Just as God led the Israelite’s of old, we serve a living God who loves us, cares for us and gives us direction today. This post is a simple, yet important reminder of how God has led us in the past. For just as Ellen White has said:
“We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.”
Looking back over the past ten years, we can see God’s providence throughout, in good times and challenging times. He has always been there, leading us and remarkably also bringing people to us, sometimes apparently out of the blue, who desperately needed to know Him and the peace that only He can bring into their lives.
Today’s post is a celebration of the many ways that God has led us; and one of the most visible ways is through the growth of our church family. This has happened in many ways, but baptisms are always the most joyous, as they demonstrate new beginnings as we accept the free gift that Jesus is offering us and committing our lives to Him:
“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit”
Author Max Lucado describes baptism beautifully when he says:
“Baptism is like a precious jewel—set apart by itself, it is nice and appealing but has nothing within it to compel. But place baptism against the backdrop of our sin and turn on the light of the cross, and the jewel explodes with significance. Baptism at once reveals the beauty of the cross and the darkness of sin. As a stone has many facets, baptism has many sides: cleansing, burial, resurrection, the death of the old, and the birth of the new. Just as the stone has no light within it, baptism has no inherent power. But just as the stone refracts the light into many colours, so baptism reveals the many facets of God’s grace.”
Below are some photos from our baptisms over the past ten years to serve as a reminder of these special moments in our history. Such memories help us recall how God has led us thus far, collectively and individually, increasing our faith and giving us a hope in a wonderful future together with Him, both in this life and the glorious day when He returns to take us home.
