One year ago today, Christopher made one of the most important decisions of his life...he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. This weekend, he will give testimony to that decision by being baptized at our church.
Over 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ came to earth and lived a sinless life so that He could be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He then gave his life on a cross as payment for our sins. He died on that cross and was buried...but the good news of Easter is that He didn't stay burried...He arose 3 days later and is in Heaven preparing a place for all who will accept His free gift of salvation.
In this day and age, we hear a lot about FREE gifts (but wait...there's more! type of advertising, for example)...and most of them aren't worth much...but the free gift of salvation that Jesus offers to EVERYONE is priceless! By simply trusting in Him and accepting His death, burial, & resurrection as payment for your sins, you will be able to spend eternity in Heaven.
Christopher settled this a year ago today. The baptism part is not what saves him. It is just a testimony to others of what he believes. Usually, someone who accepts Christ as their savior is baptised soon after their salvation. However, Christopher had a fear of water...especially water too deep for him to touch bottom. So, we didn't push the issue. He went through the First Steps classes at church last year to make sure he understood the decision he was making (and he did)...so it was just a matter of waiting for him to be ready.
This past summer, Christopher finally conqured his fear of the water (mostly) and got to the point where he would swim with his face in the water (a HUGE accomplishment for him)! Then on his own a few weeks ago, Christopher announced that he was ready! So, we talked with Pastor Larry (our Children's pastor at church) and told him Christopher was ready. He was very excited about that!
David decided he would like for Christopher to be baptized on Easter weekend because it represents what Christ did for us and is the reason we celebrate Easter. So, Christopher will be baptized on Saturday night (our church has a service on Saturday night and two on Sunday morning to accomodate the number of people who attend - but the sermon is the same at all 3 services, so you can pick the one that is best for your family).
We are all very excited and welcome you to join us if you would like! I wish more family members could join us for this important event...it looks like it will just be David's mom and brother who live here that will be able to join us (and we are thankful they will be there!)...but I understand the distance issue and our church does stream the services on their website, so out of town family can view the service online once it is on the website. :) Maybe more family members can come when we have Jayden's baby dedication and we can have a huge celebration to celebrate both brothers then! :)
