Dear Members and Friends of Valley Park,
Baptism, October 8, after the morning Worship Service:
If you have made a commitment to follow Jesus and entrust your life to Him, consider following Him in Baptism.
Jesus taught that water baptism represents a decision we make to trust Him as the “promised Messiah” who was predicted to come into the world to help heal creation and restore our relationship with God. He was committed to helping and teaching us what it means to become a child of God who is willing to be like Him and serve Him in the world as His faithful followers.
Jesus’ commitments while He was alive were to live a life that proved and showed His authority to heal everyone as only He as “the Messiah” (God’s Anointed Son) could do. Understanding that Jesus repeatedly displayed His authority to do things only God could do is the most important acknowledgement that we can ever make in our lives. If Jesus did things only God could do, then it proves He is unlike any human being to have lived and is worthy of trusting as a teacher and savior. Jesus therefore encouraged us to assess His identity because it was the foundation for following Him now and into eternity.
13 Now when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you yourselves say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 16:13-17
Peter’s response “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” was the most revealing conclusion any person could make about Jesus. This was a statement that Peter concluded Jesus was the one person in history capable of healing creation. Jesus was the one person in history who could establish a utopian type of world where everyone gets along with each other, and no one ever gets hurt. Many people who live throughout the world have placed their hope in Jesus to do what prophecy and He asserted He could do.
6 For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders;
Isaiah 9:6-7; 11:1-10
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this.
Once a person is convinced that Jesus is the Messiah, it becomes shocking to realize that He, the most Godlike and God empowered person in history would submit to death at the hands of people with inferior power and authority. Jesus explained the reason for this surrender of His life to His disciples on the night before He died.
26 Now while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing,
He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks,
He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you;
28 for this is My blood of the covenant,
which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.
29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on
until that day when I drink it with you, new, in My Father’s kingdom.”
Matthew 26:26-29
Jesus is stating clearly that He surrendered to death because it provided for our forgiveness and the establishment of a relationship with God unlike anything previously experienced by people in this world. As the King of the Kingdom of God, He died to serve our greatest earthly need; the need for forgiveness of the things we have done that are dishonorable to God. This commitment is reflected in Old Testament prophecy (see Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53).
The relevance of this summary of Jesus’ three-year commitment to proving His authority as the Messiah who died for all sinners is that baptism is a symbolic representation of a person’s willingness to surrender to the forgiving work of Jesus. The work of Jesus on the cross is the provision for forgiveness to those who trust Jesus and the waters of baptism represent a person’s willingness to embrace His provision. Baptism represents a submission to His cleansing work.
If you or anyone you know has not come to know Jesus then they need to hear about what He has done. After hearing and understanding there is a choice to be made. Will a person trust Jesus to do in them what they cannot do without Him. If a decision to trust is chosen, then baptism symbolically represents that choice. A decision to be baptized is a display of a person’s commitment to Jesus. On behalf of Jesus, I invite you to come to the waters of baptism and express your surrender to the cleansing work of Jesus. If the Messiah loved us enough to die for us, the Messiah deserves a display of our commitment to receiving His work/sacrifice.
May Jesus, as the Messiah, be honored through our choice to follow Him and be baptized. To God be the glory and may Jesus feel our love.
Pastor Kevyn
Valley Park Ministries: Pray for the Following Ministries
- American Baptist Churches of Los Angeles, Southwest and Hawaii
- Annual Meeting at Valley Park Church
- Friday. October 6 and Saturday, October 7
- Bill James Band- Saturday, Saturday, October 7, 7-9 P.M.
- Enjoy Great Music
- Bring appetizers or snacks
- Invite friends
- Bring appetizers or snacks
- Enjoy Great Music
- Small Group Studies Starting: Study: The Book of Ephesians
- Tuesdays, 10 am in Conference Room, Starts October 3
- Wednesdays, 7 pm in Conference Room, Starts October 4
- Wednesdays, 7 pm, Zoom meeting, Budd and Vivian Rude, starts October 11
- Sundays, 5 pm, in Conference Room, Starts October 8
- Volunteers Needed for Sunday Clean-up- The Hospitality team continues to look for volunteers to help with lunch clean-up on Sundays. Perhaps you would consider a once-a-month commitment to help. If so, please talk to Ann Jones. Thank you for considering helping.
- Children’s Ministry- Diana Nason
- All children join parents in the sanctuary at 10:30 A.M. for music and worship. They are dismissed to their classes during the greeting time before the sermon.
- Parents need to sign their children in when they drop them off and pick up their children promptly after service in Room 4 (1st -5th grade) or Room 2 (Preschool through Kindergarten).
- Youth Ministry- Victor Paz Meeting Location- Ranch House
- Wednesdays from 6:30-8:30 P.M. in the Ranch House.
- Sundays: Youth are dismissed to the Ranch House for Bible study during the greeting time and before the sermon. (11 A.M. to 12 P.M.)
- Prison Fellowship Project Angel Tree!
- Valley Park has embraced “Angel Tree” for many years. We will do this again this year. We will need at least 3 teams of our members to deliver gifts to the children.
- Gifts are given on behalf of incarcerated parents to Angel Tree children through home deliveries and Christmas events. This step provides the opportunity for Angel Tree volunteers to present the Gospel to families impacted by crime and incarceration.
- Connections made during gift distribution provide an opportunity to model and share the Gospel. You can start by offering a Bible card, praying with the family, sharing Gospel materials, and/or inviting them to participate in future ministry events.
- Please think and pray about it. If you would like to volunteer for delivery of gifts please contact Tammy Eackerby email at Eacker74@gmail.com.
- Food Pantry
- Wednesdays: We are presently serving 120-140 families accommodating over 500 people weekly. It appears that community needs are increasing. We always need help between 1-5 P.M. on Wednesdays with set up, serving and cleanup.
Valley Park’s “October Birthdays”: Members, Friends and Youth
Please consider giving us your contact and birthday information so we can include you in our recognition of birthdays.
01 Jolyne Fuentes – Susan Han’s Daughter
02 Maria Aquino
02 Zoe Aquino (child)
04 Andrea Cornejo
06 Linda Garcia
06 Suzanne Freeman
07 Budd Rude
09 Todd Lavachek
09 Angelica Torres
11 Steve Hoover
19 Lupe Hallak
20 Christina Rivadeneira
21 Raquel Paz
28 Joshua Lavachek