That looks fun - Let me in!

I had fun on Sunday.  My niece and nephew who live in Roswell were having their baby, Maddox, baptized at Peachtree Presbyterian.  After attending contemporary worship services at my churches for the last 20 years or so, I loved watching the organist dancing on the pedals and feeling my pew vibrate from the deep rich tones of the pipe organ instead of my folding chair buzz from the bass guitar connected to the subwoofer under  the stage.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love contemporary worship, but there was something very settling about the structured service and the traditional music.  It took me back to First Presbyterian in Columbus where I was first introduced to Jesus.  Four baby boys were baptized  on Sunday.   The minister did an amazing job of personalizing each baptism with a short explanation of the origins of their given names.  “Maddox is a visionary and it is likely that he will be leading many people.”  Infant baptism is something I haven’t seen in a while.  My recent Baptist and non-denominational churches all prefer full immersion of adults that are making their own decisions to follow Jesus.  The infant baptism is beautiful in that the infants are as close to sinless as they will ever be.  The baptism is a chance for parents, family and the church to express their hope and support for the child as opposed to the  child declaring anything for himself.  It was great to see almost all of my family sitting together and expressing their pledge to support and encourage Maddox.  I love this picture of Maddox because it captures the feeling I had when I was at the baptism.  Maddox kept staring at the water in the baptismal font as if he was thinking, “That looks fun.  Let me in!”  I, for one, am praying he has that chance and hope to be near when he makes his own decision.