Thanks Nick. So, yeah, so tonight I was asked to give my testimony and It's kind of funny because I thought at first oh that should be easy because everyone knows their own story and It's pretty easy to share your testimony if you Just kind of wing it or whatever, but I as I was writing my notes and kind of Thinking over my life and over what I was gonna talk about tonight It became evident that it's one of the hardest things actually to share your testimony because Sometimes I feel you know you feel kind of vulnerable and it's it's hard to get to be that way to be honest and vulnerable But it's really important so it's something that has been kind of It was kind of on my mind this week is just how it's Sometimes a challenge even though it seems easy. It sounds easy, you know But you might be one of the harder messages to give in some ways So I'm just gonna pray for strengthen for for the Lord to to speak through me and use this for his glory Heavenly Father Lord, thank you for this evening. Thank you for today for your word that was shared this morning and the awesome message that's being spread in Mexico Lord and for for Dan's work there Lord.
Thank you for this the fellowship we have here at Northbrook Lord and I just pray that you would That you would speak through me tonight Lord and that my words would be yours and that This would be for your glory and in Jesus name. Amen So my life started out in 1992 I grew up in a Christian home with two parents who follow the Lord with all their hearts and I genuinely know that to be true and I grew up with siblings as well who who follow the Lord at this point and it's a huge blessing, you know family is a big blessing it's it's something that I try not to take for granted and We take that long drive through the windy road Lawrence down road just about every Sunday to be with my parents and with whoever of my family can make it and It's just it's a huge blessing and I want to share kind of on my early life I Made a profession on us four years old. It was shortly after My basically it was pretty much as soon as I understood what the gospel was in general. I made a profession and I'm like Nick actually.
I'm not a hundred percent sure if that's exactly when I got saved. I don't know for sure I know that I know that I'm safe now and that's something that's extremely important but the Lord I think that was the start of the Lord's work in my heart and So I was four years old and my mother was basically teaching a Bible lesson for school which she did every single day and Sometimes those Bible lessons they went sometimes they were half an hour or an hour other times more often than not They were two or three hours sometimes we would sit there and we would talk for a long time about the scripture And we'd have questions and she would answer them and having a faithful mother who taught the scriptures is something I'm extremely thankful for and at the dinner table my dad would share from the word of God and from we'd read through a book Just and we'd read it just about every night. It was it was something I grew up with and so I had both my parents rooting and grounding us in the word of God and I just want to say that that I think that's extremely important down for I mean For me, I think about that and I have a daughter now And it's it's something that I've been thinking about about how we want to bring her up in in a way that honors God And I think the most important thing is to feed her scripture and feed your children scripture and it doesn't matter how old they are I think it's important that you know if you haven't done it you can start now It's it's never too late to be a testimony to the people around you and the closest people around you typically are family So that's something that that I learned I think discipleship really does start in the home. I think it's important not to just let your kids go to youth group let them go to church and Understand that I think that Good discipleship really does happen at home.
It's something that is important So as a child I learned a lot I went to Sunday school here at Northbrook I went to we went to breaking bread and Sunday school every every single week and Growing up at Northbrook. It's been a great great opportunity for the Lord's work and I have a lot of fond memories from here and growing up through my teens I went to youth group here it was I Guess I didn't really always take the work of the Lord seriously. I was when I was in my teens Of course There does come a point where I think even if you are saved you have to make a decision if you're absolutely serious about following the Lord And that's something that through my teens. I was a little bit lukewarm and Similar to the way Nick was sharing about his life The difference is I didn't I didn't turn cold.
I kind of stayed there and Not saying that's better not saying that's worse, but it's uh, it's very important that we Trust the Lord that we go fully into his work and into his in his ministry. I remember In high school I worked at camp two years worked at a manual Bible camp and those two years were extremely They were somewhat pivotal in my in my life as a Christian I just remember working alongside people who were actually really serious about the Lord There's this one quiet girl there who was not really not really on my radar at all But she was she was there as well and we still talk about that every day because that's my wife she was there those two years and But no, it was a huge blessing we studied through first and second Peter I remember and I made a lot of friends there who were really serious about the Lord and really serious about sharing his word and it was a huge encouragement to me It was a good Kickstart to my adult life and I remember it was really important. I think Camp Ministries a great ministry. It's it's really good for the kids But I think it's just as important for the staff I think when when I was a kid I remember thinking all these counselors they have it all together And it's kind of like now you go to your church and you think all these these pastors these deacons they have it all together these people here, but It's important to realize that everyone around you is growing at the same time that you are and it's something that I That I really witnessed at camp.
It was it was a great experience Something the Lord really used for his glory I remember after high school I remember actually going to college. This is something I don't know if I've shared much with people, but I was um I went through a time where I was pretty depressed actually going through from high school to college I just felt like after those two years of camp and after Just having such a spiritual high those two years. I remember thinking well, I'm going to school I'm going to a secular school and what's gonna happen here is the Lord gonna take care of me Am I gonna be am I gonna come out of it an atheist am I gonna come out not following the Lord? What's gonna happen and I remember actually being anxious about that and But at the same time praying about it to the Lord and asking him to provide Christian friends, I remember asking I think it was that he would provide the same Christian friends that I already had but that didn't really happen So he actually the Lord actually opened a lot of opportunities to have fellowship and also to share the gospel as well That was is a great two years 2010 to 2012 I made I made a lot of friends that I never thought I would make there were some people from different churches around Halifax and Notably from like Grace Baptist Church and from a few different churches around as well as some faithful Northbrook friends as well and I remember There were a few people it was around that time that Matt McShane actually started CNC here And it was a huge part of my life is huge part of actually all of our lives.
We all We all really love that time It was really a good time to get into God's word and to learn a lot about each other and about fellowship with each other and There was a college career at Bethany as well and I was involved in that. There's a Bible study at Dalhousie. Those were all It was great. It was just amazing to see how the Lord provided even though I was in a secular situation at school and I was You know I was moving on from homeschool from my sheltered life The Lord really provided great friends and it was around then that I actually did come to a bit of a crossroads It was it was between my years at college and it was in about 2011 and I remember very specifically there was a There's a night that we went out on the oval a bunch of our friends from college and career group and I was I was a little bit I don't know.
I was a little bit maybe wary of joining this group and committing myself to friendship with people that I didn't really know that well and from churches that didn't really that weren't familiar to me They weren't exactly the same as Northbrook and I just remember going there and we were talking about we were sitting in a restaurant after talking About the Bible talking about the gospel and I remember consciously thinking in my head This is this is definitely what I want. I want friends who really want to want to be serious about God be serious about the gospel I think it's important to surround ourselves with people who who want to spread the gospel at all costs and want to Share in the work of God and that was really important to me. That was a really important time. It was it was something that God really spoke to me those two years about his provision as well as about getting serious about his ministry and About his work There were people who were older than me and who were more experienced than me who led me along actually I'll name a few of them Sean and Sarah weeks Matt McShane as I mentioned before he was a huge help and David O'Neill is another friend of mine who some of you may not know But he shares on he shared on the streets with us in Spring Garden Road He he's now living in Kitchener, but a few of those friends they came alongside and they they led me in the Lord they they taught me They basically mentored me through those college years So I got out of college.
I made it graduated. It was a it was a busy two years I landed my first job in churro and was driving back and forth for a year and It was it was good life was good I was kind of going through the motions a little bit and things were you know looking up in my life I was I was on my way. I was in my first career and So it was May of the next year 2013 that I walked into the office and my boss told me to sit down That's not always an easy conversation to have and I'm sure a few of us have been through that and he He very graciously said well, he said we're having a rough year this year You're the youngest and the least experienced and unfortunately that means we have to let you go so I was let go for my first job and That was a that was a challenging time it was interesting because it was It was a time where I really Kind of look back and it was a reflection time. It was it was a time where I really looked to the Lord and I was I was Relying on him for everything and I remember that was It was a challenge at the time.
It was it was difficult, but it was something that really it was really encouraging how the Lord provided I remember there was a few odd jobs here and there that God provided for me for a couple months My cousin Jake at the time actually had just moved to Halifax and he was at college And he started a little renovation business where he was going around doing little reno's and stuff and we actually worked at the Akpan's house for a few months and did some floors and things like that and it was a it was a good time to Where the Lord actually I think caused that to happen in order to Show me that I'm not an invincible 20 year old or 21 year old I think but It's important that I think God sometimes brings us down to a point where we have to just fully rely on him for everything physically and spiritually and That was that was a challenging time, but again the Lord is so good. He brought me out of that He provided a temporary position at Acosta and it was a good six months working with with DMACC As I was supposed to call him And it was it was a little weird at times, but it was very good and the Lord The Lord was really good to provide that and I filled in for a maternity leave And then a few months later I heard back from one of my instructors that there was actually a job available here in Halifax or here in Dartmouth for position where I am now which is at a ventilation company and so I took that job and it's been it's been a huge challenge, but it's it's also a blessing the Lord provided that job and he provided Something permanent for me and in my field and that's something that it's not really something that I think is the most important thing, but I think it is valuable to look to that and say that's that's the Lord providing and I just see how the Lord's provided for me and for my little family and over the over the few years that I've been here and So after I took that job in in 2014 I went through about six months where I started to become complacent spiritually and I I was come to church I was going to these Bible studies I was leading some of these Bible studies and I was I was there physically but spiritually and in my heart I was going through a time where I just wasn't wasn't all there spiritually and It's easy sometimes like you think of the Israelites and I think of myself as Basically an Israelite when the Lord leads you across the Red Sea and then at the end of the Red Sea You're there and you're like well, this is it. I guess I'll just be complacent and I'll live my comfortable life here in the wilderness and And there was there was kind of a point where I just didn't really move any further and I Was struggling with sin and I'd struggled with sin For a long time at this point and it was sin that just hadn't been addressed. It wasn't something that I had opened up about it was things that I struggled with and Just was too afraid to open up about them because I thought that people wouldn't would judge me and would think that I'm Would think that I'm basically what I am and that's and that's a person who is you know The natural person is a wretched person and that's that's who I am.
It's it's a the true nature of who I am is a sinner I'm someone who does not by nature follow the Lord and The only reason that I can stand here and talk is that the Lord Jesus Christ died for my sin and he saved me and forgave me and He's consistently working on me and always Working on me to have a new nature. That's that's that reflects his so in 2014 I remember it was July and I was just I was pretty deep in sin and Still kind of faking it still kind of I was coming up to church. I was going to Bible studies. I was going to college in careers I was sharing and Things like that, but I remember it was it was really it was kind of strange actually Kevin Pelerin was messaging me on Facebook at one point He messaged me if you Bible verses and stuff and it's always encouraging when I get something from him because he's he's in the word of God And it's really good, but in this particular case he messaged me three verses I actually forget what they are I couldn't find them when I was looking it up But there were three verses that picked at my sin specifically and they picked they just they pricked at me and It was really really challenging because I just remember thinking like does Kevin know about this Like and I was like no, he doesn't but but I know the spirit of God does and I remember that that specific day I went I talked to him I'd talk to a few people and I told them about the sin that I'm struggling with and It opened up a whole new realm of Living in God's grace.
It was it opened up this whole thing where I mean I felt that now that I've opened up about that My life is transparent. It's something that people can see you know, they know that I have struggles and The only thing I have left now is the Lord and that was again the Lord bringing me down to a point where all I had was him and It was it was an awesome Transformation I remember and this is why I wonder if if when I was four years old if that really was salvation or if this was actually The point where I Where I came to Christ was was when I confessed my sin to him and I I just I remember Just talking to him to the Lord every single day about my sin and and how to overcome it and being in scripture Scriptures are really encouraging at the time I was reading Psalm 32 and This psalm has been a theme in my life. I think it's a theme in every believer's life because it's it's very raw and it's It's a psalm of David and I can relate to David because he's a he's a sinner like me He had a lot of struggles, but at the end of the day he really wanted to follow the Lord his intention was to follow the Lord wholeheartedly This psalm says blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven Whose sin is covered blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no in equity and in whose spirit there is no deceit I love how it says blessed is the Lord man who against whom the Lord counts no in equity not not who of whom there is no in equity It's the Lord counts no in equity For when I kept silent my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long for day and night your hand was heavy upon me My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledge my sin to you And I did not cover my in equity.
I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgive me You forgive the iniquity of my sin therefore let everyone who is godly offer offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found Surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him You are a hiding place for me. You preserve me from trouble. You surround me with shouts of deliverance I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go I will counsel you with my eye upon you be not like the horse or mule without understanding Which may must be curbed with a bit and bridle or it will not stay near you Many are the sorrows of the wicked but the steadfast love of the Lord surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord Be glad be glad in the Lord and rejoice or righteous and shout for joy you operate in heart This was a Verse that really encouraged me at that time. It encourages me right up to today.
It's it's extremely encouraging the forgiveness of God is so final and it's It's amazing just So at this point that I I started to really pray for my brother who was not saved at the time and And It was only a few months later. It was it was in September that year that he came to Christ and that's I always tell people that my brother Salvation is part of my testimony as much as it's part of anybody else's because I I first hand I saw someone change Do a 180 it wasn't like he was a lukewarm Christian He was an angry person who did not want to follow God at all in any way and suddenly one Saturday I was walking out the door to a friend's house and He told me he made things right with God and it was when I talked to him about that It was a 180 degree change and it was a huge hugely encouraging thing for our family and for me and I remember it was it was funny because we went to college and careers that week and Ben was there and He quoted I think he quoted Zachariah or something or a minor prophet. I remember he quoted like a deep minor prophet and I was thinking Wow Where did that come from? I've never heard Ben quote scripture before let alone a minor prophet and I think it goes back to those Bible times that we had the It goes back to the background that that he had it was in there The Lord the Lord put it in his heart and in my heart as well and I think I can't say enough about you know Rooting and grounding yourself and rooting and grounding your friends and your family and your your kids in scripture So that was that was a pretty interesting time.
It was great as far as as far as The last few years it's been it's been great. There have been times where it's been up and down. It's been There have been challenges. There have been victories.
There have been lots of times where The Lord has I've seen the Lord's provision one of those times is when we were at Northbrook here and Mary and Nick and And Gabrielle decided they were gonna move to New Brunswick for a year and and learn the word of God there and Me and Fola was sat there and looked at each other We're like what who's gonna come along and my friend Bennett came along for exactly that year and then he left in June when they came back So it's amazing how the Lord just like seems to like put people in certain places for certain times and He can give you know He can give you a boost when you really you know you least expect it and At this point the Lord has provided Gabrielle is just an amazing wife. She's amazing Amazing woman and it's just been really great to to just live with her and to be following the Lord with her and I look up to her spiritually. She's she's an amazing person and So that's another provision from the Lord and then Luisa of course is another provision And it's been a crazy blessing this year and I did not expect to fall that much in love with a little baby Because I I was kind of awkward with babies before I never really understood how to handle them, but I mean Luisa just it's totally different, but the Lord The Lord's really opened my eyes to his love to with with having a kid and I always heard my dad say that I heard people say that Like you don't really understand the love of God until you have a kid and it's so true I mean I look at her and I you know the way it's the way the Lord looks at us and it's like that's amazing to me. It's it's really is I'm just really thankful for the Lord's steadfast love and I'm thankful this year for College of career starting up again.
That's that's really important. I think it's great to have small groups and a time where we can share with other believers and That's been a huge encouragement the last the last little while and the other thing that I've really been encouraged by is that the street outreach Has been it's been a challenge of times and with parenting life and all that it's it's hard to get out sometimes But it's um, it's a amazing encouragement to go out on the street and work alongside John and Warren and Nick and Mary and whoever else goes out. It's just amazing because You just see the Lord working in in the streets of Halifax You see the Lord working in people's hearts There's people who've never ever heard the gospel before and they hear it for the very first time and it's hard to believe that that Is what you get in Canada, but it is at this point and so that's been a huge encouragement for me and the music ministry here at Northbrook It's been really great. I remember when I first started playing guitar here.
It was Mr. Akfam was up there and he would just kind of say oh just do this it's fine and that was kind of the encouraging way It was the encouraging way here that there was no judgment. There was no auditions. There was no, you know The talent wasn't really what was important.
It's the it's the ministry to the Lord and It's just it's just awesome to to grow up in a church that supports that's so supportive and I Just want to pray that the Lord will continue that and I want to ask for prayer for steadiness and guidance in our life raising Louisa and And our other future children if the Lord provides children future children for us like I just want to ask the Lord for that and He's provided so much for us spiritually physically all that and I just want to thank him also for his abundant blessings So I'm gonna give thanks and I'm gonna pray to the Lord and maybe we'll sing a song to close Heavenly Father Lord. Thank you for This evening. Thank you for this church Lord. We can we can worship you Lord.
Thank you for all your provision in my life Lord And I just pray that you would help us to remember your provision Lord because it helps us to trust in you for the future I pray that you would Just help us to be steadfast to be unmovable Lord and to be abounding in your work and Lord I thank you for the promise that you'll never forsake us Lord that you'll always be with us that you don't change and Your mercy endures forever Lord. I just pray that you would bless our evening tonight Lord keep us all safe and Thank you for your son Lord for his sacrifice on the cross for us Lord that we can have life and I thank you for all this Lord and your holy and precious name amen