Reflections From Sunday Evening

Baptism. We use water. That little guy Pastor Curtis baptized today had a look on his face like "what are you doing?" I really like it that way. When a person identifies with Jesus Christ and the Church water is involved. I think it is good to use plenty of water. We really do not practice "dry cleaning." The Church is different from other organizations. Civic clubs have dues and/or fund raisers. Civic clubs and community organizations provide services to communities. They clearly make a positive contribution to the world. You might offer an application and an initial contribution and you are in. The Church is different. Oh, we contribute to the communities where we serve. We do so many good things it is impossible to remember them all. But our initiation process is different. We come to the church and somebody pours a boat load of water on your babies head. We might have you kneel in front of the church and we will douse you with water than falls over your head and onto your shoulders. We might even take you somewhere and half drown you in a pool of water. What do we make of all this? Baptism. It is the sign of a covenant. God makes a covenant with people. God provides you with forgiveness for all your sins and then treats you like you had never done anything to offend Him. God gives you His Spirit to empower your love, witness and service. God promises to be with you in all things at all times and in all ways. God gives everything we could hope for to live an abundant life of grace and eternal life as well. In return God calls for us to believe in him. It is not believe in just the right way. It is an expectation that we believe in God. We find our faith best located in Jesus Christ. So there is your part. Believe and baptism becomes the sign of a covenant God establishes. We witnessed God's part today. We do so fairly regularly in our church. People come and find themselves covered with the waters of baptism. We are people of promise. I pray you discover the joy of living in the promises of God. I pray you discover the joy of living on the blessings of God. I pray you experience the joy of being in a covenant relationship with the Lord. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve