LakePointe Church, in conjunction with Magic Springs and Crystal Falls, will host the inaugural Summer CityFest at the theme park on Sunday beginning at 3 p.m.
The same church that extends its discipleship into local bars to hand out shot glasses urging Hot Springs residents to "give God a shot," LakePointe Church continues to strive to reach people from all different walks of life to bring Hot Springs together in celebration of what God is doing in this city, said Greg Bearss, pastor of the church.
"The heartbeat of this is just coming together in Jesus' name, celebrating what God has done," Bearss said.
A highlight of the event will be the church's annual Baptism Bash, an event that draws hundreds, sometimes thousands, of locals together for baptisms and fellowship. Bearss said LakePointe Church's ministry coordinator Scott Seeley originally came up with the idea to partner with Magic Springs, the idea developing after the church's regular Baptism Bash location on the lake became unavailable.
"The fact that we're doing baptisms out in the open at an amusement park is just an amazing thing in this day and time to see happen," Seeley said. "God's moving in a big way in this city."
Prayer tents and a team of individuals will be on site to explain what baptism is and pray with guests and those in need.
"We're going to have a group of people, some of them have already signed up and are excited to be baptized, and maybe there will be others that don't know yet but God will work in such a way that they'll be baptized too," said Bearss.
The festival will begin at 3 p.m. with a pre-party featuring giveaways, music from The Federalis and Moxie, a BMX stunt bike show, a skateboarding exhibition, magician Maxwell Blade and KLAZ-FM 105.9 DJ Kramer. A worship experience will begin at 6 p.m. at the park's Timberwood Amphitheater, followed by the Baptism Bash in the Crystal Lagoon at 7 p.m.
The celebration will continue with a concert by up-and-coming rap artists Derek Minor and Tony Tillman at Timberwood Amphitheater at 8 p.m. and the headliner, Christian rock band Kutless, will take the stage at 9 p.m., followed by the grand finale fireworks show at 10:20 p.m.
"This is going to be one of the best fireworks shows in our county. Bring the family, bring your blankets, come out and be ready to enjoy some fun in the sun and hear about God's love for our city," said Bearss.
"We've got several pastors from several different churches that are also involved in this and will be out there praying with people and loving our city. We've invited all the churches to be a part of this, so we've really worked hard not to make this a LakePointe event, but really to make it an event for our city," he added. "It's for all the churches in our city and it's for everybody, not just for church people. We really are targeting people that don't have a church home or maybe they haven't found God to be relevant for their life; our goal is to bring them out there to see that they can have fun and follow Jesus.
"I'll be sharing some words of encouragement and really challenging people to see life differently as we see God working in and behind the scenes in our life."
Free wristbands are available at LakePointe Church, 1343 Albert Pike, while supplies last, that will allow entry into Magic Springs for a special price of $19.99 plus tax and parking the day of the event, compared to the regular Sunday admission price of $34.99 plus tax and parking. The wristbands will allow discounted admission into the park all day, not just during the event.
Sponsors include Magic Springs, Trinity Church, First Lutheran Church, Gospel Light Baptist Church, Legacy Printers & Supplies, Inc., Allure Salon, Hot Springs Baptist Church, Maxwell Blade Theater of Magic and Home Care Assistance. Wristbands can be obtained from any sponsor or participating church, but are "going quickly," Seeley said, and will only be available while supplies last.
In addition to the 10,000 wristbands that are being passed out to the community, LakePointe handed out 1,000 free passes to Magic Springs for the event.
"We handed those out, really targeting people that either can't afford it or really don't have a church connection in our city, and it's an opportunity for them to come and check it out for free and just see that we're just real people following a real God and having a lot of real fun," said Bearss.
He added that planning is already underway for next year's Summer CityFest.
Visit http://www.summercityfest.com for information.
Local on 06/29/2016