I grew up in a catholic home most of my childhood. In the Catholic faith, you are baptized as a baby - which means you have no choice in the matter. As a child, I went with the motions like everyone else seemed to do. After we get baptized we make our first holy communion, and then we go through the process of confirmation which  enables the faithful to be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, strengthening them in their Christian life. Even after I did those things and took classes we were required to take in my church, I still didn’t fully understand who God was and what it meant to be saved or to be forgiven for my sins. As I got older, I stopped going to church because I did not get much out of it and didn’t understand what I was being taught to me either.

A couple years later, I lost all my faith in God when I lost my 16-year-old brother Bryan to a drunk driver. I was 14 years old when this happened, and I remember every detail of that day, what my family went and still go through and I questioned God and my faith ever since that day. I truly thought God was punishing us and that he did this to us. I didn’t want anything to do with a God. I could not imagine why he would put my family through this. It wasn’t until I meant my husband, Phil, who brought me back to church, that I started to try and find Jesus again. We went to church every weekend. Finally, I was understanding what the message was, what the pastor was saying, and most importantly, who Jesus is.

Then in 2007, the opportunity came to get baptized arose. I felt like I was ready to make the decision to be baptized for myself. With family and friends present that I was going to follow Jesus and trust him. I was going to church, found my faith, and was starting to live a better Godly life. So, I did it. I got baptized for the second time.

Now, this is not where my baptism story ends. A few years later we stopped coming to church regularly and so my in-laws invited Phil and me to come to The Vineyard. I instantly fell in love. The messages were as if they were speaking directly to me with the season of life I was in. This was the first time we had taken our 2-year-old son to church and really the first time he had heard about Jesus. So, that right there got me hooked.

Later on in the year, Pastor Mark spoke a message about needing to find forgiveness for something that happened recent or years ago. As he spoke more, I felt my heart beating out of my chest. With tears flowing, I knew I needed to forgive God for what happened to my brother and ask forgiveness for thinking He had done this to my family. Pastor Mark pulled me aside that evening after the big group prayer and prayed a special prayer of forgiveness and new life over me and I truly felt like I was a new person inside and out.

In a few weeks, the chance to get baptized came up. So, with my heart fully cleansed and my life really is different I got baptized again for the third time. When I got dunked in that tank I came back up a new person, a new strong believer in Jesus and I haven’t looked back since. My faith has gotten even stronger through the years and no matter what situations- good or bad - that have happened since then, I know God is not going to let me down, I know he is going to be there getting me through any and all things.

So, if your someone thinking, “I already got baptized” or “I haven’t had a life-changing thing happen in my faith, so I won’t get baptized” it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are re-dedicating your life to Jesus Christ and that you will forever be a follower of him. Baptism is for anyone who is willing to give it all to Jesus, who is ready to surrender it all, and if that person is you, take that leap and give it all to Jesus. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first time or the fifth. I promise this is a life experience that you will never regret or forget. And knowing that you will one day meet Jesus face to face is an incredible feeling on its own.

At The Vineyard, we have an upcoming baptism opportunity at Lake Blast. If you would like to get baptized, check out a class near you by clicking on the link below.

Lake Blast & Baptism Baptism Classes 

 Mary Mark is the administrative assistant to Pastor Alan Mock and the accounting coordinator. She also serves as the coordinator for weddings, the office support team, and the counting team. Mary is happily married to her husband, Phil and together they have a wonderful son, Kris.

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