It is no secret that the day that we launched Element Church, August 16, 2009, was one of the most amazing days of my life. It was the day that a dream that God had placed in my heart, and in the hearts of so many others for Millvale came to pass. It was the day that a church was opened in a building that had years before housed a different church. It was a day that for some people, marked the beginning of a journey that would begin to fill the empty places deep within their souls, and where they would finally recognize that the missing "Element" in their lives was a vibrant, growing, relationship with their Creator.
While that day will continue to reign as special in our lives, today, January 17, 2010, we added another that may well have surpassed the significance of even that great opening moment. Today we celebrated our first-ever baptism service at Element Church. It all began with such a flurry of activity, as we hustled to not only get our regular responsibilities for Sunday morning accomplished, but we had the added task of getting everything needed to bring in a portable tank, fill it, and be ready for the 12 people looking forward to follow Jesus in getting baptized! Christopher Santoro and his team did an amazing job at pulling it all together -- I LOVE THIS TEAM! So many of them stayed until the very end, serving well past lunch time, to make sure everything was taken care of after the service, as well.
I was also so proud of everyone who chose to follow Jesus in baptism today! It is so cool to see how God has been bringing them along, and I am pumped to think of what the future may hold for them! It was also a special moment for me personally, as the very first person ever baptized at Element Church was my youngest daughter, Jacki. She is an awesome young woman of God, and I love thinking about the decision she made today. I can't wait to see how God will use her as she grows up!
Element Church is made up of a lot of people who come from different kinds of religious backgrounds, so we thought it best to explain how we do baptism, and to get into some of the "why's" behind what we do, as well. We also established what a great "celebration" moment this really is, and that we want to be know as a church that celebrates the kind of change in people's lives like this, that only Jesus can bring. And then it was time...
Prior to each baptism, we had pre-recorded a brief story from each person, detailing why they wanted to be baptized. We've included those stories, as well as another video we used to introduce the baptism portion of the service, appropriately titled, "Baptism" by Restoration Videos. We used the video because it explained in a few words what we tell the world when we are following Christ in baptism. That video is immediately followed by the stories from members of Element Church who were being baptized on January 17, 2010.
It was overwhelming to hear the way everyone at Element CELEBRATED with cheers, and shouting encouragement for each one as they came out of the water. I don't think I've ever been a part of a baptism service where it was ever such fun! The look of happiness & joy on each person as they came out of the water...man, it was priceless! I wish you ALL could have been here!
One more thing...after the baptism service today, we gave a brief time of response for people in the crowd to receive Christ, and 7 people --several of them first-time guests, gave their hearts to Christ! I'm beginning to think this Jesus stuff might be contagious, and I can't wait to treat it with baptism service #2!
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