We are having really special services this weekend. It is a baptism weekend. The music set is great – Hungry (I’m leading – a fun song for an alto! I’m thrilled because this song is my heart’s cry), Sweetly Broken (another fave as it’s words so reflect a surrendered heart), Our Love Is Loud (a song celebrating being in love with Jesus), Love The Lord (loving Him with everything in me), You Never Let Go ( the reality of God’s presence no matter what our circumstances are). Each of the songs have a different significance for all of us, but specifically this weekend for the people who are declaring their love for God through baptism.
I will be reading the testimonies of these people as they are being baptized. As I have been previewing them, it is so sweet to see the different ages and personalities of their stories. But all have the same underlying message – they are ready to go a new way. The way of following Jesus.
Jesus, my prayer for this weekend, beginning tonight, would be that this would be such a special and significant time for these people and their families. May this be a night where they can look back and remember a decision made and a love declared that will give them strength in the future. Please allow the components of the services to enhance and not distract from their experience. May the words of the songs ring in people’s ears, not the voices of those singing. May the words spoken in their testimonies impact people, not the reader. May everything done tonight and all weekend be merely a backdrop for the power of the work You have done and are doing in these people’s lives. And as they come up out of the water, may Your radiance and glory shine all over their faces.
Jesus, this weekend is your celebration. Please help us to do it justice….