A Note From Chris- October 5, 2023

Church!
 
Last Sunday was nothing short of amazing. In all, 57 people were baptized. Each of them has a different story and different ways they came to the conclusion to give it all to Jesus.
 
One of the recurring themes Sunday was family. So many different families made decisions together. A few of them include:
Three siblings from one family over two different services
A generational trifecta, including Granny, Grandma, and Great Granddaughter
Husband and wife (multiple times)
Parents and three grown kids
Parents, daughter, and son-in-law
Twin siblings
 
Others came alone. Others came with friends. Still others came surrounded by their church family. Old and young. Male and female. Black and white. Married and single. Military and civilian. It was a beautiful picture of the grace of God.
 
One of my observations personally being right there with people is seeing their emotion as the strongholds are broken. Whenever someone makes the decision to be baptized, they are committing to give Jesus the keys and let him fight the battles. It becomes obvious in the moments right before they go into the water. They are releasing those strongholds to him. What an incredibly beautiful picture of the gospel.
 
Please be praying for each of these 57 people and the others who have already committed to be give their lives to Jesus this weekend.
 
Sunday, I also shared a simple but useful evangelism tool called the “Three Circles” for each of us to memorize and be prepared to share as conversations allow. We have provided a link to a digital copy for you to save to your phone or work on at home. Here’s the link: https://onecornerstone.org/3circles
 
This week, our staff went on an annual off-site retreat to connect, plan, and celebrate together. I’ve told you before, but we have an incredible, humble, and hard-working team that is dedicated to ministry. I’m so thankful to serve with them. Below is a picture of our team from lunch the other day. It’s one of the rare moments where EVERYONE is in the same place at the same time.
 
I look forward to seeing you this weekend as we continue to talk about our vision and the campaign we are in together for the future. God has not only offered us forgiveness through his son, but he has enlisted us to carry the mission to the ends of the world.