Worship team testimony, part 1

Back in October, the worship team had all of the worship team members write out a testimony. It may be a bit complex for some students to understand, but I thought you guys might find this interesting and helpful.

The following is the first part (of approximately five parts) of what I wrote:

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I fell in love

Growing up in Ohio

I grew up in a Christian family going to church in Ohio. I'm thankful that I grew up in that environment. I heard about Jesus and His cross, and I gave my life to Christ there. I served in our local church in many ways, and I had a soft heart for God. After I graduated from high school, my family moved out to California, and I went to college out in the Bay Area.

Going to school in California

My spiritual life took a serious turn in my second year of college. That's when I settled down in a church, and I fell in love with it. The pastor was preaching through the book of Romans, and I came to love it. I loved seeing how our pastor would show how the text meant one thing and not another. He taught me new things. Because they were new, I stubbornly resolved not to believe anything that he (or anyone else) taught me unless I could see it in Scripture. But the sermons were academically sound; they were Biblical; and they blew my world apart.

I loved the church's appreciation for the Bible. Truth was revealed in a Book; Truth was to be academically found; these truths were Biblical and precious. God had revealed Himself in a Book, and He could not lie; these words were so solid you could rest your whole weight on them. This was so precious.

I loved listening to the deacons pray. They prayed to such a great God, and we were so small. Their God was bigger than I knew Him to be; their God was as big as (bigger than, actually) anything I'd known.

I loved singing the songs. They were songs about God's greatness. Songs about the punishment we deserve and the punishment that Jesus absorbed. Songs about God's justice and mercy. Songs that knew my sinfulness but reminded me that I don't stand before God by my own righteousness; God's given me a perfect righteousness that gives me a right relationship with Him. I cannot add to this. I was so aware of my sinfulness those days in college. But greater still was God's mercy and grace that triumphed over my sinfulness.