Baptizing In Laurel Creek

Baptism is one of Christianity's most sacred traditions. It signifies the desire of born-again Christians to follow the example set by Jesus Christ himself when he asked John the Baptist to baptize him in the Jordan river.

John had been preaching in the wilderness of Judea when he moved on to the river Jordan. There he began baptizing all who came who had repented. Jesus came to John and asked him to baptize him, but John protested. After all, Jesus had lived a perfect life - he had done nothing to repent for! John insisted that it should be the other way around - Jesus should baptize him!

But Jesus told John to go ahead and baptize him anyway because "for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness". John complied by baptizing Jesus. Immediately after Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens opened up and the Spirit of God descended and lighted upon him like a dove. The voice of God then proclaimed from heaven: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

John then realized that Jesus was the true Messiah that God had promised would come some day to save the sinners of the world by laying down his own life as the perfect sacrifice.

Jesus' baptism is recounted in the 3rd chapter of the book of Matthew. Today, Christians the world over follow Jesus in baptism as a symbol of the new birth - the washing away of our sins by the blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Today's picture features a recent baptizing held by One Way Ministries, our church in the small town of Damascus, VA. We simply walked over to beautiful Laurel Creek and our pastor baptized six people who had given their lives to the Lord.

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