This morning we have the privilege of hearing the testimonies of two men that have been saved by the Lord's grace and witnessing their baptism. And it's just been a joy to see the Lord work in Stephen's life, who I've known a little bit longer than Caleb, but also just to hear the work that's being done in Caleb's life, to hear how the Lord just transformed him. And they're both here to tell you of that. And so I'm gonna invite Stephen to come first and give his testimony, and then I'll join together in his baptism. Good morning, everyone. Praise God for His mercy, grace, and holiness and promises. My name is Stephen Beller, and on October 21st, 2023, God opened the eyes That's exactly what happened. That day, I began to understand the truth about myself and about God. The first time when it was read to me, I truly heard and understood what Romans 3, 10 through 12 declares. There is no righteous person, not even one. There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks out God. They have all turned aside. Together, they have become corrupt. There is no one who does good. There is not even one. In that moment, I understood that I was one of those people. I was not righteous. I never sought after God. I hadn't done any good in my life. But by the grace of God, He began a new work in me. And a few months later, I fully dedicated my life to Christ. He transformed me, and now I'm being sanctified through Him until the day of Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5.17 says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation. The old things passed away. The old things, new things, have come. I believe that my life has no value or purpose apart from my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The truth of this is echoed in John 15, where Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches. The one who remains in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing. Without Christ, every effort, every hope, and every breath is ultimately meaningless. For 39 years, I lived a meaningless life in opposition to God. I lived for myself, I sinned regularly, and I had an unrepentant heart. I even said terrible things about Jesus, and I was doing evil, harming myself, and wounding the people who loved me the most. My mind was hostile towards God. I fully deceived myself through arrogance and self-worship, and I made myself to be God by following my own will and only looking out for my own. Romans 8, 7 says, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile towards God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. As a child, I grew up in church. I used to believe and would tell people that I was saved at the age of four years old. And I truly believed it. But the truth was that I didn't know what salvation really meant. I didn't understand what it meant to repent, or to follow Christ, or to walk in the spirit. I deceived myself through my own arrogance, so I simply followed my own desires, and I convinced myself that as long as I kept asking for forgiveness, I could keep sinning and would still go to heaven. I was so ignorant that I even convinced myself to get baptized as a young teenager, not out of obedience to God, but because everyone else was doing it. I was scared to hell and just wanted to fit in. I wasn't truly a Christian. I didn't read the Bible. I didn't seek godly counsel. I didn't respect churches. selfish and shallow. I didn't want God's will. I wanted mine. I never truly repented. I stayed in sin. Deep down, I worshiped myself. I was truly in prison. I was stuck. I didn't even realize the situation I was in. Ephesians 2 says, and you were dead in your offenses and sins in which you previously walked according to the course of this world. Through high school and in my early 20s, I wrestled with deep insecurity. I was extremely self-focused and continued to sing constantly. That didn't stop me from participating as a musician in various worship bands, though. I seemed to fit in by acting like a Christian, but I was only doing it for attention and validation, not for Christ. I used the church as a stage, not as a place of worship. After high school, I moved out of my parents' house and began living completely for myself. I barely went to church. I fell deeper into sin. I stopped praying altogether. I was seeking out the pleasures of the world, and I was completely separated from my creator. Over the next 21 years, my trajectory was headed towards death. I went from one sinful relationship to the next. I got married and divorced. I drank heavily. I cheated on my wife. I broke every commandment, and I hurt people who I loved. This could take a while. It's OK. And worst of all, And worst of all, I denied Jesus Christ publicly and proudly. I argued with Christians. I mocked their faith and embraced rebellious life. I was full-blown enemy of God and I deserved death. The eternal separation from Him was living for me. My soul was dead and I didn't have any desire to seek after God. I wanted nothing to do with Him. Praise the Lord. I even remember telling my mother once, I wish God would just leave me alone. I wanted it, truly. But God knew something I didn't. He knew that I needed Him. He knew that He was my solution, not my problem. He was my salvation, not my imprisonment. I hope, not my fear. And while I would steal His enemy, While I was living in opposition to him, while I was seeking after my own desires, he stepped in. After years of pain and rebellion, searching, struggling, and loneliness, through hearing the word of God, he opened my heart. Romans 5, 8-10 says that God demonstrates his own love towards us. And that while we are still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. While we were, for if while we were and we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. In His mercy, He saved me. He pulled me out of darkness and raised my soul from the dead through His Son, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There was nothing I could do or did to save myself. Christ did it all. He died on the cross, defeated sin and death, and He rose again. And now he is seated at the right hand of God, the Father, where he now intercedes for me. He truly saved me and crafted me into his body, where I will be for all eternity. Ephesians 2, 8 through 9 says, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of yourself. It is the gift of God, not a result of words, that no one may boast. I no longer worship myself. I worship the one true God. I no longer seek after sin. I have attended and seek after the will of God and the righteous works he has prepared for me to walk in. I pursue a relationship with him. I place my life, my hope, and my trust in him, and I eagerly wait for the day I will be with him in heaven for all eternity. Romans 10, 9 through 10 says that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, a person believes, resulting in righteousness. And with the mouth, he confesses, resulting in salvation. Today, I am getting baptized, not because I believe it saves me, but because I want to walk in obedience to God, my God and creator. Baptism is a step of obedience. in my public declaration that Jesus Christ has saved me and made me new. Ephesians 4 through 5 says, but God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, we are alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. I once was dead, but now I am alive in Christ. Romans 1, 16 through 17 says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jews also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, that the righteous one will live by faith. All glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Amen. Amen. Amen. Stephen, go ahead. What a joy it is to hear of the Lord's work in your life. I've read your testimony and still yet hearing how the Lord has worked is just very joyous. I know your family prayed for you for many years, so they rejoice with you in the Lord's work. And as your family, church family, we are just ever so joyful that you're taking this step of obedience and Just demonstrating your joy and love for God. Go ahead and have a seat. It's with great joy and by your testimony of faith in your Lord Jesus Christ, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. His name was Gale Gray. Probably people who know him will know him. I was raised in a Christian family, and I was involved in the church as long as I can remember. I was raised knowing that I needed to worship God in everything I do, but never really understood what that meant until recently. I was baptized at an early age, but I did not understand the true reason to be baptized. I was baptized with two of my brothers, I later went to college with a plan to find a church, accountability, and a time dedicated to God. This only worked for a couple months until I began to fit in with the people around me. I started making all the wrong decisions and found myself down the path of destruction. This continued for many years when I found myself hitting rock bottom. I tried whatever I could to find joy in worldly things, but instead I found depression and anxiety. All along, I knew I had to seek God first grace, but I wanted to continue living the life I was in. I would come home pale-faced, receiving lectures and guidance from my family, but I didn't want to do it. I eventually stopped answering the phone, and I even stopped visiting on the holidays. I did everything I could to keep myself awake and true. Thankfully, after going many months emotionless, continue living the same as before. Months went by as I indulged in the things of the world. My brother invited me out to his church, and I knew I couldn't say no. After multiple Sundays of going to church just to get my brother off my back, I had a day where I was clear-minded for the first time in years. I prayed, asking for God to get me out of the environment I was in and to guide me back again. After that prayer, I called my dad and told him I had to come home, and we prayed and found a plan, which resulted in getting home with brothers, by the mercy of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice, living, holy, and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect. I made my lifestyle reflective of the unbelievers around me, and in doing so, I was leading myself This verse is the reason why I leave Shore Island Church and people to keep me accountable when I move from Pittsburgh. Also, I go back to 1 Corinthians 10, 12 to 13. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands safe keep me, that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken me, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful. It will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but the temptation will provide a way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. I was given instantations my whole way through college. I didn't really want to find a way out of here until God showed His mercy on me and gave me an out. I still struggle with the same temptations, but I am humble to say that God has clearly given me an escape. I still have a lot to learn and I have a lot of stories to put into practice, but I pray God will continue to guide me and I will make myself a servant of the Lord. Caleb, it's been a pleasure to begin to get to know you and in God's providence meet Your dad and your mom and your uncle, he's got family at Sovereign Grace Chapel in Youngstown. And the Lord allowed me in his providence to meet your dad and talk with him at the Shepherd's Conference. And they just testify of the good work that God has done in your life. Based on your testimony and profession of faith, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Please join me in praying for Stephen and Caleb. Oh, Heavenly Father, we are so indebted to your work of redemption. Jesus, we thank you for dying on the cross for sins and being resurrected in newness of life. And we thank you, Holy Spirit, for your work of conviction of changing our hearts, in this case, changing Caleb's heart and Stephen's heart from that of rejecting truth and rejecting Christ to accepting and to bring them to the place of repentance. And we just rejoice in the work, good work that you have done in their lives. So it helped them to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord and Savior. May they glorify you with their lives. It's the name of Christ we pray. Amen.