Well, as you can see by the picture, our lovely niece, Faith, prevailed on me to write a blog about her... Or at least to use one of the images I took this afternoon as she headed off for some second cousin's wedding (on her dad's side) in St. Petersburg.Faith has been living with us, here at Maul Hall, since June. We've called it, variously, "Camp Aunt", or "The Maul Retreat Center." I was personally hoping for something along the lines of "Cool Uncle Institute for Advanced Living" - but for some reason it didn't take.
Faith has been great company. We got off to a good start back in 1986, when Rebekah baptized her at the Providence Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach. Whatever journey Faith has taken since getting wetter than most Presbyterian babies (Rebekah likes to involve a considerable amount of water, whatever the age), there's always been something special about knowing her aunt put water on her head and said those wonderful words. "Faith McMahan, child of the covenant, I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."
Covenant Baptism is a powerful concept. It comes directly out of the idea of New Covenant that Jesus introduced - a membership in the household of God. Covenant Baptism says that we understand that the promises of God belong to all of us, as believers, and that they belong to our children, too. Of course our children, one day, have to claim them as their own... but that is a part of the rest of the story.
2 comments:
What is it about baptism? It is one of the most amazing things and I wish we had reason to do it more often in my church. It gives hope. It reaffirms the faith of all. It's something the whole church does. And without useing too many words, it preaches better than any sermon I can come up with.
We were certain that she would be in the choir. She howled and the congregation, that has now watched her grow-up, laughed and smiled. It was a great day.
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