Baptism June 23

Welcome

Family, friends, fellow brothers and sisters in Christ,

thank you for joining us this evening as we give glory to God for his salvation!

God has been at work in the hearts and lives of:

Malachi

Curtis

Rick

Lisa

Kristina

Josh

Jeff

Mark

Angelina

George

And we’re excited to hear about that!

My Experience of Baptism

It has been just about 20 years since I was baptized.

How many of you in this room have been baptized on your confession of Jesus as Lord?

Praise God!

I don’t remember much about my baptism,

but what I do remember is that I had some expectations.

I knew the story of Jesus being baptized,

and when He came up out of the water…

Matthew 3:16–17 (ESV)

16 the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

My expectation was that that was going to happen to me!

I would go into the baptism tank,

and when I came out, we were all going to experience God!

That is not what happened at all.

And I’m guessing that didn’t happen at your baptism’s either.

I had misunderstood what baptism was.

I went into the water, came out, and didn’t feel any different than I did before.

In the moment I was a bit disappointed,

but now I understand that God had already done the miraculous work…

OF CHANGING MY HEART!

The Meaning of Baptism

We believe this is true of all of you as well.

The transformation has already taken place!

God has taken your hearts of stone and given you a heart of flesh…

He has poured His Spirit into your hearts, and

He has brought you into the family of God…

You are sons and daughters of God…

You no longer desire to live for yourself,

but you long to live your lives for Christ,

and that is what baptism symbolizes.

Romans 6:1–4 (ESV)

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Baptism is a powerful illustration of Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection.

When you go under the water, this symbolizes your death to sin and the old self…

When you come up out of the water, this symbolizes being raised to new life in Christ!

Through baptism, you are confessing that you have put your faith in Jesus,

that He has saved and forgiven you from your sin,

and you now desire to live your life for His glory.

Baptism is the outward testimony of what has already happened in your heart!

And we are excited to hear each of your stories of how God has saved you!

The Covenant You Are Making

Each of these candidates has gone through a 6-week class on the Christian life…

Each one of these candidates has had a personal visitation with a pastor of this church…

Each one of the candidates has affirmed the truthfulness of the following statements:

That Jesus Christ is Lord, the Bible is the very word of God and salvation is only through Jesus Christ. That I have repented of my sin and received forgiveness through faith in the shed blood of Christ. That I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, I am committed to take up my cross daily, and deny sinful ways, habits and harmful relationships of life, and follow Jesus faithfully, putting him above all others, trusting in the Holy Spirit for guidance as I seek to lead a consistent Christian life, honouring Christ in all I do. I agree with the statement of faith of this church. As God enables, I commit myself to support this church through prayer, regular worship, giving of my material and financial resources and serve the church with the gifts God has blessed me with.

Since we believe these are your true confessions,

we are excited to hear your testimonies,

baptize you upon your confessions,

and receive you as members of our church.

Our covenant to you,

is to do all that we can to strengthen you in your faith,

help you grow more like your Saviour every day,

and give you opportunities to serve the body of Christ.

Pray

Lord,

we praise You for what You have done,

we praise You for what You are doing,

and we praise You for what You are going to do!

Would You be praised and glorified this evening,

as we are reminded that You are still at work among us, changing hearts!

We pray that You would strengthen our faith in You as we hear testimonies of Your work.

We pray that You would unite our hearts,

as we commit to working together to spreading the Good News that saves!

This we pray in the name of Jesus, amen!

Testimonies/Baptisms

This evening things will look slightly different than we normally do.

Summary

Each candidate will come up one by one and share their testimony,

then enter the baptism tank, parents who are helping with baptism cam then come up to the tank…

The candidates will be asked 2 questions,

receive baptism,

and be received as a member of LEMC.

Order of Candidates

Member Transfer

George Harder(Transfer)

Baptism

Rick Guenther (Baptism)

Malachi Fast (Baptism)

Curtis Schmitt (Baptism)

Josh Dyck (Baptism)

Lisa Loewen (Baptism)

Jeff Krahn (Baptism)

Mark Klassen (Baptism)

Angelina Harder (Baptism)

Kristina Loewen (Baptism)

Questions Before Baptism

Name

Do you make profession of repentance toward God and of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Do you promise, by God’s grace, to follow Him forever in the fellowship of His church?

___________,

upon your profession of repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,

I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Welcome as Member of LEMC

In the name of Christ and His Church,

it is with great joy that I welcome you, __________

as a member of LEMC.

May God bless you and keep you.

Gospel Call

In a moment we’re going to close with a song.

But I want to take a moment to speak to those in the room who have not made a decision to follow Christ.

Maybe you’re waiting for the right time…

Maybe you’re not really interested in religion…

Maybe you don’t even know why you’re here this evening…

you don’t much about Jesus or church!

I want to ask you a question…

If you were to die today, on a scale of 1—10, how confident are you that you would go to heaven?

Maybe you feel like you’re a pretty good person…

You know you’re not perfect,

but pretty good.

I mean, you probably haven’t murdered anyone this week!

So, maybe you’re a 6 or a 7…

Let me tell you something,

you can’t get into heaven unless you’re a 10!

You have to be perfect!

“Who can do that?”

There’s only one person that ever has, and it was Jesus!

And when He died on the cross, He took our place…

He paid for your sin, and my sin!

And anyone who repents/turns from their sin,

and believes in Jesus will be saved!

John 3:16–21 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

If God is stirring your heart this evening,

don’t resist that!

Come and talk to us after the service,

or connect with us…

we would love to talk with you about how you can get all of your sins forgiven,

and have a 10 out of 10 assurance today that you will be in heaven!

Let’s pray!