We rejoice each time someone chooses to be baptized, expressing their desire to live with Jesus as King. Here are the stories and photos from two recent baptisms. Join us in celebrating and praying for Judy and William as they have made this commitment! If you would like to know more about baptism, please visit our baptism page.
Judy C.
Baptized by Rachel Cowgur, Sunday, September 18th
“I used to ignore my need for Jesus in my life. I used to be a sinner with little hope of being a better person. My life since coming to BridgePoint has been a miracle. I have met some wonderful friends that have helped me along the path to Jesus. Since coming to service & worship, joining in the Rooted class and studying the Bible, God has given me my relationship back with my two sons. We had been estranged for over four years. It tormented me that they were no longer a part of my life. Through the grace of God, I’m now reconciled with both my sons.
I finally want to get baptized as a commitment to be faithful and an obedient child of God.”
William T.
Baptized by Keith Cabral, Saturday, September 24th
“Throughout my life, God has always been present. The problem is that my eyes were closed for several years with me walking away from Him at fifteen years of age. To provide some context, I was taken away from my parents and I ended up growing up in the Massachusetts foster care system from the ages of five to twenty-two years old. These seventeen years brought immense pain, heartbreak, and sorrow into my life at a level hard for a child to endure. Even though many of the families in my foster care experience had a Christian background, it was a difficult experience for me. I figured that if they believed in God and attended church on a routine basis, they would be a great family to me and possibly even better than my biological family. However, this was far from true and many of these people ended up hurting me in more ways than you could imagine. This led me to believe that these people were hypocrites and at the age of fifteen, I stopped going to church until I was thirty years old. Honestly, I don't know why I re-entered a Catholic church many years later, but God had His plans for me.
Fast forward to now, I am 33 years old and it has almost been four years since I walked back into the church. My wife, Kelsey, and I attended a Catholic church for three years, but we noticed that something was missing. We felt we were missing a sense of community. This was strange because as a child, the Catholic church provided numerous opportunities for fellowship through Youth Group, CYO Basketball, and school when I attended a Catholic middle school and high school for my freshman year. We felt that we were going through the motions being Catholic and something needed to change. This made us decide that we were going to attend non-denominational Christian churches in October of 2021 to see if this would be a better option for us.
We started by attending a “mega” Christian church locally and realized that it was not the right fit for us. It was just too big and we felt lost in the void towards the second month there. We were unsure of where to attend next, so we searched Google for smaller churches of the same type. This is where BridgePointe Christian Church came into our lives and we decided to try it out in December of 2021. Right from the start, we knew that BridgePointe was the right place for us. Everyone was welcoming, kind, and not overbearing like many Christian churches. This led to us joining BridgePointe and getting involved with the small groups. I then took two more classes, Bible Lab with Jared and Starting Point with Fred Thompson/Nelson Guimaraes. This is where I was presented with the option of being baptized, but I did not feel ready even after an hour-long conversation with Jared.
However, Kelsey and I were presented with a very difficult situation in August of 2022. Our son, Jordan, was born at 24 weeks and is currently at the NICU at Women and Infants Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, with us living at the Ronald McDonald house across the street. Throughout the past month, we have gone through many difficult times, but one thing that has changed is prioritizing God in our lives more than before. We have prayed constantly and have dedicated our lives more to Him since experiencing this event. We know that God has looked over us because Jordan has made significant progress over the past two and a half weeks and many people have supported us more than ever before in our lives, especially our family at BridgePointe. This is the primary reason why I decided to get baptized. It is time for me to open my eyes, wake up, and dedicate my life to God in the way he intended. This is why I am being baptized and I look forward to giving my life to Him. “