Pastor Michael's Testimony (Condensed FCA Version)

Introduction:

My name is Michael.

I am the NextGen Pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church here in Hillsborough; I have been here for about a year and a half.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share!

Before I begin, I would like to take the opportunity to invite you to a few things.

First, if you don’t have a youth group that you are a part of, we would love to see you on at our MDWK gatherings on Wednesdays!

We are about to begin a three week series going through the book of Nehemiah and talking about the importance of prayer in our lives.

This is a great place to hang out, make new friends, and grow in your faith.

I would love to see you there!

Doors open every Wednesday at 6:00PM (service starts at 6:30PM)

Also, we have open gyms at our North Campus on Sunday nights, 5:00PM-7:00M

Right now, we usually just play basketball, but we would like to expand it to some other things

So come on out and be a part of the journey with us!

Lastly, I want to invite you to be a part of the best weekend of the year: Meta!

A bunch of different youth groups in the area are coming together to put this on.

And this year, it is hosted at Ebenezer!

It is March 8-10, and trust me; you don’t want to miss out on it

We’ve got a weekend slam packed full of great stuff for y’all

And registration is only $40.00!

I will have fliers for this things at the door on your way out, so feel free to grab them if you are interested.

Anyways, this morning, I am sharing my testimony with you.

I’m gonna put everything on the table, and we are going to talk about it.

I think that this is important for you to hear, because it is important for us as Christians to share our lives, struggles, and stories with each other.

I want to let you in; to let you get to know me better, and to tell you all of the ways that God has been faithful in my life.

And read, set… go!

Body:

I grew up in a Christian home

When I was around 1 year old or so, I ran into some developmental & stomach issues

With the help of some doctors, m y parents put me on a gluten free diet;

My stomach issues cleared up, along with a lot of the other symptoms, and we never really thought much about it again until much later.

When I was around 5, I asked my mom about what it meant to be a Christian.

My mom began to share the Gospel with me.

And she explained everything accurately:

How God created us and loves us

How our sin separates us from God

How Jesus came to bring us back to God by dying on the cross for our sins and rising from the grave three days later.

And how we can go to Heaven to be with God when we die by giving our hearts to Jesus.

Then my mom prayed a prayer of salvation with me.

But this wasn’t when I truly gave my life to the Lord.

A few years later, my parents began to openly argue a lot, and my dad got kicked out of the house

My dad had been unfaithful.

Like it would be for any kid, this experience was really hard for me to go through.

It was during this time that a life-long struggle of mine began; anxiety.

I eventually thought back to when I had prayed that prayer of salvation with my mom.

And I just felt far from God.

But I remembered what my mom had said about God, how he loves me, and wants me to have a relationship with him.

So that night, I got on my knees in my room, and I prayed a prayer.

I knew that only God could provide the stability and structure that my heart craved.

I didn’t know this passage at the time, but as I think back to this moment, I think of the last part of Romans 8.

Romans 8:38–39 ESV

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When I gave my life to the Lord, he secured my in the palm of His hand that night

And I knew that my life was forever changed.

Fast forward a little bit, and my parents got back together.

They are still together to this day.

Eventually, I graduated from high school and started going to a local community college

After my first full year there, I had the opportunity to go and work for a Centrikid camp in Kentucky over the summer.

I taught a Bible study for 3rd graders.

And I enjoyed doing that more than anything else that I had ever done in my entire life.

It was through this context that the Lord began to call my heart into ministry.

I eventually transferred to Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA to pursue full time ministry.

And while I was sill in school, I ended up being a part time interim youth pastor at a church in Lynchburg.

Me taking this job led to me going on a church mission trip to Guatemala, which is where I met my wife Samie.

We started dating shortly after

But unfortunately, my position was at the church was terminated along with several others.

This was obviously really hard; this was the first church I ever worked at.

And suddenly, I needed another job, and fast.

I ended up getting a janitorial job at Liberty to hold me over.

In the Summer of 2020, while on vacation with my family, Samie and I got engaged!

And shortly after that, I accepted my first full time church position as a youth pastor at a church near Richmond.

Samie and I got married shortly after this, and things at the church got off to a great start.

After being therefor over a year, though, I began to notice some red flags in the leadership, which ultimately led to me leaving the church after being there for nearly two years.

Just a month after leaving that church, I moved here to Hillsborough and began working at Ebenezer

With this in mind, we have made it to the final chapter of my testimony.

I am going to share something with you that I have only shared in a group setting once before this (at youth group last night)

Remember the developmental issues I had, along with the anxiety struggles?

Samie and I start to go down some YouTube rabbit holes, which led me getting an appointment with a neuro psychologist.

So on August 1 of 2023, I go, get tested, and am diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Now, this might be the sort of thing that you hear and think, “Wait, but I thought that autism looked like this,” or “I just thought Michael was just awkward.”

And yeah, unfortunately, our media presents one of two extremes with autism.

You are either non-verbal and unable to take care of yourself, are you are a genius with what they call Savant syndrome.

But there hasn’t been many depictions of people between these two extremes.

My autism presents itself in some pretty unique ways.

Obviously, I’m pretty awkward, and that can make having conversations difficult sometimes.

I also feel really overwhelmed a lot, which forms the backbone of the way that I most frequently experience anxiety.

I am also have dyspraxia, which means I have trouble with coordination and motor skills

This is why I’m not a great athlete!

I also really struggle with eye contact, so if I am talking with you and struggling with eye contact, don’t think I don’t like you or that I have something to hide, because I don’t; I just have autism.

But here I am, with a new diagnosis, and it honestly feels like a breath of fresh air.

This might sound weird to you.

“How could being diagnosed with autism be a good thing?”

Well, it gives answers to things that I never had answers for before.

I don’t feel different from everybody else because I’m weird and not good enough; I feel different because I have a different type of brain.

I have found it much easier to be kinder to myself and show myself grace since my diagnosis, so this is some really good news.

And guess what?

A couple of months after that, and Samie got diagnosed too!

Now, we are in the process of trying to stop hiding from who we are; from who God made us to be.

We are loved by Him, made in His image, and we don’t have to be ashamed of the way that our brains works.

There is a verse that frames this new season of my life for us.

Here it is:

Psalm 139:14 NLT

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

I thank God for making us the way that we are.

And he wants to use our testimony for his glory, which is why I am telling you about this.

One thing I want to make sure that you take away from this is to never doubt yourself or what God can accomplish through based on anything relating to who you are or what you have done.

I literally have a social/communication disorder and teach the Bible and speak publicly all of the time.

Likewise, Samie is a teacher at a Christian school.

This is a testament to God’s faithfulness in our lives.

Now, I know that not everybody here is on the spectrum like me, but we all do have things about ourselves that we struggle to accept and that make us think we aren’t good enough and that God could never use us.

But that’s just not true!

God can do great things through you, and I am proof of that.

Don’t let anyone ever hold you down or keep you back from doing great things for the Kingdom of God.

Thank you for listening to my testimony; I pray that you got something out of it.

Feel free to track me down after if you have any questions

PRAY