A Day for Celebration
Prayer
Heavenly Father, what a beautiful day! Thank you so much for waking us up, for the cool morning air that gradually turned into sunshine, for my brothers and sisters in our heavenly family—for our brothers and sisters that were baptized today—and for our elder brother and King, Jesus! We lift your name, Most High God, and celebrate you with shouts of joy-filled praise. Hallelujah!
Focus
A day for celebration!
Devotional
Today was the day of baptisms at All City church—and boy do we celebrate!
God has blessed our property not only to be an All City church but a location for other churches to gather as well. There’s the Filipino church, the Spanish church, the Vietnamese church and there might be more churches coming to gather in the future. God’s church—that is the global body of believers past, present, and future—is a mixture of every tribe, tongue, and nation. At our location, the churches like to come together for baptisms to celebrate as one.
Today, we were all able to see, walk alongside, and celebrate those who have made the choice to follow Jesus. It was a beautiful sight to see. There’s nothing like watching your new brothers and sisters in Christ get baptized, knowing that you’ve just received another forever family member.
I’m reminded of my baptism and something important that stood out to me during that moment that I would like to share.
I was standing, proud, with my hands clasped behind my back and my head held high. Alongside me were two friends I had made about a year ago that I had gotten to know. It wasn’t hard to get to know them, really. One of the guys was my cellmate, and the other guy lived in a cell in our tank, too.
The journey I had been on to find myself in jail had been pretty extraordinary. I’d seen some things, to say the least. Miracles. Demonic encounters. Visions. Wild spiritual phenomena, and so much more. Then there was the incident, of course, that landed me in jail. The guys I was standing with had some pretty interesting pasts, too, but the thing that brought us together in that cell where we were being baptized was one man, one God, one King: Jesus.
Praise God… praise God… I was able to walk alongside these two men next to me to faith in Jesus. I never would have guessed that one day I would find myself in jail. I never even thought I’d be arrested. I never even thought I would have to talk to a cop! But here I was, and God was still using me.
God is sovereign. He knows the story he has written for us. He knew I would wind up in jail one day, and meet these men. He knew they were hungry, curious, and searching. While I was in jail God was able to use me to connect with them in a way that would shine a light on his son, Jesus. The Light of the World. God knew I would have the pleasure and honor to walk alongside them to faith in Jesus.
The thing I realized, that I would like to share, is that no matter where we come from, what we’ve been through, or what we’ve done, God has this spectacular way of taking our stories and transforming them into testimonies for his glory!
Our testimonies can then be used by God to bring others into faith in Jesus and the heavenly family. Praise God!!!
When we come to faith in Jesus, the next chapter begins. The whole world becomes a mission field where you get to walk with your brothers and sisters in Christ and lead potential brothers and sisters in Christ to faith in Jesus!
For those of you that were baptized today, hallelujah! I’m here, and we’re here, to celebrate with you now as well as forever and ever in the Kingdom of God! I hope you're ready because the next part of your adventure begins!
God has blessed our property not only to be an All City church but a location for other churches to gather as well. There’s the Filipino church, the Spanish church, the Vietnamese church and there might be more churches coming to gather in the future. God’s church—that is the global body of believers past, present, and future—is a mixture of every tribe, tongue, and nation. At our location, the churches like to come together for baptisms to celebrate as one.
Today, we were all able to see, walk alongside, and celebrate those who have made the choice to follow Jesus. It was a beautiful sight to see. There’s nothing like watching your new brothers and sisters in Christ get baptized, knowing that you’ve just received another forever family member.
I’m reminded of my baptism and something important that stood out to me during that moment that I would like to share.
I was standing, proud, with my hands clasped behind my back and my head held high. Alongside me were two friends I had made about a year ago that I had gotten to know. It wasn’t hard to get to know them, really. One of the guys was my cellmate, and the other guy lived in a cell in our tank, too.
The journey I had been on to find myself in jail had been pretty extraordinary. I’d seen some things, to say the least. Miracles. Demonic encounters. Visions. Wild spiritual phenomena, and so much more. Then there was the incident, of course, that landed me in jail. The guys I was standing with had some pretty interesting pasts, too, but the thing that brought us together in that cell where we were being baptized was one man, one God, one King: Jesus.
Praise God… praise God… I was able to walk alongside these two men next to me to faith in Jesus. I never would have guessed that one day I would find myself in jail. I never even thought I’d be arrested. I never even thought I would have to talk to a cop! But here I was, and God was still using me.
God is sovereign. He knows the story he has written for us. He knew I would wind up in jail one day, and meet these men. He knew they were hungry, curious, and searching. While I was in jail God was able to use me to connect with them in a way that would shine a light on his son, Jesus. The Light of the World. God knew I would have the pleasure and honor to walk alongside them to faith in Jesus.
The thing I realized, that I would like to share, is that no matter where we come from, what we’ve been through, or what we’ve done, God has this spectacular way of taking our stories and transforming them into testimonies for his glory!
Our testimonies can then be used by God to bring others into faith in Jesus and the heavenly family. Praise God!!!
When we come to faith in Jesus, the next chapter begins. The whole world becomes a mission field where you get to walk with your brothers and sisters in Christ and lead potential brothers and sisters in Christ to faith in Jesus!
For those of you that were baptized today, hallelujah! I’m here, and we’re here, to celebrate with you now as well as forever and ever in the Kingdom of God! I hope you're ready because the next part of your adventure begins!
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