It
is always a tremendous day at church when we end the service by walking down to
the beach for a baptism. No different
yesterday as a young man named Jeff went under the water. His girlfriend with the great name (Kelly.
Spells it a little wrong but great name, nonetheless), already a
believer, joined the Seaside family as well.
And one couple, who were among those who began the original Seaside
mission back in 1990, returned home to join up with the current Seaside family
as well.
The
day was a blustery and kind of chilly one.
I think the temperature was in the 60’s or low 70’s. Lots of strong winds as we gathered at the
seaside, but a huge contingent of the 60-plus folks who had attended worship
joined us at the beach. After a circle
of prayer Jeff and the two guys who had agreed to assist me with the baptism joined
me in the water. The water temp was not
too bad yet, so we managed to make our way rather quickly to a good spot. The rip currents were treacherous. I was never so glad to have two strong guys
with me. With my bad knee I’m not sure I
could have held myself up, much less the guy getting baptized. All went well, though, and when he came up
out of the water, Jeff threw his arms into the air in a gesture of sheer
exuberance. The man was more than
excited. The crowd on the beach cheered
him as we exited the water and gathered to sing “Family of God.”
My
favorite part of this particular baptism?
As we walked to the beach Jeff never stopped talking. He asked if it was OK to be a little nervous
as well as excited. But then he said, “I
have been telling everybody I know that I did this. Is that all right?” That, my friend, is exactly all right.”
Psalms
106:48 says, “Praise be to the Lord, the
God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ Praise
the Lord.”
Father,
thank you for Jeff and his excitement about having a relationship with
you. Walk with him now as he begins to
discover the amazing wonders of your promises.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment