15 March 2005

Baptism

I experienced a phenomenal time of worship on Sunday. My participation in the service as part of a guest ministry team to the church kept me on the stage for the duration of the service. Two baptisms opened the service. Here's how they went:

The first person was in the baptismal with the senior pastor, who asked questions for a profession of faith. The person then gave testimony to the goodness of the Lord. The person was baptised, and the cycle repeated for the next person.

The amazing thing was the sense of celebration that occurred among some of the people in the church. I am so used to people just sitting and watching a baptism as if it's just another thing those Christians do. However, there was a small handful of people that seemed to recognize that baptism is really a sacrament. In other words, they recognized the fact that the baptisees were participating in the real presence of the Lord. When did we lose this concept as a church? How can Christians sit glibly in church yawning while someone professes their faith and emerges from the waters of baptism as a new person?

1 comment:

matthew said...

I'd say anyone yawning through a baptism is about as dead as Sardis. It was neat at our last baptismal service the lesson afterwords (we are going through revelation) was about Sardis. It was a good contrast.