Hi, my name is Erich Musick. My parents have always brought me to church and instructed me in the ways of God, reading the Bible with my siblings and me every night before bed. I don’t recall ever questioning whether God exists or having any other doubts that people often have at some point in their lives.

When I was 8 years old, my little sister placed her faith in Christ. Not wanting to be left out, I told my Mom I wanted to be saved from my sins, too. Being my typical shy, cautious, uncertain self, though, I wanted her to repent for me. She gently explained that she could not; I had to repent of my own sins and confess with my own mouth that Jesus is Lord. So I closed my eyes and repeated a simple prayer after her, though I did not completely understand the ramifications of entrusting my life to Christ at that young age.

I continued to go to church with my family. I knew I was different from other people because my family’s rules were different from my friends’ families – but I wouldn’t say that I always understood what made me different. In sixth grade, when my teacher started challenging the class to think about issues from a moral standpoint, I recall standing timidly in front of the class and giving a speech in defense of human life in regards to the issue of euthanasia. From that point forward, God continued to place opportunities for the growth of my faith, especially in school. As my beliefs were challenged, God gifted me with wisdom and understanding of His ways and I grew to understand what that prayer I had prayed several years earlier had really meant.

Though I have given testimony of my faith before classmates and friends on numerous occasions, I have not publicly professed my faith and followed Christ’s example in being baptized. In middle school and high school, my family switched churches several times and I have not had the opportunity to settle in and prepare for baptism. Now that I have a church faithful to God’s Word that I can call home even while I go to school in Milwaukee, I want to profess Christ before you all.

A verse I find continually challenging me as I am bombarded with the daily grind of school and work – just life in general – is Colossians 3:17 – “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

So, I stand before you today to boast not in what I have done, what I have accomplished, but in Christ’s glorious death on the cross for my sins and his faithfulness to my family.