An old African Christian named Augustine once said that every community is knit together by certain signs, and this is especially true for the Church, which is marked out by the signs of baptism and communion.
But you don’t have to look far to see that this is true everywhere. Think about the communities you’re part of. What kind of signs bind them together? Cue any college hand sign! Or you could think uniforms — shoutout to all our medical professionals, especially those united by the wearing of scrubs. Every group – whether a workplace, school, team, or online community – has these kinds of signs.
Things that say, “you belong here.”
But the signs of the Church are different. They are not manmade. They are divine.
Baptism and communion are not just symbols we created – they are tangible giftsgiven to us by God to unite, encourage, and nourish our faith. Through them, God tells a story – the story of salvation. A story where sinners, once clothed in sin, are washed clean, welcomed in, fed, and marked out as God’s own in Christ.
And these signs are not meant to be experienced alone.
In a world that constantly pulls us toward individualism, it’s easy to think we can do everything on our own. We can read Scripture by ourselves (though many labored to bring the Bible to us). We can sing our favorite worship songs by ourselves (though others wrote and produced them). We can pray by ourselves (though we likely learned from others).
But baptism and communion? These cannot be done alone.
They are communal by design – meant to be experienced within the family of God. That’s why being part of the Church matters so deeply. It draws us into real relationships and into shared life. As our series Designed for Community is reminding us – we were made by God for this.
And so were our children.
Right now, we have 19 incoming 6th graders stepping into a new season as they enter Mosaic Students. It’s an exciting moment – for them and for all of us as a church family.
Like any new season, it’s easier to jump in early than to wait. (Remember how long it took some of us to plug into a church during college). Our encouragement to our Mosaic Student families is simple – lean in now. Take advantage of this season. Because as many of our high school parents will tell you – life for everyone only gets busier. But no matter the pace of life, God continues to invite us deeper into life with His people. Into His Church. Because it is there that we experience more of His life together.
And we want our children wrapped up in the warm embrace of the body of Christ.
Please join us in praying:
The truth is, growing older doesn’t mean becoming less dependent – it means learning to depend more fully on God and one another. Grey hairs or not, we each need more of Christ and more of His people. Not less. And thankfully, both are available to us.
We’d love for our new 6th grade families to join us for an informational meeting on April 26th. And in May, our students will “dive in” (pun intended!) to our 4 week series on baptism and communion called Life in the Church. This series is for all our students, as we continue to hold before them the beauty of God’s family—and invite them to step in and be part of it, now and always.
