My husband told me I never completed the story of the baptisms, and when he read my blog he was waiting for me to get back to the beginning story... So I will finish it, because it is really awesome. So awesome that we went back to church (Journey Church) this morning to just be there; to worship; to fellowship; because our kids had so much fun Saturday night they wanted to come back again.
So last night Jimmy (our pastor) continued his description of baptism of what it was and what it was not. He explained where the word baptism came from; and basically the word came from what people back in Bible times did when they dyed a fabric. They totally immersed it and brought it back up. It represents the dying of our old nature and the rebirth that following Christ brings. It let's the world know who you belong to and who you follow, because you follow Christ's example when he got baptized.
He then said who it was that needed to be baptized. He said those who follow Christ but have never been baptized; those who maybe got baptized before they were really following Christ; those who maybe got baptized as a child but did not remember the significance of it or even remember it to be significant; and sometimes those who are just making a renewal because of some significant event of coming back to the Lord or some other event.
He then explained that he realized that many people did not come to church this weekend ready to be baptized, so the church had prepared by providing shorts, dark t-shirts, running bras, underwear, make-up, blow driers, slippers to wear, towels, showers, etc. Anything you could think of, they had thought of. They also said they had someone who would make a professional video in case there was not family there who you wanted to see it. And they also had someone taking pictures. It was really amazing how they were taking this step of faith to open up the baptismal for anyone who wanted to follow Jesus, or who wanted to make their baptism something significant that they could remember.
After Jimmy had explained all this and that they were going to only play one song, so if anyone was going to do it they needed to move then, I wondered if anyone would get baptized. It just seemed like a spur of the moment thing and maybe a little awkward...
So Saturday night I sat there and cried through all 13 baptisms. It was just overwhelming. So this morning when we went back, it was amazing how the same sermon, on a topic I have heard hundreds times (because I was a preacher's kid) could still be used by the Holy Spirit to move me. So just like Saturday night they played one song and people started to get up...
Now something I have not mentioned in this post was that Saturday night the one thing that kept coming to my mind was that I did not remember my baptism. I "walked the isle" (meaning I went down front in a church and made a public profession of giving my life to Christ) when I was 7. I can never remember not following Christ, and I got baptized because, well, I "walked the isle" and I was suppose to. It was definitely significant, but it really broke me last night that I could not remember it and that I really wanted to know what it was like to experience baptism and the public profession of following Christ.
So this morning, after following Christ for some 34 years, served in churches, been to the mission field, preparing to go again, have lead many to Christ and discipled them, I almost ran to the back in tears wanting the world to know that I followed Christ. I went to the back, changed my clothes as fast as I could, went back to the worship center, and was the first one to get baptized this morning. I couldn't stop crying. This morning to me was as significant as my wedding day. I can not explain why, I just know I felt like the prostitute who didn't care who was looking at her as she washed Jesus's feet with her hair. It was me showing the world at a time when I comprehended everything that I am a follower of Christ. I wanted to do this for Christ and noone else.
So there, I finished the story... and I can hardly wait for the next chapter...
1 comment:
Awesome!
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