Pastor Jake Schnoor is joined by a few members of his Young Pros group from Harvest Baptist Church this week. Get to know their names and stories by downloading.
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Episode transcript:
Chris Harper: Welcome to Harvest Time. My name is Chris Harper, and our guest host on this program today is Pastor Jake Schnoor. Every week, we spend these 25 minutes together telling you the stories of our church, interviewing our members and other friends of the ministry. We’d like to invite you to join us at Harvest Baptist Church this week. There are 2 services every Sunday at harvest.
The first at 8:45 AM, the second at 10:45 AM. We have Japanese and Korean translation during our 10:45 AM service, and that’s also when we live stream at hbcguam.org, hbcguam.org. This week, pastor Jared Baldwin is going to be preaching in both services, and he’s going to be back in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4. Let’s begin today’s harvest time by welcoming pastor Jake Schnoor. Hi, pastor Jake.
Jacob Schnoor: Well, hafa Chris. Great to be here again with you. And, excited to be here with some guests. Some friends of the ministry and some people I’ve gotten to know. Some for quite some time and others very recently.
But, if you are new to this broadcast or if you are new to tuning in with Harvest, and if you truly, if you don’t know who I am, what my ministry is, I’m over the young adults ministry here at Harvest Baptist Church, which just comes down to, singles in the church in their twenties thirties. So kind of outside of college, but you know, trying to figure out what is it that God has for them to do for the rest of their lives. And it’s an exciting ministry. The main things that we do, if this is applied to you or someone that you know, is we do a Thursday night Bible study, where we right now, we’re going through the book of Nehemiah, and I love it. It’s kind of more of an inductive study, where we make observations about the text together and then we come into small groups, talk about it, and then we bring out some application.
And then we have some food and some fellowship. And then we try to do something every weekend, whether it be a hike. We just did, pretty intense one yesterday. Got some good pictures. And, maybe we’ll hear a couple of stories and testimonies about that today.
And then we try to do game nights and movie nights and some other activities in the community. So, a lot more information can be found at the church website, and you can also find my personal contact information if you have any questions about what we’re doing. But, I’m gonna begin by just allowing our guests to introduce themselves and, Cat, I’ll begin with you and then, Aaron, I’m gonna jump over to you and work our way through that way. Why don’t you guys just introduce yourselves with your name, kind of what you do for work, and then, how long you’ve been on Guam and I know this is maybe too many things, but what’s your favorite thing about Guam since you’ve been here?
Katrina Tahimik: Everyone. My name is Kat Tahimik. I’m an internal auditor for one of the gov Guam agencies. I’ve been on Guam for about 12 years total now and my favorite part about the island is really the accessibility of nature activities. We’re able to go to the beach at any time, any day.
I like hiking activities too, and so it’s cool to be able to live on an island where people vacation.
Jacob Schnoor: Aaron, you’re kinda new to the crew here, but, introduce yourself and, what are your favorite things about Guam?
Aaron George: Absolutely, Jake. I’m Aaron. I am in naval intelligence. I’ve been here for exactly 1 month today. Very exciting.
Honestly, this place is phenomenal. I love everything about it. The only thing that I’ve seen that I don’t like about Guam so far is the sword grass. Stay away from that stuff. It is terrifying.
Yeah.
Alex Rivera: Alex. Hello. I’m Alex. I am in the marines currently. I’ve been in Guam for since last this year’s April, so around 4, 5 months.
I really love the, the weather. I grew up in Puerto Rico, so I’m used to the hot and humid weather. So this place kinda feels like home for me. Not a fan of the cold. So, yeah.
Jacob Schnoor: Yeah. And, the weather from where you grew up is quite different than the weather from where our next guest grew up. Caroline.
Caroline Schneider: Hi, Jake. Yeah. I I grew up in the Midwest. I’m from Wisconsin. And, going off of that too, my well, first of all, hello.
Hi. I’m Caroline. And, I’m a nurse at the Naval Hospital. I’m active duty military. And I think my, my favorite thing about Guam is how warm the water is.
In the Midwest, we just have lakes everywhere and you’d still jump in the water even though it’s freezing. But here, you can jump in the water any time of the day and it’s the same temperature. It’s great.
Jacob Schnoor: Yeah. Love it. Well, we got, due to the number of guests and, I have a couple questions. I want to begin by probably, potentially, the most relatable and impactful thing we could talk about, which is in 1 or 2 minutes, if you guys could kind of summarize how you got saved. And if you’re listening today and you don’t necessarily understand what that means, all I’m getting at is, how did you come to an understanding that Jesus Christ is truly your savior and kind of when did that happen?
Where were you? Who was involved? And so we’ll just do the same order. Cat, we’ll begin with you.
Katrina Tahimik: Okay. So, I started going to Sunday school at the age of 6 in the Philippines, and that’s pretty much where I learned about the gospel. I remember it, being kind of like summarized in one verse, John 316. And from at that age, I understood that I was a sinner and that I needed Christ in my life because, if I didn’t, then I would spend eternity after life in hell. And I’m not sure if as a kid that kind of scared me, like the idea scared me, but I did know that I needed Christ in my life.
And so at that age, I, received Christ as my Lord and savior, and I got baptized a few months after that. And then I was very, blessed to grow up in a around a Christian household and also a Christian church community, but as expected, as I grew older I was surrounded by different influences, moving here and everything. It kind of I kind of had like doubts, started having doubts about my relationship with Christ and the, if I really was saved, I used to believe that I could lose my salvation. Sure. And so I had these insecurities and it started to burden my heart, but, by the grace of God, there was one sermon by pass, by this one pastor, one Sunday in 2020.
He talked about true repentance and he said that the Greek word for repentance is metanoia, which means changing of one’s mind. And I don’t know if it’s because of like maturity, like I I it really hit me, that I had that conviction that Sunday service and I understood that maybe my image of sin before when I was, younger was kind of like shallow, but then now it’s like growing and growing and I realized that I’m not sure if I did it right before, but I know that I need Christ more than ever this time. And then he he, he called to the congregation at the end of the service. He was like, you may be someone who has been going to church when you were younger. You may have done this when you were when you were younger, but you weren’t sure.
It’s it really was like talking to me. Okay. And so I felt the the Holy Spirit, tugging in my heart that day, and then from that day on, I prayed again to the Lord, kind of like renewed my faith and commitment to him. And I said that, Lord, I’m not sure, if how I how I did it before was the right way or whatever, but I know now I trust in you that, you’re my Lord and savior and that I will live my life for you. And so that kind of, gave me the confidence in the, blessed assurance and I just have a more joyful Christian walk now because I know that I am saved by grace and grace alone.
Jacob Schnoor: Amen. That’s encouraging. So the time between when you got saved and then the reassurance of salvation, about how long was that?
Katrina Tahimik: It was pretty long. I was I I was saved at 6, but this moment was I think I was 22.
Jacob Schnoor: Sure. Long time.
Katrina Tahimik: Yeah. It was a long time.
Jacob Schnoor: And not having assurance of salvation is a very normal thing. If you are a listener and you are in a season or have been in a season where you begin to question, is it real? Is it genuine in my heart? If that’s you, have hope and be encouraged that, you aren’t alone, number 1. And the Bible actually talks about, specifically in 1st John, he says, I write these things that you may know, k n o w, that you have eternal life.
Meaning, you can be saved, but then part, there’s something in your mind that makes you question that. So, but we’re gonna move on to our guest number 2. Aaron, tell us a little bit about how God brought you to him.
Aaron George: Yeah. Absolutely. So I had a very similar experience with Cat, actually. So around 6 years old, I I was blessed that I I grew up in church and my parents, around 6, I was in my room about to go to bed and I talked to my parents about salvation and they kinda led me through that. But the way I like to say it is, it was not really my religion at that point.
Like, I love Jesus. I did seek him. I knew what salvation was and what it meant, but I didn’t develop a personal relationship with him then. Like, it was more of my parents’ religion than it was mine. Mhmm.
And so I learned how to church speak. I learned, how to be religious but not have relationship. Relationships are developing in high school. And I would say that, honestly, the Navy was probably the hardest thing for me. So being separated from your support structure, all the Christian people that I grew up around in the Bible belt, it was very challenging.
So that is when I started really being broken down by the Lord and like built back up onto your identity as in being a Christian. Your identity as in a son of God, not just somebody who goes to church. Mhmm. And that’s where I’ve seen a lot of my growth in relationship is Interesting. Since that time.
Jacob Schnoor: Yeah. It does seem like the hardest seasons of life help us grow the most. Yeah. Alex, I’ve met with you a number of times. First of all, that was the first time I heard Aaron’s testimony.
That that’s pretty cool. Alex, tell us a little bit, about how God opened your eyes to him spiritually and how he convinced you of Christ.
Alex Rivera: For me, I didn’t really grow up in a church family. Like, we sometimes went to church, but we didn’t really, like, act like Christians, if that makes sense, not like outside of church. So
Aaron George: Mhmm.
Alex Rivera: It was kinda like a one day a week thing. So for me, 2 years ago, I was 20, 22. Mhmm. I was in deployment, on a ship actually. And I had a friend, best friend actually at the time.
His name’s Connor. Connor was very Christian. You know, he always read the bible, prayed, very good guy. So on ship, there’s not much to do. So there are times where I would just be bored and he would invite me to bible study.
And took him, like, maybe a month of inviting me for me to finally give in, and so I did. And sure enough, I kept going. And the more I learned, the more questions I had. I found myself quite constantly going to the ship, chaplain to just ask questions about God, Jesus, what’s right, what’s wrong. And maybe not even a month after, like, just constantly talking to this guy, he asked me, hey, like, after all these questions and conversations, like, do do you think you wanna accept Jesus as your Lord and savior?
And, I was like, I think I’ve I think my response was, like, sure. Sure. Sure. Sure.
Aaron George: Okay.
Alex Rivera: But, no, I have him right there, and it’s been 2 years, since that day. So Yeah. Roughly 2 years.
Jacob Schnoor: Yeah. That’s awesome. It’s awesome to know, you know, even when you don’t grow up in a genuinely Christian household or even if it’s kind of like pseudo Christian and they kind of go to church, that that doesn’t determine, the way your story ends up. So Alex, thanks for sharing.
Chris Harper: Yep.
Jacob Schnoor: And then last, but certainly not least, Caroline.
Caroline Schneider: Hi. Yeah. So, I was saved when I was, kinda growing up. I I was raised in a Lutheran home. And in the 5th grade, I had my first communion and I had a little bible.
And at that time, my mom had 2 rounds of cancer. And the 2nd round, she was more at risk for for dying and was a little more riskier. And I was really asking a lot of questions to God. And I was like, man, what’s what’s gonna happen to my mom? Where where is she gonna go?
And, I I remember I I flipped open my Bible and, it was Romans 8:1 where it says, so now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And I was like, what the heck does condemnation mean? I asked my parents and they said it means judgment or punishment. And Yeah. I think that was the first time where I developed this sense of reverence or just a sense of awe about God and just about who he is.
And I was like, what? Judgment, punishment from God? And it wasn’t necessarily, a big fear, but it was just that that respect and, yeah, just that that awe of God. And, so for about 6 years, I was, I was talking to God and, just kinda like, hey, how’s it going, God? And having conversations with him.
And, and then when I was 17, I was just not making good decisions in high school and, drinking, partying. And, I, my foot broke very randomly. It was a weird bone disease and, all healed from it. Praise God now. But, what ended up happening was I was just praying and I, was just, talking to God and I had this verse.
It was Romans 824. We were given this hope when we were saved. If we already have something, we don’t hope for it. But if we look for something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.
Aaron George: And I
Caroline Schneider: started asking, what am I hoping in? What am I placing my faith in? Who am I trusting in? Who am I living for? And I had a dream, after I was praying and talking to God about that, that I was driving and I hit a semi and died and I woke up and I just felt the spirit say to me, you’re going down a path of death, but I’m calling you down a path of life.
And I I began to pursue God and I began to make decisions that, led to repentance. And, I started to please God versus pleasing my simple nature.
Jacob Schnoor: What I’m gonna do is I’m gonna transition to our our our final question, and, I’m gonna let’s go through the same order. I just wanna have you guys, for those who are listening, who might be in a similar stage as you, kind of thinking through some of the things that God has taught you since you’ve been saved. What is one piece of advice that you would want to give to someone listening who’s in a similar stage of life as you, or just an encouragement for believers, but thinking through what God has taught you since that moment that you just described. Everyone shared how they got saved. Maybe a lot has happened since then, and so what is one piece of advice that you would wanna give to someone in a similar stage of life as you?
Katrina Tahimik: I would say right now I’m in the stage of life where I am making a lot of decisions. Personal growth, spiritual growth, professional growth. And so as my human nature, I sometimes have this fear of the unknown or fear of uncertainty, or sometimes I have a fear of missing out on opportunities. For example, right now, I’m currently going through a season where I have to choose between 2 job opportunities, and both are both are good, but I have this, like, if I if I choose this one opportunity, will I be missing out on the other opportunity from the other job, but I am always reminded to cling on to God’s word because he is faithful in his promises. And so I find encouragement in Proverbs 3 verses 5 through 6, which says, trust in the Lord with all your heart and be not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. And so, just these verses remind me that all I need is to trust in the Lord because my story is already is already written, and he has already overcame the world. And, just having that confidence that the Lord, the Lord’s grace, love and mercy is enough every day. So no need to no more space for anxiety or, or fear of not knowing what’s going to happen, but just trusting in the Lord that he is, he is the one who is sovereign over my life.
Jacob Schnoor: Yeah. Aaron, what would you say, best piece of advice, that you’d give someone in a similar stage of life as you?
Aaron George: Oh, snap. So breaking down the Christian walk to a one sentence, advice is kinda hard. But, man, I’d have to say, just pursue love. Pursue loving the Lord. Everything else follows once you truly understand that.
It’s it’s all centric around love. There’s a lot of other aspects. It’s not only just love in the way that we understand it. But if you start to seek out what love is, what pure love is as defined by scripture, you know, love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not seek me first. This is first I’m kind of loosely quoting first Corinthians 13 for anybody who wants to look that up. But honestly, if you just start your walk with falling madly in love with Jesus and at pursuing him and everything that you do, you cannot go wrong. It is impossible. Yeah.
And then everything else follows. It sounds like it it would take away from your own personal life, but your satisfaction comes with obedience to Jesus. That’s that’s how you find fulfillment. Mhmm. So that that’s the only piece of advice I could think to give right now.
Jacob Schnoor: That’s good. Alex, I know it’s been, maybe a little less time than some of these in the room, but what would you say from your walk with God so far these last 2 years? What’s something that, you would give to someone in your situation?
Alex Rivera: I actually have 2. The first, do not give up. You know, there are times where after I’ve been saved, I have this weird mindset of, like, okay, I gotta, like, do the right things, you know, not saying whatnot. But that’s in the right mindset because we’re gonna be sinners. We’re gonna sin.
We’re gonna fall. Right. And so it’s the idea of, like, you know, do not to give up because sometimes it can be discouraging.
Jacob Schnoor: Yeah.
Alex Rivera: So, you know, just knowing that god is eager to grace us with, you know, forgiveness. He’s eager to just for us to come to him.
Jacob Schnoor: That’s good.
Alex Rivera: So just know that whenever you fall or slip up, you know, god’s not gonna condemn you. He’s gonna be like, hey, don’t do that, but no. Not come to me so I can forgive you and we can fix this relationship kinda thing. Yeah. Second, being in the military, I’ve noticed ever since I’ve been saved, not a lot of well, honestly, most, service members, like, they don’t live a life of, you know Sure.
I guess you could say, like a Christian life. I find that challenging sometimes because, you know, you, of course, as Christian, you wanna be with with other Christians, other believers because they are going to encourage you, they’re gonna pray for you, you know, whenever you need help or just advice, they’re gonna be there for you.
Jacob Schnoor: Yeah.
Alex Rivera: There have been times where I’ve tried to just get advice on things from non believers at the workplace Mhmm. And more often than not, it doesn’t really help. So I guess I could say the first thing you wanna do, just get involved in a church. Involve in a local church, find a community so you can continue in your walk with Christ. And if you, for some reason, you’re in a situation where there’s no church, like you’re on deployment, you’re overseas, try and find other believers, you know, in your workplace and just have, like, a maybe, like, a weekly kind of, like, a meet up, you know, let’s talk about God.
Let’s let’s pray. Let’s have a good bible study. Yeah. That’s pretty much it. That’s been my biggest challenges.
When I go to church, that’s awesome. Nothing but believers. But when I go to work, it’s like the complete opposite.
Jacob Schnoor: Yes.
Alex Rivera: So Yeah.
Jacob Schnoor: Yeah. That’s good. That’s good. Yeah. And, Caroline, what would you say?
Things that God’s taught you that you’d want the listeners to know, that might be in a similar situation as you?
Caroline Schneider: Kinda going off of what Alex said, the best piece of advice that I’ve been given as well is really surrounding yourself by people who are older and wiser than you and who have had a much longer walk with the Lord as well. And just live life with them and start asking them questions and, allow them just to pour into you and really cling on to, those people in your lives that are going to encourage you and equip you. Iron sharpens iron and really find those people who are gonna build you up. That has saved me from a lot in the past and even making decisions and and choosing people who are going to help you make godly decisions and and those wise decisions as well.
Jacob Schnoor: Yeah. And just as a little bit of a plug, if you are listening to this and you, again, are interested in a church, we’d love to see you coming out to harvest on Sunday mornings. I’d also want to make a plug for community groups. I know sometimes, maybe, a normal church setting is a little intimidating for you. We have what are called community groups, which are a small group ministry.
I have the privilege of leading that here at Harvest, and there’s about 27 groups around the island that meet on Sunday evenings. Well, guys, thank you so much for coming out. I appreciate you just opening up your lives a little bit to me and, obviously, everyone else who’s gonna be listening. And again, if you have questions about ministries here at Harvest, I would love to connect with you. And so, if you just show up on Sunday morning, just ask for Pastor Jake.
I’ll be out front. I lead the greeter ministry. So, I’ll be one of the first people that you’ll run into and, have a conversation with and I would love to talk in more detail about anything that we brought up today. Or if you just have questions in general, we would love to help you find answers. But, Chris, thank you so much for having us today.
Chris Harper: Yeah. Thank you for listening to Harvest Time. At this point in the program, we wanna invite you to services at Harvest Baptist Church. Sunday morning, there are 2 services, 8:45 AM, 10:45 AM. We have Japanese and Korean translation during the 10:45 AM service.
We also broadcast the service live here on 88.1 FM and khmg.org. And if you wanna find any of that information that pastor Jake talked about today about the ministries that we have at harvest, it’s hbcguam.org, hbcguam.org.
Thanks again for listening today to Harvest Time.