Sunday, September 27, 2009

The Philippian Jailer

What a great service we had this morning. Some months ago I officiated at the funeral of a friend (not from our church) whom I had known for a number of years. As a result of that funeral, this man's widow and their daughter and family began to attend our church.

As part of our new members class, I always give a presentation of the gospel along with an invitation for people who've never done so to place their faith in Christ. The dad of this new family became a believer as a result of our class, and today I baptized him and his two boys (his wife was already a believer and had been baptized).

What made this morning so neat was that the dad is the administrator of our county jail. And so, during the baptism, I told the story of another jail "administrator" from the city of Philippi, as told in Acts 16. And, of course, it was this jailer who asked Paul, "What must I do to be saved?" and was told, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved -- you and your household." And, indeed, not only was this man baptized but also the rest of his family. So it was fitting (and very touching) this morning to baptize this dad and his two boys -- just as Paul had baptized the family of the Philippian jailer.

On this blog that focuses on long-term ministry I would love (but won't take the space) to elaborate on how many years and how many contacts went into making this morning's wonderful service possible. This sort of fruit is rarely seen by a pastor who feels the need to move from church to church -- or by churches who trade off their pastors every few years! But I wouldn't trade it for anything!