I Left It in the River

Published August 4, 2026

A man in a 'Made New' t-shirt raises his arms in celebration as another man baptizes him in a river, both smiling joyfully amidst splashing water.

by Dale Reeves

Story Pastor

On my drive into the church office Monday after enjoying several weeks basking on the beach in Florida with my wife, our daughters, sons-in-law, four grandkids, and eighteen other family members, I heard these words sung on the radio by Jamie Macdonald:

“I said a prayer from the banks of a river,

God met me there, showing me something better;

My life was changed when I stepped into the water,

Ain’t seen my chains since I gave ’em to the Father.

Hallelujah, I’ve been delivered.

Where is my guilt? Where is my shame?

I left it in the river, oh, I left it in the river.”

_{Songwriters: Colby Wedgeworth / Jamie Macdonald / Jonathan Gamble}

Do yourself a favor and check out this song today. Click Here.

A Little Child Shall Lead Them

A young girl with braided pigtails stands in a blue baptismal pool, speaking into a microphone held by a pastor before her immersion.

Jamie’s question, “Where is my guilt? Where is my shame?” resonated with me because our lead pastor Brad had just shared in our brand-new “Training Camp” series that in order for us to be on mission on the field for Jesus (and not just standing on the sidelines), we may need to let go of a few things . . . such as guilt, anger, and unforgiveness toward others. If you missed last Sunday’s message, you can watch it here.

After Brad’s teaching this past Sunday, at the end of second service, Christ’s Church witnessed another awesome baptism as Haven Benoit was immersed into Christ by her father Jacque. Before her baptism, her dad shared about what an amazing witness for Jesus eight-year-old Haven is, how she loves coming to the church building every Sunday, what a powerful example she has been to her family, and how she has a servant’s heart.

I’ve enjoyed watching this family grow in their faith, and almost every week they are sitting on the front row in our auditorium, wanting to soak up every bit of the worship singing and Bible teaching that takes place here every Sunday. Haven is a very precious little girl that I enjoyed having in my drama class at MAD Camp this summer.

I am so thankful for our dynamic children’s ministry at our church, led by our amazing children’s ministry director Holly LeMaster, who spends so much time pouring into children
and their parents, coming alongside them to help them accomplish the mission they have been given to raise their kids to know and love God (see Deuteronomy 6).

Have You Left It in the River?

So that brings me to ask you this question today: “Where is your guilt? Where is your shame? Have you left it in the river?”

I know that every Sunday, there are people physically sitting in the seats at Christ’s Church or watching our worship experience online who are still holding onto their guilt and shame. They have not allowed Christ to wash them clean through the act of repentance of their sins, confessing that Christ is Lord of their lives, and then following Jesus through his example of being baptized in water. At Christ’s Church, we believe that salvation from our sin and ourselves is only available through God’s free gift of grace, through the blood of Jesus Christ. We stand on the truth that the Bible commands every believer in Christ to be baptized by immersion as indicated in numerous Bible passages (see Matthew 28:19, 20; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21, among others).

Biblical baptism is an intentional decision made by a believer to repent of his or her sins and be buried with Christ in full immersion in water. We are baptized by immersion because Christ himself did it in the Jordan River, he commanded it, and the early New Testament church practiced it. In the Greek language, from which our New Testament was translated, the word baptize literally means to “dip, plunge, or immerse.” The early church practiced immersion because Jesus was baptized this way. Every baptism in the Bible was by immersion.

The apostle Paul tells us, “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:3, 4, NIV).

What about infant baptism? In the Bible we find parents bringing children to Jesus. He held them and prayed for them and told us to welcome them. But he did not baptize them, and he did not tell anyone to baptize them. If you have not experienced adult baptism, even though you may have experienced baptism as an infant, the full meaning and significance of baptism has yet to take place in your life. We strongly encourage you to be baptized as an adult believer in Jesus. It needs to be a personal decision, not one that your parents made for you.

Would you like to know more? I would encourage you to sign up for our next CC101 class. You can do so here. In this one-hour class you will discover more about what we believe at Christ’s Church, our vision and mission, what our core values are, how to discover and use your spiritual gifts, how to get connected in our groups ministry, and so much more.

So, what are you waiting for? In the words of singer/songwriter Jamie Macdonald: