BAPTISM TESTIMONIES

Bethesda Pasir Ris Mission Church
CHRIST
has
5 th April 2015 Baptism Service

Order Of Service
Easter and Baptism Service
5 April 2015
Prelude
“Resurrection Alleluias”
By Kenotes Choir
BaPtism
Elder Stuart Ong
Praise and WorshiP
Jason Leong and Hilary Lim
scriPture reading
Luke 23:55-56 ; 24:1-9
Rosemary Ramakrishna
sermon
The King Immortal
Senior Pastor Edward Oh
resPonse song
holy communion
offering
Deacon Rodney Pang
announcement
Benediction
Young Adult Pastor James Ong

PRELUDE
by James Ong
Young Adults Pastor

Hear the words of our Lord Jesus Christ:
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember,
I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Hear also these words from Holy Scripture:
Gal. 3:27, 28
As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves
with Christ.
There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free,
there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Rom. 6:3, 4
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with
him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of
life.
Baptism is a sign of profession of faith and of regeneration. The act of
being submerged in the water is symbolic of the dying to sin and self.
The coming out of the water is symbolic of being raised to the new life
in Christ. The sacrament is the sign of God’s promise of ongoing grace,
offering continual forgiveness and transformation throughout our lives.
At whatever age it is received, baptism demonstrates our inclusion in
the covenant with God and our access to the divine grace that claims,
sustains, and saves us.

Aloysius Foo
isaiah 40:31
But those who hope in the Lord will renew
their strength. They will soar on wings like
eagles, they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Coming from a Christian family, I have been a church goer for as
long as I can remember. Looking back, I consider myself, back then,
to be a Sunday Christian. I only appeared for church activities on Sunday
mornings as I followed my parents to church week in week out.
The other days of the week was filled with doing my own things and
making my own decisions. Everything was about me, myself and I.
Whenever there were other outside activities lined up for Sunday, the
thought of “I can’t go, I have to attend church” seldom crossed my
mind. I remember having tuition classes scheduled on Sundays when I
was in upper secondary and JC. Even though I never really liked studying,
I subconsciously placed priority in studying over Sunday church
service while scheduling my time.
During the 2 years of my NS life, the reason for skipping church on
Sundays went from tuition classes to being “I’m tired”. With the end
of NS, I had no more excuses to miss church on Sundays. I upgraded
from a “when-I-feel-like-it” Sunday church goer to a “everyweek”
Sunday church goer. I believe that this was when God started to bring
me back to him through the people in church. I never once felt like
a stranger despite missing many Sundays before. The people I have
been calling “Aunties” and “Uncles” since young as well as my peers
still greeted me when they bump into me, saying “Nice to see you in
church”.
One Sunday after service while I was sitting at the foyer, Elder Stuart
approached me and invited me to his place for dinner the following
Friday. I agreed. However, it never crossed my mind that it was an
invite to join the new cell he had then recently started. And it was
only when I arrived that I
realise that it was actually a cell meeting of Othniel. I had never been
part of a cell until then and I thought that there was no harm in giving
it a try. This was the first milestone in me coming back to God. I have
been attending Othniel faithfully ever since then and each and every
cell session has brought nothing but joy into my life.

I have seen God’s work in my life through the people around me. Looking
back now, I can see that God never gave up on me. There were
always signs and direction given to me by people around me whenever
I had to make an important decision.
One good example would be my baptism today. I had considered getting
baptised for the past few years but never got down to it. Whenever
the announcement for baptism appeared in the Oikos, I would always
think about it for weeks but never sign up. This time was different.
During CG, 2 days prior to the start of baptism classes, 1 of my cell
members asked randomly who wasn’t baptised and to consider signing
up for the upcoming baptism class. I had always been praying for signs
from God and I thought surely this had to be it.
The following week, I came across the verse Ecclesiastes 3:11
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity
in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from
beginning to end.”
When I read this verse, I was assured of my decision to get baptised. I
felt like God was telling me that now is the right time and asking me
“why are you still waiting?”
I have known all my life that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Saviour and

Lim Yi Sheen
1 corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not
envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is
not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices
with the truth. It always protects, always
trust, always hopes, always perseveres

Truth be told, much of when I accepted Christ is quite a blur to
me. My mom first brought me to church when I was 10 where I heard
the gospel. However, I never understood the significance of Christ’s
sacrifice on the cross for us. Even though I said the sinner’s prayer and
claimed to have accepted Christ as my saviour, my life remained the
same. I never sought to know more about who Christ was or what he
had done. Church was just a place for song and games.
When I was in Primary 6, I stopped attending church under the pretext
that I had to study for PSLE and never returned for many years after.
Despite not attending church, I was fortunate enough to be surrounded
by many Christian friends and was part of the school’s Rugby team
where there was a strong focus on prayer and trusting God. As a team,
we always prayed before and after our matches. Regardless of whether
we won or loss, credit was always given to God first before any form
of celebrations. I still remember certain matches where we did not
discuss any tactics during half time but just prayed. Prayer seemed to
be like a weapon which empowered us and gave us the confidence we
needed. I never really noticed it, but even though I did not attend
church or seek God, His presence was always there beside me, moulding
my character and guiding me through life via my community.
What then made me want to seek God? I led a relatively blessed life
, my parents loved me, my grades were good, I wasn’t in any financial
difficulties and I was surrounded by a great bunch of friends. In
my eyes, there wasn’t any need for God. Looking back, there wasn’t
really a specific turning point; there wasn’t a life changing event that
suddenly made me yearn to seek God. In fact, it was a slow process
which really just involved observing the people around me - how they
interacted with each other and witnessing the care and concern they
displayed towards those around them. These “people” were the Christian
friends God surrounded me with and they made me reflect upon
my own character. I looked at myself and all I saw was a broken and
selfish individual. I had so much but I gave nothing back. I was guilty