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Baccalaureate: Identity in Christ
shareAnswering the Most Important Question as You Graduate
During the May 4 Baccalaureate Service, the Class of 2025 was presented with this question regarding their identities: Are you in Christ or are you still in your sins?
Noting that God only sees two categories of people (in Christ or in sin), Friendship Baptist Church’s Pastor Bob Vrandenburgh challenged the seniors to see themselves, others, and Jesus through God’s eyes.
Reading from 2 Corinthians 5:11-17, Pastor noted our natural condition is dead in our sins. We are made in God’s image, but that image is marred. “Therefore we need to be born again…by a power outside of you that has to resurrect you,” he exhorted.
Second, our spiritual condition is dead or alive. “If any man be in Christ, he’s a new creation. You are what you are by the grace of God,” encouraged Pastor Vradenburgh.
“Not by your feelings, not by your background, not by your environment, not by your genes, not by your passions and inclinations. I’m here to tell you tonight if you’ve been saved, you are in Christ,” he added. “There’s a new sheriff in town. There’s a new master in your heart. You don’t have to sin. Hallelujah!”
He encouraged the graduates to not evaluate themselves, others, or Jesus by the flesh or by their past. Our identity in Christ is what defines us and unites us. The same God that changed them can change others.
The Baccalaureate Service also included a prayer by senior Jordy Rivera Perez, scripture reading by senior Walker Cain, hymns led by Pastor Brent Brondyke, and performances by the middle school and high school choirs.
Mr. David McClain, Head of School, closed with a prayer of benediction over the students, “Father, while they know about you, we pray that they may know you and above all, that You will know them, that they will be found in Christ. Father, stamp your rightful claim on their hearts and lives.”
Watch a 2-minute recap here: