November 30, 2022

It takes a church.

Seven of the eight baptisms this past Sunday were those of students who have grown up in this church. These students have watched your life (and our life together) as they have heard the gospel taught repeatedly. Each of them concluded that the message of the gospel made sense for them and was credible in view of your life before them.

Moms and Dads taught their kids at home and those kids heard the message of the gospel from us even as they saw its effect in our lives. God has been so gracious to us. Our lives, as messy as they are, were an encouragement to these students to believe and to confess that before us.

We repeatedly confess that we are sinners in need of change who are helping sinners in need of change. There is not a single one of us who has it all together. We all need Christ to save us and to keep us. Every single day, we need to rely on Christ. Praise God, many of you do! It is tempting to plan innovative marketing plans, media blitzes, special events or special services in an attempt to attract, then convince people about the gospel. We do some of this with our Christmas Tea, Concert, and Big Buck Dinner. But long-term gospel fruit generally comes from the faithfulness in the lives of a congregation.

Part of our life together involves praying for one another. These eight believers who confessed Christ before us, are our brothers and sisters. The encouragement of following the Lord’s command this past Sunday, will be followed by the challenges of following the Lord in spite of the headwinds of this world. We are right to be encouraged at their confession of faith and to clap and praise God for their baptisms. But, their life as a believer goes on, as does our ministry to them. Will you stop your reading for a minute here and pray for them? Ben, Tyler, Ashley, Courtney, Alayna, Natalie, Lauren, and Kaylie.

The Lord has kindly entrusted these to our care. Their testimonies are such good reminders to us of how important our faithfulness is. I thank God for you. Our life together matters and the Lord uses that for so much good.

Grace and peace,

Bob

Sunday’s Text: John 1:1-5