Our
church is big on changed lives, and baptisms. We celebrate baptisms once a
month. Several times a year we have an outdoor cookout in the courtyard of the
high school we meet at and have an outdoor baptism celebration.
There
is a microphone outside the baptism tank and after each service several hundred
people gather around to hear the “God stories” from those being baptized. It is
inspiring to hear what brought them to this point and how their lives have
changed because of choosing to follow Jesus.
People
are nervous about talking in front of a crowd. But that
is the special part, hearing how God has changed their life and seeing their
excitement to start a new life following Christ. Last Sunday brought several of
these stories:
*
One man was agnostic his whole life, didn’t know what he believed, until some
neighbors invited him and his family to church. He had a huge smile and such
joy when he came up out of the water. He had been lost and now is found.
*
One high school student had never been to church before. Her parents did not
believe in God, but allowed her to come to church when a friend from school
invited her. After attending the High School student ministry for several
months and the student camp, she knew she wanted to be a Jesus follower. None
of her family came to watch her get baptized, but her new church family cheered
her on.
*
Another man heard about how God loved him and forgave him while he was in jail,
through our jail ministry. When he was released he could not wait to get
baptized and start his new life following Jesus. Because he was still on
probation, he was wearing an ankle monitor, which could not be submerged in the
baptism tank. No problem, my husband and another man filled a cooler with water
and drenched him. He was so happy!
Then
a quiet teenage girl came. She made some bad decision in her life regarding
drugs, but desperately want to leave that lifestyle and have a real
relationship with Jesus. Her Mom, who had prayed for this day and had been
through a lot with her daughter, stood in the baptism tank beside her, tears of
joy streaming down her face.
Yesterday,
that Mom came to me at church, her eyes red and swollen, filled with tears
again, but no joy. She said the Monday night, after the baptism celebration on
Sunday her daughter was arrested.
My
heart went out to her. I prayed for her and told her, who her daughter really was, who God created her to be, was who she was
last Sunday. The temptations and evil of this world are so great for
teenagers, it is difficult to break away and follow Jesus wholeheartedly.
I
hope to visit her this week and tell her, reconfirm what she already knows, that
the God of the universe loves her, has
forgiven her, and has an amazing life planned for her, if she will choose to
follow Him.
Her baptism was real.
Her jail time is not too difficult for the
God who loves her
to use it for good in her life.
Will you join me in
praying for her and her Mom?
