The River of Life

Dear Friends,

A friend of mine told me recently that one of her favorite memories as a child, especially during the hottest days of summer, was to ride down a river on a blown up inner tube. This sounds both fun and refreshing. But, it made me think of VBS which is going on as I write this letter to all of you. It's like we have invited a bunch of friends from our community to a great ride down the river. It's not just a buzz of activity, or a high tide of people flowing through the church building, but it's all of that gathered around the river of life who is God.


The exciting thing is that some of these kids (and adults) are riding this river for the first time and we get to share God with them. What a deal! Lord willing, some will hear the message of the gospel and want to invite the river of life to flow from their life – Jesus Christ, dwelling inside – leading them from darkness to light, from slavery to freedom, from death to life.

For those who make such a profession we would urge them to be baptized. For some, this is a topic that is loaded with controversy, for others it is cloaked in tradition about which many hold some very emotional convictions. Yet still, for others this may seem like an ancient cultic practice that belongs in another era other than our own. So why would we urge someone  to be baptized? Perhaps you should attend our Baptism Class on Wednesday, July 14th from 6:45-8:15pm. You will learn all about what the bible has to say about baptism and why we practice it.

I like to describe baptism as an outward expression of an inward reality. God has regenerated our life by faith in Jesus Christ and we are now identifying with him in public. But this public profession goes beyond the moment of immersion and becomes a way of life. Read what Paul says in Romans:

"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." Romans 6:3-4

Friends, the gospel does not merely hold out for us the hope that is to come, but it is the power of God presently at work in us to transform us so that we "might walk in the newness of life." This is the very purpose of the Spirit of God that now dwells in the believers of God. This is what we celebrate in baptism and continue to celebrate as we do life together and dwell by the river who is God.

By Grace,
Pastor Chad