Worship/Baptism at The Cove

Every summer, our church holds a Sunday morning worship service at a local park known as "The Cove". This park is beautiful and is right beside the lake! The service is a wonderful outreach opportunity because it is very laid back and presents a great opportunity to invite people to join us for worship! Today was the Cove worship service and it was an absolutely beautiful day! At the end of every Cove Park service, there are always baptisms in the lake. Beckett has been watching these for the last 4 years. I remember the first time we took him down to the lake and watched the baptisms....he sat on his dad's shoulders so he could see and we talked with him about the meaning of baptism. Back in June, right before we left for Ethiopia, Beckett came to know Christ and began a personal relationship with Him! Today, he made a public profession of his faith by being baptized in the lake. What a blessed day, as Sean baptized him and I was right there to kiss and hug him as he came up from the water. All of the pictures that I'm sharing on my blog were taken by friends. Thanks to Sarah, Kayce and Olivia for these great shots!

This first one was taken from behind the crowd that had gathered to worship. If you look right in the middle, way up front, you can see our pastor on the stage. We spoke with one of our pastors after the service and he said that almost 1,400 people came to worship today!
These three boys have been friends for several years. On the left is Matt, then Beckett and on the right is Wheat. All three boys chose to be baptized today and that made the day even more meaningful!

Here is a great picture that my friend Olivia took! (She is an amazing photographer!) She took this picture of all of the people who were being baptized as they stood in front of everyone just before we made our way over to the lake. They announced each person's name who was being baptized and Beckett, Wheat and Matt all stood beside each other with their dads. I LOVE how Olivia edited this picture to make everyone a little bit blurred except the three friends!

This picture was made right before Sean baptized Beckett.

And after. "Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life." Romans 6:4

Olivia got this neat shot between some kids who were watching everyone get baptized. You can see Sean and Beckett right in the middle.

Thanks to Nana, Papa, Kathy and Marley for coming to share this day with us. Thanks also to our friends who made a special effort to find Beckett, hug him and congratulate him. It was truly a blessed day!