By Marissa Bergeron

Our eighth grade students were confirmed at Community Lutheran Church campuses in Escondido and San Marcos on Sunday, May 19th.  In case you missed it, we are posting twelve of their testimonies here on our church blog.  

I was baptized at Resurrection Evangelical Lutheran Church in Quartz Hill, CA by Pastor John DeYoung.  My parents are Kevin and Denise.  I sang in the Children’s Choir at Community Lutheran all the way through the 5^th grade.  My brother and sister, Joshua and Sophia, are also both in the Children’s Choir. 

Being baptized will impact my life today and in the future because it will remind me of the command and promise of God to be baptized.  It will also help me with my daily life decisions.  The Scripture says that the hope of the redemption of our bodies is that which saves us.  The Bible tells us that if we are baptized, we will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit helps us with our weaknesses, no matter what time of day or what the weakness is.  This has helped me understand that no matter what we may do in our lives, Jesus is the one that saved us.  Another part of the Scripture tells me that Satan isn’t our master, God is.  Being baptized also has reminded me that I am saved through Jesus, and he is the only way to everlasting life.  Forgiveness and grace also tie in through baptism.  God’s grace is that God loves all people, no matter what they have done in their lives.  We don’t deserve God’s love but he gives it to us anyway.  He loves us so much that he sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins.  All of our sins are on Him.  When we are baptized, all of our sins are washed away.  God forgives us for everything we do if we repent.  Being baptized reminds me that I am a new person through Christ and that without him there would really be no faith or hope.  Our lives would be almost pointless, they would just be living for ourselves and not for Him.  We wouldn’t even had needed Jesus if we hadn’t sinned.  But we do need Him, and this is why baptism is so important.  The Bible tells us that in baptism God cleanses us from our sin and gives us everlasting life and takes away the power of the Devil. 

I can use my baptism to remind me in times of temptation or when things are tough that God is working through my life.  I can also be reminded that I already have been raised with Him to a new life. 

My spiritual gifts are hospitality, craftsmanship, and faith.  I want to use these gifts throughout my life, both now and in the future.  No matter what we are doing we can always incorporate our spiritual gifts into our lives.

In 10 years from now I want to be out of college with a degree in history, have a job in the education field and be married to a Christian man.  I still also want to be going to church and live somewhere in Southern California.