CELEBRATE BAPTISM

Join us for the celebration of Baptism at Bethesda Baptist Church in Harris County on Sunday April 15 at 3 PM. At the time of this writing we have one candiated confirmed - BRANDON LANDREAU - and he and his family and friends are very excited! And there could be more on that day as well. Brandon received Christ a couple of weeks ago! His baptism will be a testimony to his family, friends, AWANA buddies, church and baseball team! Brandon, we are proud of you!

It is always exciting to see people baptized! There is something about watching and supporting the person standing there in the water waiting to be "dunked!" We baptize like they did in the New Testament - immerse - so we take candidates all the way under! The Greek word for baptism (baptizo) means to cover completely and we gladly "cover them completely" in the pool! Of course, I am a big splasher! It's "Surf's Up" when I baptize people!

I have been thinking how NorthStar needs a baptistry at our location. Going off campus is ok and we gladly do that, but not all the church family shows up to celebrate. If we had a baptistry in our facility then all of us together would be able to celebrate and encourage those being baptized.

Well, I found one! That's right, I found us a baptistry...a portable baptistry. It is really awesome. It can be set up and taken down in a short period of time or if needed, we can leave it up for a few weeks as long as we continue to baptize folks. And it comes with a heater!

You can see this baptistry on line at www.portablebaptistry.com They have a video link to show you how the baptistry looks and works. I also have a copy of the video coming to show to the church family.

We need $3400 to purchase this baptistry. I met with the Foundation Team and we agree that we need to present this to you, church family, and give you the opportunity to give over and above your tithe toward this purchase.

Of course, this means we will need a new Ministry Team - Baptism Team - to assist people who follow Christ through believer's baptism! Anyone interested?

I believe we can raise this money quickly and the sooner we reach our goal of $3400 the sooner we can order the baptistry and start celebrating together during our weekly worship services! Lana and I are giving the first $100 to the purchase! Who will join us? Like you we don't have it but we believe God will bless us as we give it! Some can give more and some can give less. It's not about equal amounts. It's about equal sacrifice! Let's join together and let's get this done quickly.

One day, you or one of your family members, a close friend, an associate or your neighbor will go through those baptismal waters! Won't that be exciting? This is an investment well worth the sacrifice. Just think, each time you give, whether it is a tithe, offering or special gift, it is given to invest into reaching people for Jesus and growing people in Jesus! That will be awesome!