On July 20th, 2014 our church family baptized 70 people at Walnut Hill Park. This is the third baptism celebration since the church started less than two years ago. To date over 150 people have been baptized! We are praising God for the work that he is doing!
We baptized a diverse group of people – a couple whose marriage was on the verge of divorce, former meth addicts, multiple women who had just gotten out of jail, women from the Middle East and Asia, and even young kids!
10-year old Isaiah stood up in front of the 1,000 in attendance and shared, “Growing up my mom, dad, and grandparents were all drug addicts. I didn’t know much about Jesus until I came to live with my aunt and uncle. Before Jesus, I was placing all my hope in friends and sports. I wanted to be accepted by others because I was lonely. Since placing my faith in Jesus, I look to Him for the love I want.”
Phuong, a successful young woman who recently became a Christian at Citylight, shared how God brought her to himself through a painful experience:
“My husband, Kamron, and I started attending CityLight church 4 or 5 months before we found out that my mom had cancer. I returned to Vietnam before our wedding to see my mom. When I was there, I felt desperate, alone, and helpless. It was so heartbreaking seeing so many people including my mother suffering so much. But that difficult time is when I felt most close to God. God listened to me not because of the tragedy in my life, but because I now one of God’s children through my faith in Jesus. It was nothing that I did or could have done, but it was what Jesus has done.”
Then Jennifer shared her dramatic story of how how God saved her physically and spiritually after running away from him.
“I began to gain security by partying and getting caught up in sexual sin, but I was still so unfulfilled by the life I was living. Eventually I hit rock bottom and questioned if God even had a plan for my life. I remember lying on the floor crying out to God because I felt like there wasn’t a purpose for living anymore. Then on January 11th, 2011, I was in a car accident that I shouldn’t of even survived. My car hit a patch of ice, flew 150 feet and smashed into a tree. The tree was the only thing that stopped my car from tumbling down a two hundred foot drop off. It was then that I heard the clearest voice from God say, ‘I’m not done with you yet.'”
We as a church family want to celebrate the public profession of faith that these people made and want to praise God for for being the one who initiated our plan of salvation. Jesus came to die for our sin so that we might be raised to new life!
Watch the highlight video here:
CITYLIGHT BAPTISM RECAP-HD from Citylight on Vimeo.