R U Branded?

I grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which I am observing, has a lot in common with Iowa:  vast wide-open spaces, a lot of agriculture, Amish communities, and livestock.  Even though I was not a farmer myself, I was surrounded by farming as a child/teen.  One winter, a farmer in our church was in danger of his barn collapsing on his cows because of the weight of the snow on the roof, so my youth pastor gathered up a few of us teenagers and we shoveled off his roof for him!

This farmer cared for his cows, as many farmers do, because his livelihood depended upon these cows living.  He invested a lot of hours and money into raising these cows, so he didn’t want to lose them.  Many years ago, farmers went to great lengths to make sure that their cows were not lost, or stolen by someone else, especially in fields where one farmer’s cows would mix with the cattle of another farmer.  To make sure a famer knew which cows belonged to him, he BRANDED them with his mark. 

If you’ve never seen this done in person, I’m sure you’ve seen it performed in a movie, where a very hot iron with certain letters or symbols unique to a specific farmer is held onto the thick skin on the hind quarters of a cow, leaving a mark that could not be altered or tampered with.  It is a permanent marking where a farmer was in essence saying, “This cow belongs to ME.”

God has a method of branding what belongs to Him too, but it isn’t accomplished through fire, but water instead.  This is what baptism is all about: God branding us with His mark.  When you are baptized, you are declaring to the world, “I am proud to be a follower of Jesus Christ, and I am proud to wear His mark.”

Baptism has been the “branding” for those who follow Christ down through all of church history.  Only a short time after Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, even a servant from Africa who never met Jesus personally understood this.  When he understood that Jesus died for him, and as a result, wanted to live his own life for Jesus, his first question was, “Look!  Water!  What prevents me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:36)

Is it your desire to be identified with Christ through baptism?  Do you want to wear His mark proudly?  You will have that opportunity on Sunday, June 13th @ 12:30pm (after The River service).  We require all people interested in baptism to attend a short class in preparation.  If you would like to be baptized at this service, or want more information about baptism here at Federated, contact Pastor Danny by Sunday May 16th.