The Expression of Newness

A new church finds itself celebrating new milestones every week. With every step forward we take, whether it be our first Easter service or completing the framing work on the building, there is a wonderful sense of newness that weaves itself into everything we do. There is one new milestone we reached in August that communicates everything we are about, on a level that is more important than first meetings and completed building projects. I am talking about the celebration of new life within our family, as seen in our biggest milestone yet, our first water baptism!


What makes water baptism so special is that it symbolizes a work that has taken place within the life of a believer. That work being: The Holy Spirit grants newness of life, after one's guilt and sins are put to death through the death of Jesus on the cross. Water baptism communicates this work more effectively and poetically then any blog post, sermon, or theology book can. Every part of water baptism is symbolic: as one goes under the water they identify themselves with the death of Christ and His atoning work, and as one rises up from the water, they do so identifying themselves with the resurrection of Christ Jesus as He arose from the tomb. Water baptism then becomes a celebration of new life, purification, new hope, and joy that accompanies the work God has done within them upon belief.
This is what the term "born again" means, and with smiles and cheers from family and friends it is clear that one is born into a new family--a new community, as they are embraced by their brothers and sisters in Christ.
As a new church, we have several important steps and new projects yet to undertake, and water baptism serves as a clear and powerful reminder, in the midst of the hard work of church planting, why we do what we do: to celebrate God's redeeming work in the lives of His people, and to take that new life to the broken world in the form of a movement--The Redemption Movement.