Sarah Tincher's Testimony at Tablernacle Baptist Church - 1-29-06

Jesus said “Only those who dedicate their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live!” What does that mean to you? To me, Mark 8:35 is trying to show us that a full life is a life that is completely lived for the creator.

I used to be in church or just watch something spiritual on TV, and I would see people throwing their hands up in the air, eyes closed, worshiping Jesus. I always remember thinking, “I wanna be like that! I wanna feel what they feel and love what they love! I want that joy and faith!” I used to be at a place in my life where I believed in God, but I did not go beyond believing. You could say I was a worldly Christian. I made mistakes and did things that were unpleasing to God like we all do. I wasn’t as close to Jesus as I should have been or wanted to be. I was entering high school rather immature and confused; hanging around the wrong people, doing the wrong things. I can honestly say I always felt God’s spirit talking to me. I could feel God telling me to get out of bad situations and giving me warnings. I avoided his warnings and I do not remember why. I cannot for the life of me understand why I was trying to push away God’s free love. But I did --quite a few times. But, one day I went to church camp with an old friend. I was excited because I knew I wasn’t living right and I knew I needed a deeper relationship with God. I knew that church camp would be an opportunity to repent with other believers and get closer with the lord. The first few days of camp I was pretty bored up until the very last day, when the preacher said something that I will never be able to forget. He said, “If there is trash in your life, and God can’t use you as an example of his love, then come to the alter and tell him your sorry. Repent, and come back next year, able to say that you did it! Come back and be able to say that you made your mistakes but that you always stayed close to God! Be able to say he can use you for his glory!” I cried, thinking that I wasn’t making God proud. After all Jesus had done for me. He died for me, and you, and I was pretty ashamed for ever picking worldly and empty things over such an amazing and gracious God. So, ever since this past summer at church camp, I have truly tried my best to live for God and not myself and I have never felt such joy and peace.

Something huge that also helped me was Rick Warren’s book, "The Purpose Driven Life". For 40 days I would read that book before going to school and let me tell you, it was an amazing experience. I learned so much. Rick Warren inspired me to let my "Jesus light¹" shine. I want everyone to go to heaven and I want to help nonbelievers get there in a warm and positive way. I feel like everyone should wake up in the morning and pray, asking God to help them make a difference instead of wasting their days.

Sometimes satan tries to get to me, and I am also the biggest worrier. My extremely wise father always tells me to give all my worries to God. I have trouble doing that but my dad encourages me and has really helped me to understand that God will take care of me.

I have no clue where I would be now if I had not decided to follow Christ. I want to encourage everyone to go beyond believing. Give yourself completely to God and let him guide you and help you to make a difference. Get excited and have passion for Jesus! There is more to life then our everyday routine! I know in my heart there is and that’s why I am excited. Jesus saved me from a life of emptiness with no meaning. Proverbs 11:28 says “A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree” How exciting is that!! All you have to do is ask God to forgive you for your sins. I know some people think that being a Christian is probably too hard and you have to give too many things up. But trust me, the joy you feel is so much better then any temporary earthly thing. God will never leave you. he will always be there for you. That is something so worth living for! That is something worth spreading around everywhere you go!

As a Christian your life has true meaning. You are never alone. It makes me happy to know that God did not have to create me, but that he wanted to create me because he has so much love to give. So why not give him my life in return! Especially when such an unconditional friendship and love comes along with it. And let me tell you the power of prayer is TRUE! A close friend of mine since 4th grade stopped being my friend. we just went our separate ways. And I kept praying about it and we are now becoming friends again through Christ and I know its because I prayed to God about it and how I missed her! He has answered my prayers and helped me so many times. So -- let's never give up on the power of prayer!

Another thing I would like to share with you is about how high school is a constant struggle for me, and for probably many Christian teens. I get so frustrated and I feel like a fish out of water just about every day. I do have a decent amount of good friends and people I think are nice, but I just don’t truly connect with many people. I wish I could be friends with more teenagers at school who let their Jesus light shine. But surrounding me are mostly people who think I’m crazy and daily refuse to accept God’s love, and it makes me sad and makes me feel lonely sometimes. But then I remember Ephesians 5:15-17; “So be very careful how you live. Do not live like those who are not wise, but live wisely. Use every chance you have for doing good, because these are evil times. So do not be foolish but learn what the Lord wants you to do.” That verse really puts me back into a heavenly perspective. The bible tells me that I may feel like a foreigner but that’s because this is not my real home. And as I wait for my real home I try to live by 1 John 2:3-6 which says; “Anyone who says, “I know God,” but does not obey God’s commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if someone obeys God’s teaching, then in that person God’s love has truly reached its goal. Whoever says that he lives in God must live as Jesus lived.”

I continue to make mistakes every single day. But, I feel like if I keep trying my best to put God first in my life, then I will continue to be at peace. You can’t go wrong if your main goal is to be Christ-like. In my life, so far, I’ve come across quite a few inspirational and wise Christians who I can tell are living by God’s word. And I admire them for that, and I thank God every day for blessing me and letting those people touch my life, such as my father; Don Gilbert; the Duncan's; the Gibson family, especially Miss Cindy; my speech teacher, Ms. Wedge; and Mr. Kyle King. There are so many older and wiser people I look up to and admire -- probably all of you, but it would take a while to finish saying your names.

I thank you for letting your Jesus light shine and inspiring me. So, thank you everybody for letting me speak. I hope I pleased God and didn’t bore you too much. And, I pray that each and every single one of you including myself, will grow closer to God every single day. And, if you haven't yet given yourself completely to Jesus then I encourage you do so today. Don't let the devil tell you to wait another day. Accept Jesus' free love, peace, joy, and eternal life. And, I’m excited that I will get to see you in heaven with Jesus!

1. Jesus Light - A term I made up to describe how I view Jesus's light and joy shining through people.

The audio for this speech and photos and videos of the church service can be found at:
http://www.consultwebs.com/daletincher/sarah/tabernacle/tabernacle_youth_service-1-29-06.htm#sarahs_testimony