Living by Faith, not by Fear

My name is Stenson Jean-Baptiste, Jr.

“I first started studying the Bible around 2009 when I was a freshman in college at the SCSU with Tim Blake/Hartford Church of Christ. He helped me a lot in understanding the Bible and Jesus Christ.  I was encouraged to get baptized in the Church which I did in 2009 but immediately fell away. I always continued to pray and attend churches but I was not living as a disciple at all.
I met Patrick at a disciples bachelor party and he encouraged me to get together with him to study and come to church. Pat continued to invite me to events throughout the span of maybe 2 years and finally I gave in and began to study, attend the church services and events. As I continued to study and build relationships with disciples in the church my eyes began to be more open to a lot of things. I began to put into practice the things I had been learning from the bible. I began to understand how spirits work.
The people around me were a family. Ready to help out as much as they can, ready to give advice and really just there to listen. I began to realize the difference between encouragement and being pressured. I began to read my bible daily, and be more open with all of my life. spirit. In church every Sunday, I always felt as if Jeff Schachinger was speaking directly to me. It actually didn’t matter who was speaking on the stage, but whenever I would go into the church the message would pertain to something going on in my spiritual walk. This helped me to understand that this was definitely a place for me to be. There is no way God would have me continuing to come back to this place if I was not comfortable with it.
After a specific message sent from God through Patrick Genova, I began to realize that I was living religiously and not as a Christian. I knew in my heart that I had to get saved, but my indecisiveness made it a struggle for me to take the next step. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to live up to the expectations. We do not know what tomorrow will bring, only the Lord knows that much.
I began to understand that there will always be struggles in life but with this transition into Baptism and being saved these struggles are fought with the Lord on my side rather than him not. I could live my entire life with a “What if” mentality but if I am saying I believe in the Lord then I knew it was my time to put Faith to the test.
I was baptized on May 22nd of 2018. I practiced faith throughout the year and prayed for him to show me signs and make things clearer for me and he did. I put his teachings to practice and he did not fail me. And when I realized that all of these things together were considered proof that He is the truth there was no way I could deny it. I do not know what tomorrow will bring, who I will meet next and or what God has in store for me, but I do have faith that I will see him as I continue to seek him. I have faith that the spirit he has given me will help encourage others as I so much desire to do. And I have faith that through me people will learn to see his love and grace.”

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