Personal Testimony

Hi, my name is John Beckett, and I would like to tell you the story of how I became a follower of Christ. You know, it was interesting that during my years in high school and college, I thought I had some understanding of who God was, but frankly, He was distant, He was not personal. I didn’t even know that was possible - to have a personal relationship. Well, that door began opening when I met the young lady who later became my wife, Wendy. What I saw in her and in her family was an authenticity to their faith that had escaped me up to that point, and it made me curious, it made me hungry. And when I launched into understanding what they had that I hadn’t experienced, I found that there were certain basics that I could relate to. And the first was that I came to know that God loved me with an inexpressible and deep love. But then secondly, that I didn’t have it all together like I thought I did - I actually was stained by sin that I had inherited from birth, I was a sinful creation. But then I learned that the central purpose of Jesus’ life was to go the cross and to die, taking my sin and everyone’s sin upon Himself, a remarkable act of sacrifice, and that if I would yield my life to Him, I could have that sin lifted off, that burden just cast away. And I did - I took that step of receiving Jesus into my life in a way that separated me from this terrible grip that sin had on my life. And it was at that point that I became a new creation, a new creature in Christ. What a beautiful gift to me that He gave, and He wants to give to you - He wants you to be embraced by His love, freed from sin, and have that new life within you.