Baptism

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So last week I talked about a dinner that I had to get all dresses up for, today I want to tell you about a time I had to dress down.

There was a teenager that I had the privilege to mentor, his name was Josh and he for a long time walked a line between the world and his faith.

While we were at summer camp he decided that the time had come to take his faith seriously and take the first act of obedience

In the middle of the Sacramento Delta River myself and another leader named Ryan got the opportunity to baptise Josh. In the moment Josh made a commitment to follow Christ and take part in his first act of Obedience

Today we are going to dive into Baptism

Last week we talked about getting dressed up, now we are going to talk about getting dressed down.

Well lets talk for a moment about about the Great Commission

Matthew 28:16–20 NIV

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

So lets start off strong and get to the first point early today

We Are Called To Make Disciples And Baptize Them

If Jesus says it, then we should be doing it.

I have said it before, we have the cure to the worst sickness there is, “SIN” why are we holding on to it and not sharing the Way the Truth, and the Life.

We try to hold on to it like if we share Jesus He will be less in our lives, but the amazing thing is that the opposite happens, the more we share Him, the more more faith we get.

You want to build your faith, share it.

We are to share the Love of God to others, you see, Evangelism is not a gift given to some, it's a command given to all Christians.

You see God’s Will for your life is that you will go out and make disciples, God’s will is for you to share the Gospel

People often wonder what God’s Will is for their lives, what God wants them to do, well the first thing is to share the Gospel, your job is secondary

Acts 18:3–4 NIV

and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

Paul is known as an Author, missionary, spiritual leader, we do not often refer to him as a tent maker

we are also called to Baptize others

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

See Baptism is our first act of obedience

In Acts Peter is recorded saying,

Acts 2:38 NIV

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Being baptized immediately follows repentance

My opinion based off of what I read in scripture is that when you give your life to Christ, you get baptized A.S.A.P

You don’t need to be perfect

you don’t need to go through a class

you don’t need to jump through hoops you just do it

Do I have scripture to back this up, You better believe it

There was a man that was an Ethiopian eunuch who was returning home

and angel of the Lord set Philip to meet him

Philip heard him reading and asked him if he understood

The Ethiopian asked him to sit with him

Acts 8:32–38 NIV

This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

Baptism Is A Joyful Proclamation of Faith

baptism is a moment that we stand before others and declare that “I AM a Follower of Jesus”

You are drawing a line in the ground saying I am a follower of Christ

You are not hiding your faith, your are being in a way buried with Christ and when you come out of that water you are symbolizing the new creation that is made in Christ.

Baptism Starts A Brand New Life

There is something that happens spiritually when you are baptized

I think of this way

I have a friend that put it this way

When Karen and I were getting married if we were to stop the wedding as we were walking up to the alter and run off, and lived as a married couple would. Karen’s dad and my dad would have chased us down and we would have been living our life in sin even 30 seconds before the words were spoken, “You and now husband and wife, we were to run off, we would have been in sin.

Things change in that moment, we might not be able to see it, might not feel it but the fact is that something spiritual happens in that moment.

The same thing happens with baptism, in the moment of going under the water and coming back up, something changes.

Romans 6:4 NIV

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.

This is not to confuse and say you are not saved if you are not baptized, that is simply not the case, the thief on the cross was saved and was never baptised. BUT if you simple say that you do not want to be baptised, you are not only denying a wonderful gift, you are in open rebellion to what God has commanded us to do.

If even Christ, I would argue did not need to be baptized, went and got baptised it must be pretty important

Matthew 3:13–17 NIV

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

So here is the questions

Have You Been Baptized?

If you have not and you have given your heart to Christ and repented it’s time

Have We Become Numb To How Special Baptism Is?

When we see a baptism, we should be so excited to see new life come out of the old

We should be celebrating that life change, and the gift that God has given us.