One of the drawbacks to having two morning worship services each Sunday is that
as a congregation, we don’t share the same encounter with God each week. Even
on those rare occasions when all of the elements of worship are designed to be the
same—and with the same leaders—a different group of worshipers will result in a
different worship experience. (The service you attend is my favorite, of course!)
Celebrating believer’s baptism is one of those “one service or the other” experiences.

Because people are baptized in the worship hour they typically attend, we realize that far more people are coming to faith in Christ in the 11:00 service. (If you worship at 8:30, the way to balance the number of baptisms is to lead someone to faith in Christ and bring them with you to worship!) Through the New Testament practice of baptizing believers in Jesus by immersion, we portray Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Believers also testify symbolically that they have died to self and that it is Christ Who lives through them. It is a time of celebration and affirmation. Baptism is an opportunity to bear witness to the purpose of God, the redemption we have in Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the New Testament pattern for professing one’s personal faith in Christ.

Here are some of the “behind the scenes” conversations from those who have been
baptized as believers recently:

--“My parents baptized me when I was a baby; I’m so glad to be able to express my own faith in Jesus this way!”

--When a family whose son had made a profession of faith was asked, “We’ll be baptizing this Sunday - will that work for your calendar?” the mom asked her son what he thought. “I’d better pray about it,” he said. Then he prayed, “Dear God, I want this to be about the Holy Spirit, not about me!” I think he was ready . . . don’t you?

--When a boy with several siblings suddenly came forward one Sunday morning to announce that he had trusted Jesus and now wanted to be baptized, his parents discovered they had not been the only ones praying for their son to meet Christ. “We’ve been praying for him to do this!” was the reaction of his brothers.

Are you ready to take the next step of obedience to the Lord? It’s the only one that
matters! “And still, there is room for more.”

I’m proud to be your pastor,

Jerry