Listen to this recording from a Baptism meeting including a word by Simon Burr followed by the testimony and baptism of Jordan Gosling.
Bible Scriptures: Darby Translation
Acts 16:23-34 “And having laid many stripes upon them they cast [them] into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely;24 who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and secured their feet to the stocks.25 And at midnight Paul and Silas, in praying, were praising God with singing, and the prisoners listened to them.26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison shook, and all the doors were immediately opened, and the bonds of all loosed.27 And the jailor being awakened out of his sleep, and seeing the doors of the prison opened, having drawn a sword was going to kill himself, thinking the prisoners had fled.28 But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here.29 And having asked for lights, he rushed in, and, trembling, fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 And leading them out said, Sirs, what must I do that I may be saved?31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.32 And they spoke to him the word of the Lord, with all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed [them] from their stripes; and was baptised, he and all his straightway. And having brought them into his house he laid the table [for them], and rejoiced with all his house, having believed in God.”
Philippians 1:3-8 “I thank my God for my whole remembrance of you,4 constantly in my every supplication, making the supplication for you all with joy,5 because of your fellowship with the gospel, from the first day until now;6 having confidence of this very thing, that he who has begun in you a good work will complete it unto Jesus Christ’s day:7 as it is righteous for me to think this as to you all, because ye have *me* in your hearts, and that both in my bonds and in the defence and confirmation of the glad tidings ye are all participators in my grace. 8 For God is my witness how I long after you all in [the] bowels of Christ Jesus.”
This is my story – Jordan Gosling
Some of you here know I wasn’t brought up in a Christian family and still to this day my family do not know the Lord as their personal saviour. My childhood wasn’t the greatest, my parents had me when they were very young and they separated before I was even one year’s old. Although they weren’t together, they still tried their best for me but things were difficult. I grew up moving around a lot , place to place, home to home, school to school, and never was settled. I’ve always felt like the outcast of the family, like the black sheep.
However, I found myself feeling at home whenever I was at my Nans who I lived with for a little while. She was my best friend, and I don’t like to say it as I do have a mum, but I did see my nan as more of a mother to me. We were very close. Sadly my Nan passed away when I was 11 years old, she was killed in a car accident on Valentine’s Day.
From that moment on my whole world came crashing down, it broke my heart and I became depressed and angry. I fell into depression and I didn’t care about anything or anyone. I always felt alone.. until I met this girl… Charlotte. She gave me comfort and someone who I started to care for.. however the pain didn’t go away I was still angry and hurt and still feeling like a black sheep.
It wasn’t till 2 years ago when Charlotte started to talk about church and how she was attending this church in London and that she really wanted me to come and try it out. Obviously, I had never thought of going to church before and I didn’t know anything about it but after a little while, i decided to go! My first impression was that I enjoyed it, the music was good the people were really nice but I didn’t really know what they were talking about.
But I started to take an interest in thinking who’s Jesus? Everyone’s singing out his name! It took a few times of going to church but after hearing people talk about God and the effects he has made in their life’s… I felt like I want to know who God is. On November 20th 2016 after the Sunday service ended, everyone was given time to pray. I bowed my head, closed my eyes and thought I don’t know how or what I’m doing but all I’m asking God is for you to accept me. That afternoon Charlotte asked me about church and that she had seen me this morning and it looked like you were praying? I said I had and I tried I don’t know if I did it right. She then asked me what I had said and I told her I asked God for acceptance! Charlotte then said back you don’t need to ask for gods acceptance he’s already accepted you, he was waiting for you to accept him into your life! As soon as she said that I just started to tear up! Which is not like me at all! This was when I began my relationship with God.
Since letting God into my life, I’ve found myself changing. I’ve been given a caring heart, someone who is now not as angry and someone who has been able to forgive the ones who have hurt me! I can’t stand here and say God has healed me of the pain fully as it is still there, but I can feel him working in me and one thing he has given me is hope. A hope for a future filled with love and a chance to live an eternal life! The Lord has blessed me with people who show me love, love only the Lord can give and that makes me feel even more confident that I can put my trust in him.
I no longer feel like a black sheep, and I never feel alone. I’m getting along well with my family and hope one day they will come to find Jesus too. I’m going to continue to put God as the centre of my life. And I know if you put yourself in the centre during the hard times, you won’t have the strength to stop your life from crumbling apart. But if you put God as the centre you may still crumble but one thing is for certain is that God will not. He will give you the strength to overcome all that comes your way. As long as you have faith and trust in God ’s timing. I love Philippians 4:13 – For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength. So I want to be baptised today to show my appreciation to God for all he has done, and to celebrate the changes he has made in my life and the changes he will continue to bless me with.