A Reason to Celebrate!
Let’s play $20,000 Pyramid for a moment. I’ll give you the answers and you must tell me the category. Here we go:
- A candidate’s election
- A birthday
- A sports championship
- New birth in Jesus Christ
The answer is: Things we celebrate!
In life, we have many reasons to celebrate. Usually these celebrations are good excuses to gather together with friends and family. On Saturday, August 29, the friends and family of The Table Community Church gathered together to celebrate the new life of two of our dear friends – Elizabeth Hoke and Mason Gehring – who were baptized.
After a great covered-dish meal and a time of worship led by Tom Kauffman and Rick Christopher, the two candidates for baptism shared a word from their hearts of how they became followers of Jesus Christ. It was a warm and wonderful service, and I had the privilege of baptizing and praying for them.
Every time I baptize someone, I remember back to a summer evening 37 years ago, when my mother and I were baptized together in a church member’s backyard pool. I was 16 years old at that time, and I wanted to follow Jesus with all my heart. It was so exciting. Little did I know that six years later I would be pastoring my first church and planning for my first baptism service?
Nothing brings me more joy than to celebrate with people who have decided to follow Jesus. I love to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and special anniversaries; but my very favorite celebration of all is the act of believer’s baptism.
Do you have any baptism memories? Leave a comment by clicking on the word ‘comment’ above!
- Pastor Dan Houck
Yeah for Elizabeth and Mason! I remember getting baptised as a teenager at the Groff’s pool with Pequea Church. It was a turning-point in my walk with Christ. I still have the photo of myself with Pastor Shaw in the pool saying a prayer.