New life celebrated onSunday

We celebrated big time on Sunday as we baptized two individuals and welcomed them and two others into membership of the church. There was lots of special music and a message that reminded us of God's love for us.

Luis Pabon and Ashley Stewart met with the Deacons last month and shared their stories. They told how God had spoken to them and invited them to accept his love and to follow him.

On Sunday they put their faith into action by entering the waters of Christian baptism. The choir sang the chorus of "Come Be Baptized" as the candidates moved into place. As Luis and Ashley came into the baptistry, Rachel Lord sang a verse of a hymn for each of them.

Pastor Lord shared a bit of their story with the congregation and then asked each one if they accepted Jesus Christ as their lord and savior. After the profession of their faith, he baptized them by immersing them in the water.

The manner of baptism was the same as that used by John the Baptist in scriptures. The dunking symbolizes our repentance, the death and burial of our old sinful self and the resurrection of our new being.

After both Luis and Ashley were baptized, they were given a red rose as a symbol of God's love. They were also reminded that the thorns were there to remind them that life may not always be easy but God would be with them now.

Our Praise team shared a special song after the baptism that was written by Steve Contois. A little later our choir sang a bright anthem entitled, "Be Joyful and Sing to the Lord." Curt Brockway served as our worship assistant and he led the service while the Pastor was getting changed and then he came forward to officially welcome Pam and James Smith in to membership along with Ashley and Luis.


The sermon was entitled "You Are Not An Accident" and it was the first in a series of messages that we are doing based on Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life. In it we heard echoes of Psalm 139 as we looked at the call to Jeremiah that told us that God had appointed him to be a prophet before he was even born. We were reminded that God loves each of us and has a plan for us as well.

After the service we hosted a coffee hour in honor of our new members. It was a great morning.

Cal

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