On Sunday we got to celebrate the baptisms of Abby & Elise. After hearing their public declaration of faith and their confession and commitment to following Jesus Christ, I realized that they had encountered a true and living God.
Their testimonies were filled with stories of encounters with the unfailing love of God. Whether it was in the mundane or the hard times, the love of God had impacted them to the point of making a public declaration of faith. It was a response that came out of a love for God.
This baptism was not about membership or tradition, it was about responding to a God that truly loves them.
Scripture tells us:
We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19 (NIV)
It was in receiving the love of God at different moments in their life that eventually prompted both Abby & Elise to get baptized. It was this love that would cause them to push past their fears and anxieties and choose to be baptized and make a commitment to follow Jesus.
God demonstrates the power of love in sacrificing his son Jesus on the cross for our sins.
The Scripture tells us:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (NIV)
Love caused God to take action and that same love caused Abby & Elise to take action also.
LifeSpring is good at many things. Receiving the love of the Father and responding out of that love is one of them. It is one of the things that makes this church body move.
We just witnessed the fruit of the LifeSpring DNA poured into the next generation of LifeSpringers.
LifeSpring family, may you all find joy in seeing the children of the house walk in the truth.
It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
3 John 3-4 (NIV)
Continue to teach and encourage your fellow lovers of Jesus Christ.