Today was one of those amazing days in the life of COMMUNITY. I had a hunch that it was going to be a good service when I got an e-mail from Tony, our Arts Director at CCC-Romeoville telling me that we needed to cut a few minutes out of my message so that we could fit in the five baptisms that we had scheduled. And it was not just a good service...it was an experience to be remembered for a life time. After we got done baptizing the five planned we asked if anyone else wanted to make a public commitment to following Jesus. And for the next twenty minutes we saw seven more people get in line to be baptized. The pic you are looking at above is one of the guys who in the moment decided to get baptized and just jumped in with his clothes on. It was amazing day!
The catalyst for this amazing day was our Student Community. The five scheduled baptisms were all students and most of those that decided in the moment to get baptized were also high school students. It is remarkable what God is doing in the life of our students
If you were one of the dozen people who was baptized at CCC-Romeoville today this is what the crowd looked like from your vantage point. I love how everyone is on their feet, leaning forward, taking it in and cheering these people on. I love this church!
Dave,
luv to hear stories like this....great testimony. Makes up for all of the hard work and sacrifice, when we see the fruit of our labors. Don't know how CCC addresses baptism, some churches have a "baptism class" to make sure candidates are ready. I see nothing in the NT that indicates such a class is necessary. I say, if they've made a public confession of faith, and understand the meaning of baptism, then they're good to go.
Posted by: Dave Lewis | February 23, 2009 at 06:33 AM
Dave, we do have a baptism class but we don't insist that people take it before being baptized.
Posted by: Dave Ferguson | February 23, 2009 at 06:39 AM
Praise the Lord! I'm glad when anybody moves towards Jesus! Sometimes we just need to get out of the way, and allow God to work!
Posted by: Steve Castaneda | February 23, 2009 at 07:33 AM
It is nice when someone does take the class though, it's always full of lots of God moments too.
Love from your Naperville Baptism Class Teacher Who is Often Ready to "Teach" But All Alone...
ellie
Posted by: ellie | February 23, 2009 at 09:34 PM
That is a POWERFUL image of that young man getting baptized. Keep up the good work
Mike
http://crosscampusministry.com
Posted by: Mike | February 26, 2009 at 01:22 PM