Bauer told the congregation he somehow found strength during a frightening ordeal.
"I prayed for the captor and whoever else was working alongside him," he said.
Bauer was kidnapped in Mexico on Thursday and held for about 20 hours.
"They were truly gut-wrenching," he said. "They were terrifying, because I didn't know what was happening with my wife or my children, nor did I know what was going to happen to me."
Bauer, his wife and four children having been living in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for the last seven months, where kyle is a missionary. Members of his church and thousands of people across the country prayed while he was held captive.
Bauer says he passed the long hours preaching the gospel to his captor.
"He said, 'You think God could actually forgive somebody like me?' And I said, 'That's the good thing about God. There is no sinner too great that he cannot forgive," Bauer said.
The 31-year-old minister was finally rescued on Friday after he managed to send out a message.
"I had a moment to myself where I was able to connect to the hotel wifi and I was able to get out a quick e-mail," he said.
"I felt like I was dead, and then when I knew that he was safe and he was in the police department, that I came alive again," said his wife.
Bauer says he was not harmed by his captors. He isn't saying if he plans on returning to Mexico, but he says he still loves the country and the people.
