Bapto-Blast on the Beach

I love baptisms: History (Jesus’ command to baptize) meets the present, and the individual connects to Christ and His Body, the church. And Sunday’s Immersion Baptisms at the Shawnee Mission Park Lake Beach were no different—we had a great crowd, lots of Holy Spirit, eight buoyant baptismands, a friendly Parks & Rec Lifeguard, a great beach-version worship band, and to end it all, a mongo custom-made cake (from our favorite fire-fighter & baker Tim Reazin, who kept it on his lap in front of the car air-conditioner vents until the service was over!)

One of my favorite moments was seeing 6-year old Riley, after his baptism, swim back to shore underwater like an underage Aquaman (Aquaminnow?). Riley’s father Scott died a couple years ago, and as I watched Riley swim back to his mom Jennifer and their family and friends, I suspected his dad and Jesus were watching from Heaven with delight. There was no dove anywhere (that I saw), but I did hear a voice from Heaven saying “This is my beloved son, in whom I’m well pleased.”

I also was blessed to offer a prayer of dedication of beautiful Alayna-–one of our little Kaw Prairiers with Down Syndrome, and with energetic, joyful parents who serve and bless her as Christ serves and protects them. It was humbling to be smiled at by a little girl so vulnerable by the world’s standards—and so perfect and full of blessing by God’s.

And I think God was also pleased with His church on Sunday, too. There were lots of joyful Kaw Prairiers there who had no relation to anyone getting baptized—or to anyone reaffirming their baptism—and simply came to join in the cloud of witnesses welcoming the newly-watered saints (and maybe to let their kids swim in the beautiful lake on a 97-degree day!)

So this week, please pray for these newly baptized disciples—each with their own personalities and powerful stories— that the Holy Spirit will help them respond with gusto to the promise of God’s grace they were washed with on Sunday. (O yeah, and please pray that the tech team can dry out my remote mic by Sunday—as the baptisms went on, I got a little too energetic with the baptismal back-toss moves, and so my shirt-collar-mounted unit met a little more water than they were counting on!)