Hi, I’m Sarah a student at Sheffield studying Early Childhood Studies. Despite being in Sheffield 50% of the time, Derby is my home and when I’m home I attend Castlefields Church where I am currently a member. I’ve been coming to Castlefields since I was born so this church is very much my family.
I want to share with you the testimony of my Christian faith and how I came to know Jesus as my Saviour. I’ve been brought up in a Christian home so was taken to Church each week where I would listen to sermons and attend the Sunday school. For many years I enjoyed going to church solely because I got to play with my friends which meant I never really pondered on what was being preached. Not much changed over the years until my older sister got baptised.
During this time I felt a lot of pressure for me to get baptised too but something was holding me back. When I’d seen other Christians get baptised previously and heard their testimony they talked about the amazing transformations in their life. I realised that I couldn’t relate as I hadn’t had a ‘big’ change yet, therefore surely, I couldn’t be a Christian. After going over and over it in my mind, I plucked up the courage to ask my mum what she thought. She explained to me that it’s tricky to see a change in yourself when you’ve been brought up in a Christian home and told me most importantly to pray about it. This led me to praying every night that God would make me a Christian.
One Sunday evening I remember a visiting preacher talked about what you need to do to be a Christian. He explained that you simply need to believe in God & Jesus’ death and ask for forgiveness of sins. God spoke to me that evening. I’d done those things already! Surely, I was a Christian?
From then on, I struggled in my faith as I had doubts about not actually being a Christian. I remember getting really scared and worked up about death. I’d go to bed each evening & ask myself “what if I go to sleep and never wake up? What would happen?” I’ve always been known as a worrier but this has to be my most worrying question. I didn’t trust that God had really accepted me as one of His children. But then through church sermons and reading my bible, I was reminded of one of the many truths in the Bible…
“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me, I will by no means cast out”.
John 6 v 37
This verse in particular gave me the reassurance that I needed. I WAS a Christian! I knew that I had come to God and asked for forgiveness and this verse reminded me that He wouldn’t (and still won’t) cast me out. It’s like that classic Sunday school song that I’m sure you’ve heard before… ‘He’s got the whole world in His hands’ – the end verse says ‘He’s got you and me brother in His hands’ now I can rejoice that I know for a fact that this is true! God has got me in His hands and will never let me go 😊
A few months later, this led to my baptism. I don’t like being under the spotlight but I realised that this wasn’t all about me – it was about my relationship with God and what He had done for me. I just want to point out that my baptism was a symbol of me being born again to a new life in Christ – baptism is not something that saves you.
So fast-forwarding to now, over 4 years later. I can see God’s hand in my life as I have faced both ups and downs. Ultimately, I know that even the moments in my life that have been difficult they have all been for my growth as a Christian believer. You may think that because I am a believer I no longer sin and do wrong things but oh how incorrect you are! I sin every day without fail and am constantly asking for forgiveness from God. But the great thing is that I know that Jesus died for each of those individual sins and that He will forgive me!
I’m still very new in my faith and know that I have a long journey ahead of me to understand more of God’s grace and love but it’s a journey that I look forward to as I know it deepens my relationship with my Saviour.