We celebrated Baptism Sunday last weekend at Church Requel. We baptized Diana, Mike and Lisa. This coming Sunday we will welcome them into membership at CR. Fortunately Marci used Diana's camera to grab some great shots. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then I have a million word photo album to point you to! Seriously, we just posted 35 photos up on the CR Website. Click here to view the whole Baptism Sunday album. (Make sure that "Baptism Sunday" is the current album in the top left corner of the page.) Here are a few of my favorites. (Click on any of these to see the larger version.)
I wanted to make sure that the children knew what was about to happen with the baptisms. So I came up with a children's sermon called, "Clean or Dirty?" I had a glass that was covered with dirty and was filled with dirty water. When I poured out the dirty water and filled it with clean water, the glass was still dirty and no child wanted a drink. I explained that when we come to faith in Christ, Jesus washes us - cleans us up. It's not just a matter of our good deeds (the clean water), it's also the entire person being born anew (the clean glass). After I was done washing the glass and then filling it with clean water, I asked the children who wanted a drink. Above you can see the enthusiastic response.
Diana was more than just a little bit nervous. I was so proud of her. She took the step of faith and obedience we call baptism despite her fears. The whole time she never looked around. She kept her eyes focused on me and her heart focused on Jesus.
Mike and Lisa share a hug after Mike's baptism. He was so happy to be baptized. Lisa was more than a little bit happy too! Yours truly is also enjoying the moment.
Lisa's baptism. She came up out of the water both excited and worried. "My foot came out of the water!" she exclaimed. I told her it was ok! Here's the photo proof. She's right - her toes did come out of the water.
We enjoyed a baptism party after the church service. Here's Nancy and Mary Kay cutting up after cutting the cake. Yes - we do have fun at Church Requel!
