Our first candidate today to be baptized is Lorelei Grace Caliendo, and she'd like to share her testimony on how God saved her before she was baptized. I grew up in a church and heard the gospel all my life. However, as a teenager, I began to make poor decisions and tried to find contentment from all the wrong answers. As a result of all my wrong choices, I began to battle with anorexia and depression. Due to the guilt of my sin, I falsely concluded that I was outside of the love of God. It was then when I hit rock bottom that I learned that it was sinners that Jesus had come to save. 1 Timothy 1.15 teaches us that the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. So sometime in the middle of September of 2024, I repented of my sin and put my faith in Jesus's finished work for my salvation. I have learned that salvation was all of grace and that Jesus himself purchased it for me through his ministry at the cross. Since coming to Christ, I have experienced more of his grace in my life. I am finding that he is faithful as I continue to trust him as I try to navigate living my life in a simple world. I have learned that the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock with whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18, two. He also is leading me to Spurgeon College, where I can train to be a biblical counselor. I am looking forward to continuing growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, and to share that same Jesus with others. Amen. Amen, Lord. All right, have you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Yes. Then upon your confession of faith, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried in the likeness of his death. risen in the likeness of his resurrection. Our next candidate for Baptist is Gabriella Lynn Harkness. I grew up in church learning about God and His ways. I had always just assumed what my parents taught me was the truth, and I never actually thought seriously about my salvation in Jesus Christ. One night, while I was attending a youth event, we were singing a song, and the words hit me differently, even though I had heard the song many times before. At that moment, I started crying in front of all of the members. I realized that day that I needed to be forgiven by God, and that I was a sinner, that without God, I am nothing. I truly believe that God sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for my sins, and everyone else's sin. Before salvation, I knew God's word, but now I believe it. Amen. All right. Have you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? All right. Then upon your confession of faith, I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried in the likeness of his death, risen in the likeness I did not grow up in church so I used to not know God at all. No one around me ever talked about God. I remember when I was young I was curious about going to church. Occasionally as a child I would tag along with others to church but I still didn't understand who God was or what church was all about. A few years ago during a difficult time in my life I was confronted by God. I had just come out of an unhealthy relationship, and I didn't know how to cope when the relationship ended. I turned to my friends and family for support to help me find a way to heal. Some of my friends told me to go to therapy, and other people told me to cry it out and find other things to distract me. But it was my friend Caitlin who told me about Jesus. A few years ago, Caitlin and I started going to church and doing Bible studies to learn about God. I struggled with anxiety and tried to find happiness in other things, but it truly did not help. I was hiding from God trying to fix things on my own. I realized that Jesus doesn't want to just be a part of certain areas of your life. He wants to be at the center of it all. As time passed, God showed me that I needed to put my trust in Him and give my life to Him and turn away from my old self. He was the one who could truly heal me. I realized that I was a sinner and I wanted to receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Paul said in Acts 16.31 that if you believe in the Lord Jesus, you will be saved. I believed in this and God was true to his word and saved me. Now I have a sense of peace, comfort, and wisdom I didn't have before. My heart has grown more and more for Jesus and I feel convictions for the sin in my life. I feel the Holy Spirit speaking to me and telling me the areas in my life that I need to change. I learned that there is nothing to fear when walking with Jesus. I feel peace in my life and empowered to live a life dedicated to him. I have comfort knowing that God has a plan for me and is working all things out for my good. God has called me to spread the gospel to my friends and family, and has shown me the importance of church community. God put it on my heart to get baptized, and getting baptized is just the next step into furthering my relationship with him, and committing to live my life to God. Thank you. All right, Candace, have you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior? Yes. All right. Then upon your profession of faith, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Married in the likeness of his death, risen in the likeness of his glorification. Our next candidate is Elizabeth Perkins. Do you want to share her testimony as well? Worried or anxious, I want to obey him and his commands in the Bible. I feel guilty when I realize I have disobeyed him. I ask for his forgiveness when I realize I have done something wrong. I trust that he will have mercy on me because Jesus died on the cross for my sins, which he tells us to do in a condolence. When I was eight, I had a fear of hell, but then I realized that God had paid for the debt of my sins and that he loves me and cares for me. God gives me peace of mind and assurance in my heart that I haven't sinned. I have a verse, it is Psalm 56, 3 through 4. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God whose word I praise, in God I trust, and I shall not be afraid, but give thanks to God. Amen. Elizabeth, have you put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? All right, then, upon your confession of faith, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. in the likeness of his death, risen in the likeness of his resurrection. All right, our next candidate is James Perkins, and he's going to share his testimony. I was saved when I was 11. I had been in a time of fear. Those two things I feared were, one, dying, and two, the end of the world, or in summary, what comes after that, the wrath of God in hell. I believe I was a god, but I truly felt lost and apart from a god. It's hard to explain exactly how I was saved. What I mainly know is I woke up one Sunday morning a sinner and unsaved. But when I went to sleep that day, I was still a sinner, but a sinner who knew he was forgiven by the fact that God sent his son into the world, that the world knew his son, I might be saved. I believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for my sins, and after three days rose from the grave and ascended into heaven. After I was saved, I felt at peace with God and like a new creation. All right, James, have you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Then upon your confession of faith, I baptize you now in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the likeness of his death, risen in the likeness of his resurrection. Our next candidate for baptism is John Ray. I was never really someone that thought of myself as a believer in the Lord. However, I was never really an atheist either. All throughout my life, I remember making up arguments about why I shouldn't go to church. So I find it amazing that I'm here at New Covenant Church getting baptized today with all of you great people. Funnily enough, I was also never a great person. I was quick to anger. I was lazy. I gossiped. My days were spent doing things that did not have eternal significance. Chasing the wind has spoken in Ecclesiastes. As some of you might know, this last year and a half has been the hardest time of my life. I've been in two comas, nearly died, got a full-time job, and I closed on a house. Praise the Lord. Through all of this, the Lord has blessed me with an amazing wife, an awesome job, amazing friends, and by the grace of God, I get to wake up every day. This year has really shown me how important it is to trust God with everything. And I mean everything. Proverbs 3, 5, 6 says, trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding and all your ways. Submit to him, and he will make your path straight. Whenever a problem comes up in life, instead of getting stressed, anxious, and sinning, I now trust God and pray about it. He carries my burdens, and He is my strength. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life after being in two comas. I weighed 128 pounds, and I wasn't allowed to drive. I had a paralyzed vocal cord, and I was unable to speak. After missing seven weeks of school, I had to withdraw from all of my college classes. I prayed to the Lord and asked Him to show me my purpose. A few months later, I was allowed to drive again, and I applied to the new company who paid for me to get a CDL. Luke 11 9 says, knock and it shall be opened. I'm grateful that God heard my prayer. I've never felt so empty and without purpose than when I couldn't go to school, drive, or see any of my friends. I miss the luck that I had before the coma, but I had to lose that life to get an eternal life. I first put my faith in Christ around the same time my brain started swelling, actually. In fact, the day I was put in a coma was the day that me and Pastor did our first baptismal lesson. I would have to say that this is when I was saved, not only spiritually, but physically. I know being in hospital strengthened my faith, and I know it's for God's glory. Many of the things I worked for before that trial were taken away from me, but I made me realize that the Lord's love is all I really need, and that gift is something I do not have to work for. I owe my life to God, and I pray that everyone hearing this message puts their faith in God. It won't be easy walking with Christ. You'll face insurmountable trials, and your faith will be tested daily. But it will be one of the best decisions that you will ever make. Have you put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Then upon your confession of faith, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried in the likeness of his death, risen in the likeness of his resurrection. All right, our next candidate is Zoe Ray. And one of the things that John forgot to mention was he also got married during that time. All right, and so here we are. I've been blessed with growing up in church, and I've always known about Jesus and what he did. It wasn't until my last year at camp managed to meet that I confessed and put my trust in Him. I immediately started crying tears of joy and felt so light I thought I would float away. Between then and now God has strengthened my faith and trust greatly. Through many trials I found peace knowing that God has got me. Even though I still get overwhelmed, scared, and anxious, he always reminds me that it is in his hands. Jeremiah 29, 11 says, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Isaiah 59, 17 says, know up and let us fashion that the institute shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and the prediction for me, declares the Lord. Genesis 15-20 says, As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. To bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. These fighter verses help me when I get worked up about anything. They remind me that God is in control and I need to trust Him with everything. I am blessed, proud, and thankful to say that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior, and I am excited to get to share this with everyone. So have you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Then upon your confession of faith, I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Married in the likeness of his death, risen in the likeness of his resurrection. Last candidate. Crisis in my life was very blank. I have always been a knower of Jesus, and I've been raised through the church my whole life, but never truly knew the meaning of knowing Jesus as my Savior. My life before knowing Jesus was a lot of going day by day, just trying to get through and rolling with the punches. There was no structure in my life when I didn't have Jesus as my Savior. There was no joy in my life without Him. The day I got saved, I was at a Christian hockey camp during the summer, and after all week of learning more about Jesus, I realized that I needed Christ in my life. And on the last day of that camp, I gave my life to Jesus. And since that day, it has felt like a burden was lifted off my shoulders. After being saved, my life has been filled with Jesus and His glory. In Philippians 4.13, it says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Every problem that I have had, every burden, He has shown me the way through those trials and tribulations. Jesus has truly saved my life and saved me from my sins and has shaped me into who I am today. Amen. Have you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Then upon your confession of faith, I baptize you now in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried in the likeness of his death, risen in the likeness of his resurrection.