We baptized 12 people during the Sunday gathering last week. Praise God! It was an amazing time of celebrating God’s work in the lives of individuals and the step of faith and commitment each of them made. 

And here’s something else worthy of celebration: this was an extra baptism service. Typically we would wait until the Spring to do baptisms, as our last one was just in November. But there were three or four people who wanted to be baptized, so we decided to schedule an extra one in January. After scheduling it, God blessed it and continued to bring in more and more people!  

If you were part of the gathering (if not, catch the testimonies here), you’ll have noticed the beautiful diversity of those getting baptized. People from all walks of life, cultural backgrounds, and faith journeys. We serve a God who sent his son for all people.

"Before I knew Jesus, my life was characterized by..."
...Anxiety, insecurity, emptiness, stagnation, suicidal ideation, separate from God, fear of failure, PTSD, lust, loneliness, anger, arrogance.

These are words that characterized life before Jesus, as shared by the 12 people who were baptized on January 30th. Read those words through again—can you relate? We’ve all experienced these emotions, or similar ones, lost in fear, anxiety, and doubt. 

But then, God. 

God sent His son Jesus to die for us, save us, and give us new life. 

"Since surrendering my life to Jesus, I am beginning to experience..."
...Peace, love, rejuvenation, rebirth, deeper relationship with God, solidified faith, boldness, intimacy, acceptance, belonging, purpose, relief, new life, forgiveness, humility.

These are the words that characterize life after Jesus, shared by those same people. Praise God for how he moves and works to change each of us from the inside out. He called these 12 people to himself and they followed in obedience to be baptized. 

You can watch the testimonies here and then watch the replay of the live-streamed baptisms here. 

Please connect with us if you want to be baptized and publicly declare Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. Our next baptisms will be on April 17, 2022 (Easter Sunday). More details about baptism at Westside are located here. 

*Stories of Grace: We want to share this and many other Stories of Grace from the Westside church body. Each week during staff meeting, we share stories of grace: what God is doing in us and through us. We are always encouraged by it as a staff team and want you to be encouraged as well!