Elvin Zhang
In 2017, I came to CBCWLA and attended Children Sunday school as well as Children Fellowship. There’s one verse from the Bible that I memorized during the children’s gatherings and still remembers. That verse is John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The Bible is not the words of people. It is the word of God. He wrote the Bible through different people over a span of 1500 years. It is magnificent how God had people from diverse backgrounds and from different time periods write a cohesive collection of 66 books with over one thousand pages! Because the Bible is inspired by God, it is powerful and relevant to each and every one of us. The original books of the Bible do not exist because they were destroyed. The Bible exists because scribes made manuscripts from the original books. The incredibly meticulous process of copying the manuscripts ensured that they are accurate word for word. The manuscripts are no different from the original text.
The Bible tells us that everyone on earth is a sinner except the one and only Jesus Christ. I admit that I am a sinner and that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. I came to faith in Jesus as my Lord and Savior when I began to read the Bible more and got closer to God. After praying the sinner’s prayer, I was really thankful to be able to ask for forgiveness. The prayer made me feel better; my past sins have been pardoned. After receiving Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I felt more refreshed and more protected than before. Instead of feeling alone, I felt God is next to me everywhere 24/7.
When I was little, I wanted to be baptized because my mom was baptized. I didn’t know what being baptized really meant. I now understand that Baptism symbolizes that my sins have been washed away through the Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism is a public declaration of my faith in Christ. I am very thankful that I can proclaim my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ today. I hope to become a better person from this day on; I hope I will be more like my Lord. Of course, no one is perfect except Jesus Christ. I hope I can have more self-control and be more sociable. I want to spread the gospel with the people I know so that they could also put their faith through Christ and become Christians themselves.
Today is my birthday. It is also my double Birthday as I have been born again into the family of God on this day! I don’t think there’s any word in the universal language that can truly convey how happy and thankful I am today!
中文翻譯
2017年我來到洛杉磯西區華語浸信會，並且參加了兒童主日學。我在兒童部的時候記下了聖經裡的一節金句，現在也還記得，就是約翰福音3章16節：「神愛世人，甚至將他的獨生子賜給他們，叫一切信他的不致滅亡，反得永生。」
聖經不是人的話，是神的話，神親自啟示不同的作者，在約1500年的時間中寫下了聖經。我覺得聖經的寫作是一件偉大的事，因為神使用的這些人都有著不同的背景，在不同時代，卻能一起完成這共計66卷，超越千頁，卻前後一致的書，聖經是神的話，它是帶有能力的，並且對我們每一個人都有意義！聖經的原稿已經不存在，被毀壞了，但我們今天還能有聖經，是因為人透過手抄本複制把聖經的內容保存下來。非常奇妙的是，他們能夠準確地、忠實地把原文一字一字地抄寫下來，讓聖經的內容與原稿完全吻合。
聖經有一個非常堅實的陳述，就是除了耶穌基督以外，世上的眾人都是罪人。我承認我是一個罪人，而耶穌為我的罪死在十架上。我更多地讀聖經，也更加地與主親近，終於接受耶穌基督為我的救主和生命的主。在我決志禱告後，我非常感恩能夠得到神的赦免，使我能從以前的罪中得釋放。在我接受耶穌基督為我的救主以後，我感到生命的更新，也更加地有安全感。我不再感到孤獨，我能體會到神隨時隨地與我同在。
當我年紀還小的時候，曾經想要受浸，卻不知浸禮的意義，單純只是因為我媽媽當時受了浸，我也想一起受浸。現在我了解了浸禮的意義：它象徵著我的罪被耶穌基督洗淨，他是我對主信心的一個公開的宣告。我非常感恩能夠因信接受耶穌基督為我的主和救主，也希望從此能成為一個更好的人。我希望能夠更加像主，不過當然，除了主基督以外，沒有人是完美的。我希望我能更自律，更多地與人互動，分享基督的福音給我認識的人，使他們也能信靠主，成為基督徒。
今天是我的生日，我特別感恩，因為今天我也在主裡得到重生，從此我有了兩個生日！沒有語言可以來形容我今天有多麼興奮與感恩。
媽媽寄語：
「記得Elvin12歲生日的時候，參加教會的活動後，問我：『媽媽，你說我要現在受浸嗎？』心中的答案自然是yes，但是脫口而出的是：『你要問問你自己。接受浸禮，接受主，是你和神的關係。這個決定要你自己來做。』我知道兒女是耶和華的產業，我僅僅是給了他屬世的生命。我深知：教養孩童，使他走當行的道，就是到老他也不偏離。 （箴言22:6）每天都為他禱告，我們一起查考福音書，感謝主，今年教會的第二季浸禮就在他13歲生日當天，神奇妙的預備！交給神，走他當行的道，讓他到老也不偏離，阿們！」
——於涵
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