WINDER, Ga. – What began on March 1 as a regular Sunday service at Bethlehem Church quickly became a day that few who were present will forget. By the time the waters stilled, exactly 400 people had been baptized across all three campuses. Lead Pastor Jason Britt said 13 baptisms were planned, and 387 more followed in response to the invitation.
Britt said he was preaching a series on the Holy Spirit, titled “Familiar Stranger.” The series focused on what Britt called “the person, power, and presence of the Holy Spirit,” and he knew he would close with the description in Acts 2 of the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost.
As he prepared the message, Britt sensed the Lord leading him not only to preach repentance and faith, but to call people to immediate obedience in baptism. “I felt prompted, and I read it with fresh eyes. It says, ‘Repent and be baptized,’ and I felt like the Holy Spirit pressed that on me.”…