One of the Filipino guys who’s been attending First Baptist Lloydminster just walked out of my office with his wife less than ten minutes ago. He came with a nudging feeling that something is totally wrong and wants to make it right. What is it? You ask. It’s finallymaking a decision to follow Christ and be baptized. He wants to declare that Jesus is Lord– to make Him the ultimate King of his life and his family.
He said he’d been “pretending” to be a follower of Christ– learning the talk, mostly, and engaging in Christian activities. He even admitted lying once about getting baptized back in the Philippines. But like he said, “I know God wants me to start anew so I’m coming out clean!”
After walking with him through some scriptures about the meaning of salvation and baptism, he has decided with no hesitation to symbolically join Christ in His death and to be raised to walk in newness of life as a wayu to profess the Lordship of Christ. Romans 6:4 says, “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”1
Earlier this morning, divinely appointed, I was on the phone with a Mexican immigrant who’s been here for a while and is in search of a community, saying she has struggled with lordship and wants to be reconnected to God’s family. Good thing I speak some Spanish and was able to give her some encouragement, give her directions to church and she will attend on Sunday!
Last Sunday, a couple who have been living in Lloydminster for almost 8 years now came to church for the first time since they arrived here. They were active members of a Conservative Baptist church back home and admitted that the drive to earn, succeed and live out the “North American” dream became their topmost priority– thus, their lost connection with a church community. Until very recently, she had a stroke and felt it was God nudging them to reconnect, and to trust Him for everything.
In order to trust God first and foremost we must relinquish our sense of ultimate control. To surrender to His lordship has nothing about our thinking, or our talent at manipulating things and stuff to suit our whim. It’s all about God. God is to be trusted utterly. Now, that’s the way it must be, of course, if God is. Because that defines what is finally true. Until we get this right it stands to reason that much, if not most of the time we will feel our feet are never quite set upon a path that’s going any place that really matters.2
What an assurance to finally come to rest on the most secure foundation. All the hopping and shopping around in terms of faith can simply stop. Now this faith and trust does not relieve us of great difficulties and hard choices. But it does provide the hope that drives us confidently into the future knowing for certain the direction of our true home.
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1 The Bible, New Living Translation 1987 2 SBauman CCUMC 4252010
Confluent Thoughts 