Ceremony Welcoming me into the Church

What it means to me to join Grace Covenant (below)

Listen as you read.

The Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved (Acts 2:47b). Today, we give thanks that the Lord is adding Josh to the fellowship of Grace Covenant.

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we are all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free . . . in fact, God has arranged the parts of the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be (1 Cor. 12:12-13, 18).

We anoint with oil in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to acknowledge that by one Spirit we are baptized into one Body and that God has placed Josh in fellowship with Grace Covenant.

Holy Spirit, we thank You for placing Josh in this body of believers. Bless Josh with Your gifts so that the Body of Christ may be strengthened for its mission. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant Church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless (Eph. 5:25-27).

We sprinkle Josh with this holy water to symbolize the love of Christ and the cleansing of God’s Word to which he now submits. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

There are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one (1 John 5:8). The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin that we may have fellowship with one another; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:7, 3).

Let us rejoice and extend to Josh the right hand of fellowship (1 John 1:4; Gal 2:9).

Listen as you read....

Psalms 107
17: Fools, because of their transgressions, and because of their iniquities are afflicted.
18: Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat;
and they draw near unto the gates of death.
19: Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
20: He sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
21: Oh, that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.

About nine years ago, while at Wildwood, just after my fearful flight from Columbia, I used these words from the Psalms as my testimony. As I applied for membership here at Grace Covenant Church, I dated my acceptance of Christ into my life at this time, while fleeing, fearful of the impending death of my soul.

My life was Redeemed from destruction.

Psalm 103
2: Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
4: Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies...

I met the Redeemer, Jesus, raised from the dead, conquorer of death.

Matthew 20
28: ... the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

My life was bought back from death, but it has taken time for my faith to grow from fearfulness to joy, as I read

Perfect love casts out fear,

knowing that perfect love had not come, knowing that the fearful are without the holy city in the end. I read

Phillipians 2
12: ... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

fearfully, and it has taken time to move into the truth following:

13: For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Redemption is not of myself. Both the desire to walk the ways of life and the power to do so are in Christ. Because it is the work of Christ, it is an eternal work.

Hebrews 9
12: Neither by the blood of bulls and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
...
14: How much more shall the Blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Over nine years my faith and friendship with Christ has grown. My fear is subsiding as I look to the Author and Finisher of faith, instead of my own heart, which I cannot keep. With Nebechadnezzar I say again,

Daniel 4:

[37] Now I ... praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

Today, I have been brought into the Church, made up of all who are heirs of Salvation. A formal beginning to an everlasting life of always deepening love for the Savior and the saved.

In conclusion, I ask your prayer that I may continue on this path, bringing honor and glory to Christ Jesus, by allowing him to express himself more and more deeply in my life. Long ago, seeds were planted in dry ground, but they have been nurtured and the climate has changed. The rains have come.

I am pleased to have you all as brothers and sisters, fellow members of the Body and Bride of Christ, whom he shall deliver without spot unto himself.

May this be true of all of us.

Thank you.