Dear Baptized Ones,

     This Sunday we will have the great privilege of being a part of the baptism of Josephine McLeroy! Josephine’s parents, Jared and Becca, long for each of their girls to know and love Jesus. They recognize that, while baptism won’t save Josie, it will signify and seal the Lord’s goodness to her in giving her the gift of being raised in the household of faith. For the rest of her days, it will serve as a witness to the Lord’s promise to wash her clean of her sin and give her an eternal inheritance in Christ alone by faith alone through grace alone.

     In addition to Josie’s baptism, we will also have the privilege of partaking of the Lord’s Table. While baptism points us to the initiating work of Christ in bringing us into His family, the Table points us to the finished work of Christ in deepening our love for, and enjoying our fellowship with, Him and each other. The broken bread and poured-out cup signify and seal upon our hearts the reality that, once we are His, Jesus never leaves us or forsakes us.

     As we prepare to participate in these means of grace this Sunday, let’s prepare our hearts by meditating on the amazing comprehensiveness of Jesus’ love for us. No part of our lives is outside His concern! Let us ask the Spirit to help us improve upon our own baptisms as we witness Josephine’s, asking that we may be reminded that we too have been set apart from the world and included in the family of God. Let us ask the Lord to nourish our faith as we partake of the Table as family, asking that we may be reminded that we are to live out our new identity in growing love for Him and one another. May the Lord use these gifts of His grace to increase our joyful festivity in the deepening knowledge of who and Whose we are!

In Christ,
Robby