“Hey, you Mr. Combs?” announced a big fellow in a Federal Express uniform as he entered the church office.
“Yes.” I replied.
“With Wilson Community Church?” he continued.
“Yes, that’s right.” I said.
“Well, I got your hot tub here. Where do you want it dropped off?” He asked.
“Hot tub? I don’t think… Wait a minute. Let me see your invoice.” I asked. “This is not a hot tub. It’s our portable baptismal!” I said with a laugh.
“Ohhh.” He said. “Now, that makes better sense.”
“We think it does too.” I replied.
Our portable baptismal arrived this week. We went in together with two other portable churches to share the cost of this $3400 “hot tub.” In the past we’ve waited for warm weather to hold our baptism services, but we wanted to start letting people follow in obedience as quickly as they committed. Plus, we thought it would be great to have the baptisms during our regular Sunday services.
This baptismal is really cool. It holds 400 gallons of water, has a pump, and a water heater. It has room for 2 or 3 people at a time. And it’s easy to assemble and take apart and fits in a closet for storage.
Discovery Church in Greenville will be “baptizing” our baptismal on Sunday, February 17th. Since they’re going to use it first, we’ve asked them to figure out the best setup/take-down procedure. They also will be building storage cases for us to transport and store it in.
“As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.” (Acts 8:36-38 NIV)
We already have five people waiting for baptism. Now, we can tell them, “Look, here is water! Why shouldn’t you be baptized?”