This past Sunday, we celebrated with seven Crosspointers who took a next step and got baptized.  I love baptisms!  I love to see people going public with their faith, sharing what Jesus has and is doing in their life, and I love to see the joy on their faces in such a big moment.  I love to be reminded of the lives that are being changed by the power and love of Jesus and His Good News.  Watching baptisms causes this massive amount of gratitude to the Lord to well up inside of me.  There is a celebration, clapping, hugs, and rejoicing in all the Lord has done.  And there should be!

So what now?

Celebrate what the Lord has done in your life.  The new life He has given you, and how in Christ you’ve been made alive, being brought from death to life.  Thank Him for the salvation He has freely given, and how He has chosen you and adopted you in the family of God.  And how your baptism is a picture of what He has done.  How your old self has been buried, and you’ve been raised to walk in obedience to Him.  Your identity is now not in anyone or anything else other than Jesus!

So celebrate…but don’t stop growing.  Don’t stop pursing the Lord and the things of God.  On our wedding day, Heather and I said vows to one another, publicly declaring our love and commitment to one another.  But I can tell you that was not the last time we lived out or spoke of our affection and devotion to one another.  Our wedding day was the launching of a lifelong journey with one another.  A journey that we are going to make together, until death do us part.  A life where we are going to spend ourselves displaying and demonstrating our love toward one another.

Your baptism, whether as a child, student, or adult, is a step in your journey as you follow Jesus.  It is an important, Biblical, Jesus-like step of obedience, and it is worthy of celebrating BIG TIME!  But it should not be the last step you will take in your devotion to Jesus.

So you got baptized?  Praise God!  Now, keep reading your Bibles, studying Scripture to know the nature and character of our God.  Keep praying, talking and listening to your Father all the time, about everything.  Keep living life in community with other believers, and resist the temptation to fall into isolation.  And keep sharing your faith and what Jesus has done with those around you.

The enemy will try and sneak in to rob you of your joy, or cause your growing faith to be choked out by the worries or things of this world.  Resist him!  He’s a liar.  Flee from the temptations he throws your way, and fix your eyes on Jesus who is our victorious, risen King.  And don’t forget…following Jesus is a community project, not an individual one.  We are following Him together, pursing the vision of Building 3D Relationships together.

 

Hebrews 10:24-25:  ²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.