Dear Baptized Ones,

     This Sunday we will have the joy of witnessing Wes Calton baptize his daughter Ann McClain Louise Calton as part of our worship service. We will be reminded of our infant-like dependency on God our Father and utter inability to save ourselves as Anne passively receives the water upon her head in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Though the water does not procure her salvation, it serves as the visual reminder of her and our helpless need to be thoroughly purified and redeemed in the Holy Spirit as a result of God’s grace alone. As J.C. Ryle writes in Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Volume 3: John 1:1—10:30 on John 3:

There is no self curative power in (us). (We) will always go on reproducing (ourselves). To become spiritual and fit for communion with God, nothing less is required than the entrance of the Spirit of God into our hearts. In one word, we must have that new birth of the Spirit which our Lord twice described to Nicodemus.

     We will have the blessed opportunity to join Wes and Kelly in teaching about and modeling the blessed joys of being born again in the Holy Spirit in union with Christ! Part of this process is to improve upon our own baptism as we remember our helplessness and the fullness of Christ’s redeeming work in our lives. Remember that you are born again in the Holy Spirit to participate in the Kingdom of God that has come and continues coming until completed at the return of Christ. Pray for the Holy Spirit to show you how you can grow up further into this new identity in the image of Christ. Come to worship prepared to be nourished by the means of grace!

In Christ,
Cameron