Sunday, September 5, 2010

Baptism Today

The boys were baptized today.

This may not look like how your church does it.

Grampa and Gramma Grasshopper, Pastor Bert, Wyatt, Gunnar (peeking over shoulders), Tate, and me (holding the towels and making a funny face, for some reason).

When I was growing up, we lived right across the street from our church.  We had lakefront property and all the baptisms were done at our beach.   Usually in the summer, but we do remember breaking ice once for someone who didn't want to wait.  I was raised with "repent and be baptized" (Acts 2:38) and "(he) believed and was baptized" (Acts 2:41 and Acts 8:13).  Baptism came after a profession of faith.  So our boys were not baptized, but dedicated, as infants.

And now, here we are.  And this church does it differently.
They're closer to the Reformed tradition and baptize babies as part of the Covenant. 
And you don't generally baptize babies by immersion, yah?

But our gracious pastor, knowing that that is more meaningful to us, agreed to immerse the boys,
and friends helped logistically with the loan of a stock tank.

And, by the way, I'm not debating methods or viewpoints, just explaining.
And either way you look at it, the boys were 'due' for baptism.

Wyatt, who went first, is smiling here but having a bit of a reaction to the temp of the water.
The air temp was 63F and the water was probably about the same.

Tate and Gunnar look on, as he is dunked.

Tate is watching Pastor Bert intently as he had his HA out.
Didn't want to baptize that.

All smiles.

Gunnar is taking this very seriously, standing like a soldier.

Boy did he squirm in the cold water, but stayed the course!

The boys were presented with baptismal certificates, and the beautiful basket of flowers in the first pic.
Well, okay, the flowers are probably more for me :D

I'm proud of them for openly professing their faith,
and for braving the chilly day and water (notice all our sweaters and warm clothes).

And we very much appreciate Pastor Bert.
He may be smiling but he's also in a lot of pain right now from a pinched nerve.
And those boys aren't small anymore!

Rejoice with us, our boys are baptized :D

7 comments:

Ruby said...

So heartening to hear that your boys have professed their faith in Jesus Christ. The angels rejoy when one sinner repents!
We are "Covenanters" so all of our children are baptized. I long and pray for the day when they profess their faith also.
(Re the face you are pulling. That is the face us mums always seem to have when someone takes our picture :-)

Abi's Blog said...

What a blessing to know that our children have professed their trust in Jesus Christ and are following Christ in baptism. You and yours are a blessing to me! Wish we had some of your cooler weather - although the boys were probably wishing for some of this Texas heat! It is some cooler- in the sixties at night, but when I left Mother's today (I was parked on the concrete driveway) my thermometer in the car said 109! Of course it really wasn't quite that - but it still feels like August. Have a wonderful September and send my best wishes to all of the boys!
Blessings,
Ava

leah said...

Oh, congratulations! What a joyous day! I was dedicated as a baby and baptized as an adult, but our boys were baptized as babies. All of us were sprinkled and not immersed (g). We were married in the Lutheran church, and the boys were baptized there. We had a special surprise when Nolan was baptized- the church had some water brought back from the River Jordan, and so Nolan was baptized with that water. Very cool.

Deanna said...

What a blessing! I get emotional at every baptism, even if I don't know the person. But what a special joy when young people choose to follow Jesus and make that public confession. And what a wonderful community you have found that will figure out how to baptize big kids!

The dB family said...

Ohhh! Congratulations, all of you!! What a precious gift to know that your boys are walking in the Lord! So neat to see all the photos too. I hope no one caught a cold after their chilly dip.

Btw, I think I would like your church very much too!

Blessings!
Deborah

Anonymous said...

STUNNING photo at the top! SO excited for you and yours. Love those Covenant children!

Mike Westfall said...

Well, now. That IS a rather large baptismal font, isn't it?