The women gathered together Thursday to hear another story from the Word of God. This day it was the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch taken from Acts 8:26-40. This week I wanted to make sure that these women were following Christ and that they knew that their connection to God was strong.
This lesson centered on baptism: what it represents, and who should do it. Baptism does not save us. However it is one way we show that we are putting our faith in Christ. It is also the way we show our family and friends that we are following Christ. It is a picture on the outside of what God has done on the inside. It is also a way of helping us to be sure that we are following Christ. In the Bible, people were baptized as soon as they were sure they wanted to follow Christ. Baptism is by immersion because it is a picture of us being buried in the ground and being raised up to live a new life. When you put your faith in Christ, your old sinful life died, and you have begun to live a new life as a child of God.
Here in Zambia most often when someone gives their heart to Jesus they are not baptised until about one year later or longer. They feel like they have to really teach the new believer beforehand which is good but they also want to test their life to see if they are really going to change. We spent quite a bit of time talking about Baptism being an act of obedience. Its a testimony: our first profession of faith. It is a witness to our community that we are now identified with Christ. It's a time when we want others to know that we are not ashamed to follow Jesus. It is the first step of obedience in our Christian life. There were 9 women there and all 9 of them had been baptised. They committed to learn a bible verse this week and to share this story with someone else. Pray for these women as they go out this week in their villiages and share God's Word with others.
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