Yesterday we celebrated the baptisms of 9 people – five from the Path of Life Bible Church Jesús María, and four from the Path of Life Bible Church Las Palmas. You’ll see them in that order in the video below. Praise the Lord! And thanks to all of you who were praying for this service.
Some interesting things happen while I’m preaching. This is partly because we’re more or less outdoors (please pray that we can find a more permanent place!).
This past Sunday was, of course, Resurrection Sunday. And as I was preaching, a microphone stand randomly fell over. Oh well… it wasn’t the one I was using.
But then a parade, with a band, started to go by. Now, the back door was open, and so I could see people in costumes going by the door. And they weren’t all – shall we say – the most spiritual. And this was right at the very personal application part of the sermon, the last few minutes, and the prayer.
I stopped briefly (this is the part you see in the clip), thinking that it was passing by. But they instead camped out at a house nearby, and we were able to enjoy the full effect for maybe 15 minutes or so.
Anyway, you won’t see the parade in the clips below, but you will get an idea of how loud it was. Eventually they began to set off “bombas” (exploding fireworks, which sound a lot like gunshots). Oddly, those didn’t really pick up in the video. They were pretty constant and loud especially during our closing singing!
But here you are – another little glimpse of the unexpected…
I’m coming prepared now, somewhat, every Sunday, to discover what last-minute issues we have right before the service.
Yesterday it was mainly a laptop which decided it was time to update itself. It was the laptop we use for PowerPoints. And this Sunday I happened to be using a PowerPoint for my sermon. With the service starting at 11am, I think it was just about 11am when the laptop finally allowed me to check my presentation. 🙂
For the second year in a row we recognized Biblical Sexuality Sermon Sunday, and I preached on 1 Timothy 1:8-11 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, touching on a few other passages as well. We ended with 7 things that these texts give us “hope” for through Christ.
A woman from our church also shared about some of the challenges that our children are dealing with, from interactions with other friends and families and at school.
Even during the service, the unexpected should really be expected. Just as I was starting to preach, loud static suddenly woke us all up – we really need to upgrade our sound system. Thankfully that was fixed quickly (thanks, Ezequiel!).
But during the coffee break, the tent at the front caught the wind and blew over completely! Amazingly it didn’t hit anyone or knock anything over. The keyboard stand did tip, but the keyboard itself landed nicely on the chair behind it.
So for another glimpse into our Sunday mornings, here’s a brief video of the “rebuilding of the tent” (makes me think of Acts 15:16)…
A drive of an hour and a half can mean a significant change of altitude around here, and so a significant change of climate. It seems funny to see everyone bundled up, ready to leave Ixtapaluca (I could see my breath), only to end up swimming at a waterpark…
So we drove to the state of Morelos, and gradually started to thaw out. We met together in an amphitheatre in the forest and sang some Christmas carols…
David led the service, and Rod shared some biblical truths about baptism…
And then the three baptismal candidates gave their testimonies.
What an encouragement to hear how God has been working in their lives!
Finally, we went down to the river. Here’s a video of the baptisms – for reasons which will be clear, it’s hard to hear what’s being said. But you’ll get the idea!
After that, we enjoyed some delicious food and some wonderful fellowship and some walking and swimming (and sleeping!) as people desired, before heading back as night began to fall.
Thanks to everyone who was praying! Your prayers are not taken for granted. There were some challenging issues in the congregations – such as a fall, sickness, an accident – which could have caused problems. But God was good. Please continue to pray for those three teens who were baptized, and their families.
For more detailed information, with more videos and photos, check out Rod’s blog Mexico Matters!
10 years ago this month (the first video is from the 14th of March, the second is the 4th), I took some random video of Hannah and Nathanael playing with some other kids. The first segment has both Hannah and Nathanael playing street hockey (no, not at all common here!). The second segment much more Mexican, as Nathanael plays spinning tops (called trompos) with some friends.
10 years ago today, the wedding photographer was working her magic at the wedding of Daryl and Iwona in Caronport, Saskatchewan.
It was a privilege to travel up to Canada for the big occasion. I had lots of time to play with pictures and video, so I took this odd little video of the photographer arranging Daryl and Iwona on a couch for a picture. Yes, it was only 10 years ago, not 50 as it may appear!
Congratulations on 10 years! Here’s my original post on the event, written 10 days later.