loves me when I am undesirable, unfair, unwilling, unforgiving, unloving, unrighteous and unapproachable. God loves me and I don’t deserve it and the truth is, I still don’t understand it. I wanted to convey today to God and to everyone here how much I desire to be what God calls me to be. I stand here today as a sinner saved through God’s love and grace and reconciled into His family.

When I came to talk with Mark (Kremer) this week, he gave me a book called “To Be Told” and in the book it talks about how God is the author of our lives and how He gives us the responsibility of being the co-authors through our choices. When I read the following passage, the only thing I could say was ‘wow’, and this is what he said:  ‘The ending of my story is how I lived my life toward an aim, a finish that is worth both dying for and living for. If I live my life for me alone, then my story is as dull as my self-absorption, even if I have survived untold adventures. But if I live my life for Someone more important than myself and I have sacrificed, nobly risked, been humbled, learned, grown, and given, then my life is headed toward a glorious ending. What makes a life a glorious bestseller is that the plot reveals not a mere moral or lesson, but the very person and being of God.'

That is the life I desire to live. Jesus of Nazareth is love and the Savior of our world and I desire to be His servant. Thanks for listening to my story.