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Yeah, I'm going to share my testimony.
I was talking to Pastor Mike. So I was at work this week. I was in a conference, you know,
speaking to many people, but they not felt nervous as I'm
feeling now. It's all for God's glory. That's
what I want to say, that every word I speak that comes out,
you know, it's for the glory of God. I mean, I wouldn't say
we are blessed to be here in a family and just hoping that
many can be here as well, that we can fill this place because
that's what it says, scripture that you know, our brother John
said that, you know, that he saw many for many nations, you
know, worshiping the Lord. It's just amazing and beautiful
and knowing that, you know, we can see that here while we're
here. Okay, brothers and sisters, so let's get started. I'll start,
so my testimony and my testimony is before God found and gave
me spiritual life. This is who I was before. I was a, I was a person of, I
was a person that I felt hatred toward many people. This was
including, you know, my own family, my own family members. You know,
I just hated to be around them. I just, I felt like hurting them.
I just, you know, just what I came to be, you know, just my evilness. I just couldn't stand, I just
couldn't, I just couldn't stand being next to them. I wanted
to be, you know, by myself. And this, you know, continue
accumulating just, you know, knowing that you felt rejected
and made, you know, being laughed at, you know, at home, even at
parties, and nobody in there, you know, to defend you. So I
just, you know, that's just who, you know, me, myself, started
it. I mean, I desired, you know, I just desire money and fun. That was, you know, that was
who I was. You know, that's what I just
wanted to, you know, that's what I just wanted to be. I mean,
I wanted to have everything I can have just to, you know, get attention. Again, I was just seeking, you
know, for myself, for the pleasure of myself. Little by little, you know, God
started calling me, you know, toward him. He started, you know,
to water the flower that was dry and needed to be rescued. You know, he started to trim,
you know, the bad weeds and every other dead leaf around that plant.
And the way he started that I, you know, I remember all for
God's glory. I used to go to Catholic church, and I saw them
as hypocrites because they will go into the mass, and as they
will come out, they'll continue practicing the same practices
they were doing. I didn't enjoy them. going to
Catholic masses. I always say, for God's glory. They used to take me. My parents used to take me. I
just didn't like it at all. Even when I got married, I just didn't
like it. I used to fight with my wife
because she wanted to go, but I didn't. Because that's what
I saw. And I enjoyed hearing, getting
read God's word. I did enjoy that a lot. Little
by little, we started hearing his words through a friend of
ours. She invited us to service. And
we started going to service, and I just remember I enjoyed
reading, you know, hearing the word. And I remembered, I felt
comfortable. I felt comfortable. And I even told the pastor at
that time, you know, I don't want to go home. I just want
to stay here and continue, you know, listening and hearing the
word. And, you know, he just giggled and saying, but we have
to go to sleep. But, you know, that's what I desired. You know,
I desired the word. And that's when I started hearing,
you know, and just hearing more about God. That's how I, you
know, I see that, you know, He started, you know, trimming me,
cleaning me. And, you know, this is a testimony
that I have as well. And I do remember, I mean, I
don't know if everybody's the same, but I do remember one time,
It was one night I started having, as I continued going to services,
there was one night that I do remember, and I still remember
it now clearly. I remember being in the middle,
and there was like a circle of fire. There was just fire around,
and there was like a black shadow. And I was just screaming to that
shadow, you know, I want God, you know, I want God. And I woke
up, and I was crying. I woke up and I was crying and
I started praying. I started praying and on Sunday
service on Sunday service, we started reading, it was a hymn
actually, it was a hymn from Isaiah 64 8, which says, you
are the part and I am the claim. And I do remember there when
we were singing that that's when I started, you know, tearing
and I started crying and I asked the Lord, you know, for Him to
take control of me that moment, you know, do as you please with
me and, you know, just clean this disgustingness out of me
because I was, you know, I'll destroy myself and that's when
I say that the Lord, you know, took control of me and He started
changing me in His way. That's when I say that, you know,
that's when He rescued me, when He saved me and, you know, Again,
that's the point that I, you know, I realized and I understood
that, you know, I was nothing. And it was just, you know, it
was him. It was him alone that rescued
me. So afterwards, when we continued,
that's when the pastor said that there was going to be baptisms
going on. And I did understand that baptism
is God's ordinance. That's the part that you have
to do. So I also went ahead and I raised
my hand and I told them that I wanted to be baptized. And
it was a wonderful day that same day when I got baptized because
it was my wife got baptized that day and my two oldest son, Roger,
my oldest, and Charlene, my middle daughter, all four got baptized
at the same day. Yeah, so it was wonderful. And
yeah, I do remember as well when we got, you know, immersed in
the water and coming up at the water, I felt This was a feeling
I felt clean, I felt new, I felt loved, I felt protected. Because God's grace, I mean,
Matthew clearly says we have to go and make disciples in the
name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that's our
purpose. And that's every of his servants that has to do.
Later on, as time went by, when he rescued me, I was able to,
and this is again God's work, I was able to participate in,
and this happens at so much of an early age, and I have, adding
a little bit more, I've encountered many people that have said Christianity
is not for me, or you know what? I mean, there's just too many
problems in a Christian church. And I can say that at an early
age. I was able to be a part of two congregations' leadership,
which is where I was at when I started. And here in the Spanish
church, I was able to be part of the leadership. And I ended
up helping in the sound room. I ended up helping with the youth.
I was giving them Sunday school, even with the adults. And if
you ask me how that happened, I don't know. I just don't know
how I ended up there. But again, that's when I understood
that God's showing me and leading me to serve him. To serve Him,
that's what it is, and to desire more of Him. I mean, now I pray. Now I pray to seek God. I pray
for Him to give me the desire to learn more about Him. to know
him. One of the Bible verses that
I like, and I do remember, and I like to always read it to myself
is Proverbs 1, 7, that the beginning of knowledge is the fear of God.
The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge. Because that's
what I want to always have. I want to have the fear of God. Because I believe that that's
how we grow. I think that's how we grow in
for His glory, to fear Him, because that will help us to, you know,
say, behave and know what we do. I mean, we're not perfect,
but we will be perfect in His presence one day. And that's
when He will make us new. That's a good thing. So, yes,
brother, that's again, this is, This is my testimony and daily
the same thing I ask unto manifest himself in me. Glorify yourself
in me. Bring me to the lowest of myself. Why? I know that that's the way
He's going to teach me, for me to depend on Him. I did encounter,
adding a little bit more, Pastor Steve is where I went through
a hardship and he taught me. I read the book of Jeremiah and
he taught me to depend on Him. lean on him and it was um yes
it was five um you know hard months but one thing i can say
that you know when i started reading scripture all that um
you know all that the burden that i had went away from me
I used to be just in need. And after that, everything just
went away. And that's just the power of
the prayer. That's just how the Lord works. And He says, seek me. You know,
talk. And He'll listen. And He'll show
us many, many things, hidden things that we do not know. And
we ought to learn. So again, this is my testimony. I stopped living my life. Now I live the life that God
wants me to live. So just wanted to share. It might be different, but that's
just who I was. I was a person that hated everybody. Again, this is including my family. I just, you know, just to share
something. Let's go to the book of Jonah.
You know, let's go to the book of Jonah. Oh, he had to go and
tell, you know, Nineveh that they were going to be, you know,
disciplined. And they changed their ways.
And we see how he, you know, responding, he was mad. He wanted
to see, you know, God punish them. And God told him, why are
you mad? And at the very end, he falls
asleep, but we see God's love and compassion for his children
that he even had a branch, had a branch cover Jonah for his
love. You know, that's just who we
are as a human being. Sometimes we just desire, you
know, bad. We want to see the bad. But God's
love is You know, it's God's love. It's just compassion. It's
compassion, love. It's just Him and Him alone. That's why He is the way, the
truth, and the life. That's all my testimony. Dear brothers,
I do feel good. And this is all for, you know,
in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So
now I enjoy and I want to continue serving and seeking God and help
and serving in his church because that's what I believe, that this
is his church and we ought to serve each other. Good morning, brothers and sisters.
I'm going to be reading because I'm not as good as my husband
to be public speaking. But let it be for our Lord's
honor and glory. I was born and raised in a Catholic
family back in Mexico. Even though I had a family, I
didn't really have a close relationship with either of my parents. My
father was an alcoholic and my mother was too busy trying to
find ways to earn money to provide for me and my siblings. My father
would drink nonstop for weeks, for weeks at a time, and I grew
up being terrified of him. Even though he never hurt me
physically as a result of my father's alcoholism, my mother
became angry and bitter. She had to take the role of a
father and a mother at the same time. Nevertheless, she did what
she could with the resources she had and tried hard to bring
us up in the Catholic Church faith. and what it was required
of us. I was baptized as a baby, but
that's what she told me. I don't remember about that.
I had my first communion, but soon realized that changed nothing
to stop me from lying. Immediately after that religious
event, I started lying to my mother. Soon after, my parents
decided to leave Mexico and came to California. By then, my father
had stopped drinking, but the damage had already been done. I started hanging around with
other children in my neighborhood and would go to the liquor store
nearby to steal candy almost every day. It was a habit. My mother never found out because
she was too busy working. As I grew older, sin grew in
me as well. Seeking love and acceptance,
I got pregnant at a really young age, 14 years to be exact. Even though I was told to get
rid of my unborn child, I absolutely refused. That was God's sovereignty
working in my life. Because at that age, what can
I do, right? Couldn't have a job, do nothing
for myself. I was so afraid of my parents,
though, and couldn't tell my mother of my pregnancy until
she found out on her own. I was five months pregnant by
then. That's how apart my mother and I were. It took her that
long to find out. The consequences of my sin continued
to pile up on me. My mother was so ashamed of me that she decided to keep me hidden
from the rest of the family for the rest of my pregnancy. I was only allowed to go to school
and had to return home immediately. I couldn't go to any of the family
reunions. No one knew I had a child. until he was about a month old.
My mother couldn't continue with the secret. I just tried to be strong and
did everything she told me to, to have peace with her as I continue
with my life. Someway, somehow, I managed to
graduate high school in cosmetology almost at the same time. But
soon I realized that I had become just like my mother, resentful,
angry, bitter, and too busy for my children. I was a horrible
wife and a mother. I didn't respect my husband and
just wanted to be in control of the house.
Everyone had to do what I said. I had little, really no patience
at all with my children. I managed to graduate college
as well with two children, work, and a house to take care of.
But that didn't make me happy. That only increased my pride
and arrogance. Then, one day, in God's providence,
we were exposed to His Word. I remember hearing about the
union between Adam and Eve and the Lord's purpose of marriage.
Nothing happened then, or so I thought. Not wanting to change
my religion, but recognizing the need to go back to church,
I decided to continue going to Catholic church. Nothing compared
to the words I've heard from that preaching on Genesis, but
refused to accept it. Soon after, a friend invited
me to her church. I refused her invitation. She
insisted so much that I asked my husband what he thought about
it. To my surprise, he was more willing
to go than I thought. We went once and soon found ourselves
reading the Bible. I couldn't believe what I was
reading, and I had many questions. It was amazing. Finally, on one
of the visits to my friend's church, the Lord opened my eyes. I was able to see myself for
whom I really was a sinner. I remember hearing a sermon about
Jesus being crucified in Barabas' place. I was Barabas and was
let go free. I really felt dirty just as there
was this pertain movies. I heard that story so many times
before, but not until that day. I took it personal. I was that
thief and murderer. I had so much hatred towards
everyone who ever hurt me. But the Lord Jesus Christ died
for me. That was an amazing grace. The
Lord dying in my place, a death that I deserved. He became my
heavenly father, the father that I never had. He took me for himself under
his wings and his word became a healing balm for my soul. The Lord said to me, can a woman forget her nursing
child that should have no compassion on the child of her womb? Even
this may forget. Yet I will not forget you, Isaiah
49, 15. As soon as I learned the Lord's
command on baptism, I wanted to obey him. I now understood
what it really meant. I was proclaiming the truth of
my salvation in Jesus Christ. I had died and resurrected in
Christ. He had given me life to walk
in that new life with him, and I wanted everyone to know that
I was willing to do it and not be ashamed of it. Very quickly,
I learned that following Christ came with a price. When my parents found out I had
become a Christian, they felt betrayed once more. The worst betrayal yet on my
part. They couldn't accept me as a
Christian. My father was so angry that he
didn't want to see me ever again. I was no longer his daughter. He later changed his mind. I forgave both of them. both of my parents for everything.
And I continue to pray for them, that one day they will come to
Jesus in repentance and accept him as Lord and Savior. Although I'm far from being perfect,
I praise my Lord for his faithfulness and continued work in my life
to conform me to the likeness of his precious son, Jesus. I
know that he who began the good work in me will bring it to completion
on the day of Jesus Christ. I also know that is the work
of the Lord in bringing me and my family to this beautiful congregation
to continue his work and preparing us to serve him. The faithful preaching of his
word in fellowship with faithful brothers and sisters should certainly
help us accomplish God's will. We would love to be part of this
congregation. We have already been blessed
here in the short time that we have been attending this local
church. To him be all the glory. I thank God, the creator of heaven
and earth, my father, For his steadfast love never ends. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. And for those that are seeking
for a father, come to the father, to the eternal father. He will
never turn us away. Amen.
Testimonies of Erlyn and Irene
Series Testimonies
| Sermon ID | 11723032105203 |
| Duration | 24:46 |
| Date | |
| Category | Testimony |
| Language | English |
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