3 baptisms and a confession

Yesterday (Sunday) morning we had three baptisms at our church. Dominique, Anouck, and Marc, all French adults, were immersed in the church's makeshift baptismal. As with all those baptized, it was fascinating to here the unique ways that God reached into all three of their lives. Each baptism is like a victory for our whole church, as so many different people, both clergy and lay people, play a part in bringing each baptismal candidate to this point of their lives. For example, Marc and Anouck's fiancé are artists who are part of la Fonderie.

Because I was "officially" photographing the baptisms, I ended up attending both morning services. Thus, I twice heard Pastor Serge talk about his recent convictionof the need to preach only the Bible, rather than mixing human wisdom with the Bible. He mentioned Dietrich Bonhoffer's notion of "cheap grace" in which one can use one of God's qualities, such as "God is love," and use it to justify license and behavior that the Scriptures condemn. I think that the pastoral staff who heard Pastor Mike Riches, were impressed with the power and simplicity of his messages.