Performing my 1st Baptism

Hello everyone and God Bless,
I started pastoring about 4 month ago and I will be performing my first baptism this coming Sunday. I'll be baptizing a young girl (17) who was saved at a youth seminar that our church attended. I love seeing young people step up and not be ashamed of God. I've seen a lot of growth in this girl and I know she has struggled with her decision for a long time. It was great to see her finally give in to God.
We're a small church and we do not have a baptistry. I have a friend who pastors a larger church and I was going to use his baptistry but this teenager has chosen to go to "The Creek". I think it shows a lot of commitment on her part to not take the easy route. We've had snow and ice here for the past week and the temps have been in the teens. We're supposed to have a high of 35 on Sunday. I've attended several baptisms and assisted in a couple at "The Creek" and there were times when it was cold and even been snowing before, but nothing like this. It might not seem like a big deal to a lot of people, but her choice really shocked me and encouraged me at the same time. She didn't even hesitate and I even said "are you absolutely sure. It's going to be cold, very cold". She said that she " was absolutely positive that she wanted to go to the river". I had to correct her and tell her that it wasn't a river but a small creek and she said that "it didn't matter, river or creek she wanted to go". I guess I just assumed that she would pick comfort but that was my mistake for prejudging the situation. We, oftentimes, short sale our youth, but instances like this, should show us that our youth are still worth the effort and they are willing to make sacrifices for God. So, think of us Sunday. I hate cold water more than anything but this is one time that I'm actually looking forward to getting in there.

 

I truly appreciate all the comments.
As far as counseling, I'll be the first to admit that I have no formal training or education that qualifies me to counsel anyone, but I believe I have the most important requirement of all and that's the call of God to preach and teach the gospel. Concerning this young christian, she's been coming to our church for about a year and a half. She first starting coming with her grandparents because she wasn't old enough to drive and her parents don't attend church. First time I met her, I could tell that she had a sweet spirit about her. Over the last year or so, she's hardly missed a service and now she can drive herself. Her parents still do not attend church. She actually lives in another county and is surrounded by much larger churches but she still chooses to drive approx. 30 minutes each way to come to our little church. My wife is also her Sunday school teacher and my wife talks about how she is always the one asking questions and the one always reading and studying their lessons. She has also made a point to come to me and ask several questions and she even wanted the Bible reading plan so she could read the entire Bible this year. There have been several services where I could tell that God was dealing with her. She would sit there and cry but she never moved. She was holding back like so many people do when God starts dealing with them. So this youth retreat came up, and on the first night, after the preaching, she finally gave in to God's invitation of salvation. It was such a wonderful thing to witness; this child of God finally give in and turn her life over to Christ. Over the next few days, we had several conversations about what happened and about what God expects from his children. When I brought up baptism, this girl that fought so long against the call on her life, was eager to take the next step and she made it clear, that she wanted to do it the same way that it was done in the New Testament. I've seen so much growth in this young Christian, that it's given me a new zeal and inspiration to fight that much harder to win more souls Christ. Thank God that He knows what we need and when we need it.

 

Just an update: The baptism went great. It started out in Sunday School this morning. The Holy Spirit was present and people were being obedient and testifying and then we also had a wonderful church service. After that, we left and met at the creek and had the baptism. The temp. outside was 29 degrees but the water felt like warm bathwater to me. What a wonderful day in the Lord. God Bless. I'll try to get some pictures on here as soon as I can.