The Old Has Gone....

Hello ladies,
The pictures you see here are of Kim Whitmore's baptism last night! What a precious evening it was! I wish each of you could have been with us. Kim's baptism was with our Monday Night Women's Small Group. Most everyone was present and we had a wonderful celebration! God be praised!!


I have to tell you this moment was the highlight of my year! Is there anything more precious than a daughter (or son) coming to Christ Jesus? It was an honor to play a very small part in this special moment in Kim's life. I have had the privilege of seeing God at work in Kim for many months now and I can only boast in Him for the work He is doing! What a refreshing thrill it has been to see the new discoveries Kim has made by reading God's Word and through sharing in small group. I was reminded (thanks to Linda B.) of how often many of us become stale in our walk with the Lord because we've known Him most all our lives. We forget or choose not to marvel over His creation, His goodness, His love, His mercy, His forgiveness, and the ultimate sacrifice He made on our behalf. Shame on us!

I was reminded last night, as I took Kim under the water, of several things. First, of the beautiful symbolism of our sins being washed clean by Jesus as we are immersed. Second, of how Jesus himself was baptised by John. Third, of how Kim had to trust me to hold her up under the water without dropping her- what a beautiful illustration of how baptism is a proclamation of trust and faith in God. Lastly, Kim arose from the water as a new creation! Glory to God! The old has gone and the new has come!



Let me leave you today with a few scriptures that speak of this glorious occassion:

"Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves to sin- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin."

Romans 6:3-7

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them."

2 Corinthians 5:17-19