Emphasis Preaching Journal

I was once in the remote mountains of a small country when the church leaders decided to celebrate a baptismal service by conducting the sacrament in a small river rather than within the church building as was the usual custom. The village was very small and the service had been planned with very little advance notice given, therefore, I was surprised as the bank of the stream began to fill with people. There were no phones and no automobiles in the area and I marveled as men, women and children walked down from the hills and out of the valleys to unite at the river's edge.