ONE COMMUNITY: OF JUSTICE

August 1, 2010 |

Yesterday I was able to perform one of my favorite things that ministry allows me to do– infant baptism. Some people were surprised that Crossbridge baptizes babies so, I decided to write a post to explain why we sprinkle babies.

1. We are Presbyterian. Part of what it means to be Presbyterian or Reformed is to be covenantal. Cove…what? Reformed Christians read the Bible with the understanding that God relates to individuals through a people he has set aside. The terms of this relationship that God establishes with his people are called covenants. Through the 6 main covenants depicted in the Bible (Adam/works, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, New) God vows to protect, to nurture and to never abandon his covenant people.

2. We believe that baptism (as circumcision in the Old Testament) functions as a sign and seal of this covenant. The seal aspect points to the fact that through baptisms people are brought into life in the covenant community in a visible way. In Matt 28:12 when Jesus commands his disciples to make disciples and baptize, he intended that those who became believers in his Gospel would have to be immediately inserted into the covenant community for nurture, service and growth. The sign aspect reveals that there is a greater reality which baptism points to. This greater reality is, God’s outpouring of special blessings to his covenant people (we technically say that baptism is a “means of grace”).

3. We believe that adults are brought into the community through baptism after they profess faith in Jesus. Infants on the other hand, that are born in the covenant community (children of members) are naturally brought in through their parents. To deny them the seal that recognizes their participation in the community is to A) narrow the composition of Jesus’ church (covenant community) to people that have the ability to discern B) to be inconsistent with what actually takes place practically.

4. We believe that baptism does not confer salvation. Reformed Christians differ from Catholics that believe that regeneration is initiated in baptism and from Baptist or Anabaptist Christians that believe that baptism is merely a symbol of one’s profession of faith. For us, baptism is a sacrament. Sacramentum is a Latin translation of the Greek word Musterion from where we get the word ‘mystery’. We believe that in baptism as in communion, God graciously distributes blessings to those who participate by faith. In the case of infants being baptized, their parents’ faith. Parents trust Jesus in baptism that Jesus will mysteriously begin to work in their child’s life and that one day Jesus will draw their child to himself and, that their child will one day publicly profess their personal faith in Jesus.

5. A covenant involves responsibility for those who participate in it. As wedding vows bind those who marry, baptism binds the church (the covenant community) and the parents to Jesus’ covenant. For both, it means bringing the child in the ways of the Lord, providing the child a culture of Grace and, godly examples to follow. Lack of faith in participation implies in judgment.

I know that there is room for a lot more to be said in this post and I’m sorry if I disappointed but, let me remind you that this is a blog not a theological journal. I attempted to be practical and less technical so, if you wish to study this topic in more depth let me know and I’ll send you a couple of theological papers. I also recommend this video by Dr.Richard Pratt one of my professors in seminary.

Click here to view the embedded video.

On Sunday, July 18, we will be performing baptisms during the worship hour. If you wish to be baptized or to have your children baptized please RSVP with Pr. Sam.

This Sunday from 10:30 to 12:30 Community Blood Centers of Florida, Inc. will be at Crossbrige Pinecrest. All donors will receive a t-shirt, mini-physical and thank you pack!!!

Starting on July 14th on Wednesday nights from 7-9pm (at the Pinecrest location) Crossbridge is providing a venue for all artists, musicians, song-writers etc. to come out in forum like format to share their ideas in order to raise the worship experience in both Pinecrest and Brickell and, continue to foster a culture of indigenous art throughout the city.

We’ve created a real special opportunity for you to learn more about us!! If you have been hanging around Crossbridge lately and you’d like to dig in a bit deeper TASTE OF CROSSBRIDGE is for you!! Come have some coffee with Pastor Felipe on Aug 1, 2010 @ 7:30 p.m (following the evening service). He will take you through our journey and tell you where we’re headed together and maybe even help you find your place in this awesome story God’s writing here in the city. RSVP with Pastor Sam.

Thank you Crossbridge for all your prayers during our Medical Mission to Haiti this last week. Your faithfulness and generosity allowed our team of 19 medical professionals and church members to minister to the physical ailments of more than 850 men, women and children in the town of Mirebalais. It was physically, emotionally, and spiritually challenging. But it was good. We treated the lost and forgotten – those children of God stuck in desperate circumstances. And it was our privilege to do it. Rest assured of this, as we served them, they too ministered to us even more with their grace, kindness, patience and love. We had the privilege of being the answers to their prayers. Think about that. They prayed that God would send them medical care and we were God’s answer. We were the hands and feet of Christ. Thank you for sending us. We can’t wait to go again. Oh yea, they sent a message back for you, “benediksyon nan non Jezikri, Seyè nou de” – (blessings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord).

This morning we will worship in the same church where we ran the clinic during days 2 and 3. After church we will return to the guest house grab our bags and head to the airport. Happy Father’s day to all dads. Many blessings from Haiti.
J. Reynardus

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It is now about 3 pm and we’ve treated about 240 people so far. We have about 100 more to go. We rotated through a 5 minute lunch break but other than that its been non stop. We ran out of some antibiotics this afternoon but were miraculously able to obtain some locally (at a steep price) – God is good. The temperature shows no sign of cooling. The team is great. Pray for renewed strength and endurance as we enter the home stretch. Peace and love.

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Just a quick final note for the day. We saw 429 patients today. We just got back to the guest house. Very tired. Good night. One more time tomorrow.

J. Reynardus