My Baptism By Fire

Sunday we held our first ever Baptism service at The Refinery. Not only was it our first as a church but it was my first ever as a pastor. To say I was incredibly nervous would be an understatement. We had six people who wanted to be baptized so our friends at a local baptist church here in town let us borrow their sanctuary and baptismal pool for the service. We had a tremendous turn out of friends and families to support the ones getting baptized. As each person got "dunked" then brought back out of the water, the congregation cheered and hollered like their favorite team just scored a touchdown. It was awesome. Kipp assisted me with the baptisms and did a terrific job. Looking back on it a day later, I'd think it's safe to say it was one of our best services we have ever had.

Here are a few picks from the baptisms:






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My "Crazy Love" Small Group Discussion Questions

Image
I've had the opportunity to lead several small groups based of the Francis Chan book "Crazy Love". The discussion questions that come with the DVD study leaves a lot to be desired. So through my own personal questions and questions from other "Crazy Love" resources online I've been able to develope a more indepth study of the book. Below are the questions I have used for all 10 chapters of the book study. Feel free to use them as you'd like. Chapter 1: Stop Praying Stop and think about the last prayer you voiced. How did you begin? Our Father? Dear Lord? Jesus? What word or phrase did you use to start the prayer? Now, take a minute and consider the prayer you prayed before that prayer. How did you begin? Same word or phrase? Different? Sorta different or radically different? If you begin all your prayers in much the same way, ask yourself why. Read these words from G. K. Chesterton: A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, ...
Read more

Her Story: Does Satan really exist? Many United Methodists see evil as more subtle.

After spending much of my full time ministry life in the United Methodist Church, I found this article very interesting. It's written by Mary Jacobs and she nails the fact that most UMCers are scared to death to mention the "S" word (Satan) or the "D" word (Devil). Jesus stood up to him. Plenty of Christians talk about him. And some blame all sorts of evil on him. But likely you won’t hear his name tossed around much in a United Methodist Church. Could it be... Satan? “For the most part, you don’t hear mainline Protestants talking about Satan, the devil or the demonic,” said Jaime Clark-Soles, associate professor of New Testament at Perkins School of Theology. “I think we’ve handed that kind of language over to the fundamentalists.” Though Methodism founder John Wesley talked about Satan in his sermons, the United Methodist Church has no official doctrine on the devil or the demonic. Few Methodist ministers in the U.S., it seems, preach about Satan as a personal...
Read more

My Office Quotes: "Job Fair"

Michael Scott: Come here. [talking about Pam] I would never say this to her face, but she is a wonderful person and a gifted artist. Oscar: What? Why wouldn't you say that to her face? Pam Beesly: Michael. Do you remember you specifically told me to bring one sheet of paper. You said it only takes one sheet to make a difference. I said, 'are you sure Michael?' And you said, 'Pam! Pam! Pam!' And then you sneezed in my tea and then you said, 'don't worry it's just allergies.' Do you remember that? Michael Scott: Yeah, I'm trying to lure these kids into my booth. But, uhh, kids are very weary of being lured, these days. Thank you Dateline. Michael Scott: Yeah kiss her. Kiss her good. Andy: Short cut! Short cut! [goes flying out of a golf cart] I fell in the sand trap. Michael Scott: Today I am headed over to the job fair at Valleyview high school to find some new interns. Get some fresh blood. Um, euthanize this place. Andy: Hit about twelve...
Read more