Ping Pong, Pool, and People

It is truly amazing what happens when you create an atmosphere for people to connect. This week marked the first Saturday for Motion to serve at The Outlet. Five of us showed up to serve coffee, shoot pool, and play cards in hopes that we would all realize our need for community. It was a great morning, Mark dominated the Ping Pong table and while Andrew got hustled on the pool tables, Laura and her father Vlad, taught me a thing or two about playing domino's "Lithuanian" style.

Overall it was a great morning and we were able to journey OUTWARDS in the simple act of conversation. No one was converted and no one was miraculously healed, but I think a few individuals felt like they mattered, even if for a brief moment. I can only imagine that this is how the outcasts felt when Jesus took the time to eat and drink with them.

Baptism

Excerpt from the “Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren. (pgs 120-121)

BAPTISM: IDENTIFYING WITH GOD’S FAMILY

Healthy families have family pride; members are not ashamed to be recognized as a part of the family. Sadly, I have met many believers who have never publicly identified themselves with their spiritual family as Jesus commanded - by being baptized. Baptism is not an optional ritual, to be delayed or postponed. It signifies your inclusion in God’s family. It publicly announces to the world, “I am not ashamed to be a part of God’s family.” Have you been baptized? Jesus commanded this beautiful act for all in his family. He told us to “go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (a)
For years I wondered why Jesus’ Greatest Commission gives the same prominence to baptism as it does to the great tasks of evangelism and edification. Why is baptism so important? Then I realized it is because it symbolizes God’s second purpose for your life: participating in the fellowship of God’s eternal family. Baptism is pregnant with meaning. Your baptism declares your faith, shares Christ’s burial and resurrection, symbolizes your death to your old life, and announces your new life in Christ. It is also a celebration of your inclusion in God’s family. Your baptism is a physical picture of a spiritual truth. It represents what happened the moment God brought you into his family: “Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into Christ’s body by one Spirit, and we have all received the same Spirit.” (b)
Baptism doesn’t make you a member of God’s family; only faith in Christ does that. Baptism shows you are part of God’s family. Like a wedding ring, it is a visible reminder of an inward commitment made in your heart. It is an act of initiation, not something you put off until you are spiritually mature. The only biblical condition is that you believe. (c)
In the New Testament, people were baptized as soon as they believed. At Pentecost, 3,000 were baptized the same day they accepted Christ. Elsewhere, an Ethiopian leader was baptized on the spot when he was converted, and Paul and Silas baptized a Philippian jailer and his family at midnight. There are no delayed baptisms in the New Testament. If you haven’t been baptized as an expression of your faith in Christ, do so as soon as possible, as Jesus commanded.

(a)Matthew 28:19
(b) 1Corinthians 12:13
(c) Acts 2:41; 8:12-13,35-38