[0:00] I've got to set up a prop. These are the waters of baptism.
[0:10] Calm down the days to it.
[0:32] Here's the question. What would it take for you to reschedule something on that day? At that time? What would it take? And I'm guessing it would take something important and likely something good.
[0:49] We've got a baptism coming up in just over a month. It's Sunday, March 29th, 4 p.m. Please, please get it on your calendar.
[1:00] And I'm going to make a case. If you've got something planned today for that date, you should reschedule. It also occurred to me that not everyone in the room may know what the New Testament says about baptism and why get baptism.
[1:18] Why is baptism so important and good that you'd reschedule your lives around it? You might be saying, I'm not even a Christian.
[1:30] Why would I even get baptized? If you were to become a Christian, soon thereafter, you would need to be baptized. So just kind of some truth in advertising.
[1:42] Or maybe you're here and you're like, I'm a Christian. I even remember when I was baptized. It still means so much to me. I remember that. And you're like, do I really need to listen now?
[1:55] Yes, you do. Because you need to be able to give some reasons to people you love, to other Christians for why they should get baptized.
[2:08] Whether that is a friend or a co-worker or a child or a grandchild. Now here's another little bit delicate one.
[2:24] I'm a Christian. But when I was baptized, I don't think I was a Christian. I was an infant.
[2:36] I was a child. I was a young adult. And the church that we were part of at that time, or my parents, were really insistent on that. They meant well for me. But when I reflect back on those days and where I'm at right now, I wasn't a Christian.
[2:51] I didn't put my faith in Christ. I hadn't turned from my sin and turned to Christ. So you're asking, well, do I need to be baptized again? Do I need to be re-baptized?
[3:02] And here's the case I'm going to make. You don't need to be re-baptized. You need to be baptized. I was baptized soon after I believed in Jesus.
[3:14] This is another situation. But I walked away from the faith for years. Should I get baptized again to rededicate my life? Nope. You don't need to do that either.
[3:26] I fall into that camp. And the baptism with which you were baptized, that still stands. You know, baptism is important and good, but it raises some questions, doesn't it?
[3:44] So what's going to follow, I'm going to give you four biblical reasons of why I get baptized. And as we go through those reasons, I'm going to kind of address some of the questions that I've raised along the way.
[3:59] Our problem as an evangelical church in the States is not that we take baptism too seriously. Our problem is that we don't take baptism serious enough.
[4:12] So here's reason number one of why get baptized. The pattern of baptism. If you would open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 3.
[4:25] In your pew Bible, it's on page 961. The question I want to answer right now, is there a normal pattern in the New Testament of people being baptized?
[4:37] And the answer is yes. And it starts with Jesus. So in Matthew chapter 3, Jesus himself is baptized. John the Baptist is baptizing with a baptism of repentance.
[4:51] And Jesus goes out to him to be baptized. Listen to what Matthew writes. This is 3.13 through 17. Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him.
[5:02] John would have prevented him saying, I need to be baptized by you and you come to me. But Jesus answered him, let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.
[5:15] Then John the Baptist consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water. And behold, the heavens were opened to him. And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.
[5:26] And behold, a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. This is Jesus' public start of his ministry. Jesus is going public with his teaching ministry at this point.
[5:40] But it also provides us a model, an example to follow. Now you might, those people who are pretty sharp in the room, you might be thinking, wait, time out.
[5:52] Why is Jesus getting baptized for a baptism of repentance? Because we know Jesus never sinned. Why would he need to do that? Well, I'm not sure what all it means, but Jesus says to fulfill all righteousness.
[6:10] And so I take that to mean as at least setting an example for anyone who would call on him as Savior and Lord and follow him. What we see here is the beginning of a pattern with Jesus himself being baptized.
[6:26] So if you become a Christian and you want to follow Jesus, you will begin by following him in baptism. Now there's more of a pattern we see in the book of Acts.
[6:38] A-C-T-S. Acts follows the gospel of John and it's the authorized history of how the early church started and expanded. In Acts 1-8, Jesus tells his disciples in Jerusalem that they need to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit to be his witnesses in Jerusalem.
[6:58] And then out to Judea and then further out to Samaria and to the ends of the earth. And so the book of Acts follows that pattern from Acts 1 to Acts 28.
[7:14] And so as we see as the book of Acts unfolds, various people are hearing the gospel preached and they're responding in repentance and faith. And then soon after they are baptized.
[7:26] And so we see this being applied to men and women, boys and girls, rich and poor, ethnicities of all sorts, Jews, Samaritans, Gentiles, and then all sorts of different Gentiles.
[7:39] People with different education levels, different positions of influence. As the gospel is proclaimed, as it's going out to the ends of the earth, the gospel is proclaimed, people respond in repentance and faith.
[7:54] And then they are baptized. They're not baptized first and then they become Christians. No, they become Christians first in repentance and faith and then are baptized.
[8:09] It's a normalized sequence. Gospel proclaimed, gospel heard, gospel responded to in repentance and faith, and then they're baptized. Which we'll come to find out, it's a little picture of the gospel.
[8:21] We see this in Acts chapter 2. Peter preaches this sermon. Over 3,000 people hear the gospel. They respond.
[8:32] And they're like, what do we do? We're caught to the heart. And he says, repent and believe. And that day, 3,000 people were baptized. Acts chapter 8. Philip is in Samaria.
[8:43] And he preaches the gospel. Men and women respond. And they're immediately baptized. Acts chapter 8. Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.
[8:54] Acts chapter 16. Paul and Silas, they're having this worship service. In jail. There's this huge earthquake. The jailer runs out.
[9:06] The Philippian jailer runs out thinking that all of these prisoners are gone and he's going to die. And Paul and Silas is like, don't, don't, we're still here. And then he, they lead him to Christ.
[9:19] He believes in the Lord Jesus and he's saved. It turns out that Paul and Silas go to the jailer's home. They clean him up and his whole household believes.
[9:30] And all of them are baptized on that very day. Baptized at once. Acts 18. Corinth. Crispus. Hears the gospel and is immediately baptized.
[9:41] So all I want to show you here is there is a pattern. In the New Testament, especially in Acts, starting with Jesus. There's a pattern of baptism in the New Testament.
[9:54] And it goes gospel proclaimed, gospel heard, gospel responded to repentance and faith. And then baptism. Which now brings us to the second reason.
[10:07] The first reason, there's a pattern. The second reason, the command of baptism. If you would open up, turn to Matthew chapter 28, 18 through 19.
[10:21] It's in the back. It's the very last chapter of Matthew. Matthew. It's on page 993 of your pew Bible.
[10:38] So Jesus has been raised from the dead. He's gathered his disciples in Galilee. And he commissions them. He starts by saying, all authority in heaven and earth have been given to me.
[10:49] That's a claim to him being king of kings and lord of lords. And then he tells them, go therefore, make disciples of all nations.
[11:01] Take the gospel to all people. Proclaim the gospel of what I have done. My death and resurrection to all. And as they're going and proclaiming, they are to baptize.
[11:14] Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you. And so they are to be baptizing and teaching those who respond in repentance and faith.
[11:28] Now, let me ask you this. Is Jesus giving his disciples an option?
[11:40] If you guys feel like it, go. And if you go and you've got time, would you consider baptizing people who respond?
[11:53] And those people who may respond, if you've got time to go, would you consider maybe teaching them all that I commanded?
[12:06] This is not an option. This is commission. This is command. This is what the church should be doing as we proclaim Christ.
[12:17] And people respond. We baptize them. We teach them. Baptism is when a new believer goes public with their faith in Jesus Christ.
[12:34] Let me just clarify something. So we're not, I don't want anybody mishearing me. Baptism isn't a command we obey in order to become a Christian, to be saved.
[12:47] That's flipped. When we get saved. When we get saved. When we believe in what Jesus has done for us. Then we get baptized out of obedience.
[12:59] It is the sign of our salvation. It's the pattern in Acts. So the church is to baptize anyone who, upon hearing the gospel, repents and believes.
[13:15] And believes. So in Acts 2, Peter preaches this phenomenal sermon, one of the best sermons ever preached. It's all about Jesus Christ. And then thousands of Jews who are in Jerusalem at that moment say, what do we do?
[13:30] How do we respond? Verse 31 and verse 38, Peter says, repent and be baptized every one of you. And in your ear, you're like, why did he leave out believe?
[13:42] Why didn't he say, repent and believe and be baptized? Baptized. Well, think about that repent as just shorthand for conversion. Just shorthand.
[13:53] He's just saying, turn from your sin, turn to Christ, and then be baptized. And that is further kind of confirmed in verse 41, where Luke says, and those who received his word were baptized, all 3,000.
[14:10] Could you imagine that? March 29th, 2026, we have 3,000 people signed up to be baptized. That would be crazy. That would be crazy just to try to baptize 3,000 people with all sorts of space and water available.
[14:25] Could you imagine that? What I just want you to see here is, Peter doesn't make baptism optional for those 3,000 who believe.
[14:36] It's a step of obedience. It's a necessary step for those who believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Our problem is that we don't take baptism.
[14:48] We don't take baptism too seriously. Did I just say that right? We don't take it seriously enough. If you're a non-Christian in the room, you need to be converted before you're baptized.
[15:06] You need to become a Christian. And then after you become a Christian, you're baptized. So it's what's coming.
[15:16] It's good. This raises a rather delicate issue. Here's the question. Were you genuinely saved when you were baptized?
[15:30] Maybe you were an infant. Maybe you were a child, a young adult. And you've come to realize that you were not a Christian when that happened.
[15:42] Do you know what you call it when a non-Christian is baptized? Do you know what you call that? A false baptism. That's not a baptism.
[15:54] If a non-Christian is baptized, that is not an actual baptism. And I'm going to spell that out for the next point a little bit.
[16:07] But for now, we just need to say it's a false baptism. However well intended, it did not actually reflect what was actually going on spiritually within that person.
[16:20] It wasn't a baptism. And so if you were not a Christian when you were baptized, you don't need to be re-baptized. You need to be truly baptized. That's your next step.
[16:33] That's going to require some humility. But that's okay. You're going to obey the command. You're going to live in reality. It's going to, reality will then reflect, your baptism will reflect what the reality is.
[16:48] And if this is where you're at, you've got an opportunity coming up at the end of next month. So this is the second reason, the command of baptism. It's commanded.
[16:59] The third reason is the symbol of baptism. And this is going to help you understand why we need to avoid false baptisms.
[17:12] Because a baptism is incredibly significant in what it symbolizes, what it points to. So the symbol of baptism, and I'd like you to turn to the book of Romans, chapter six, one through five.
[17:28] It's on page 1120 of your pew Bible. But let me just start by saying, baptism is a little parable. Better yet, baptism, someone's baptism, is a lived parable.
[17:48] A lived parable of what happens the moment of your conversion. And what happens at the moment of your conversion is something supernatural. When you believed in Jesus Christ, at that moment you believed, the scriptures tell us, and we're going to see it right here, you were united to Christ in his death and his resurrection, and it changes everything.
[18:16] So looking at Romans chapter six, one through four, and then verse five is where you start hearing union language.
[18:28] What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it?
[18:40] What is he talking about? We who died to sin. Do you not know that all of us who've been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
[18:53] What does he mean by baptism? 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.
[19:07] Verse five is the explainer. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, that's what baptism points to, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
[19:20] That's what baptism points to. Baptism is a lived parable. It's an act.
[19:31] It's acting out publicly what has taken place within you spiritually. And this is where I'm coming down to the prop.
[19:44] The waters of baptism. Let's say we're, it's March 29th. It's not, we baptize indoors in a horse trough.
[19:57] FYI. But it's gonna have full of water. And so at that point, I'm gonna ask one of the baptism, baptism candidates, someone who wants to be baptized, hey, come on out.
[20:08] So they come out and I ask them two questions. I ask them, have you put your faith in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins and the promise of eternal life? Yes, they say, from their toes.
[20:22] And then I ask them, is it your intent to follow Jesus all of your life, no matter what, for the rest of your days?
[20:32] And they say, yes. And then what I say is, well, based upon your public profession of faith, I mean, it takes guts to say that in front of a room full of people.
[20:43] Based upon your public profession of faith, I baptized you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, right from Matthew 28. And then you'll hear me say this. I'll be holding them and I'll say this.
[20:58] As they're going down, I'll say, united with Christ in his death, splash. They're under the water. Did you hear what just happened? So they're already united with Christ in his death and resurrection.
[21:09] That happened at their conversion. But when I'm putting them in the water, that's what I'm saying because that's what it symbolizes. So united with Christ in his death, splash. The joke is five minutes later, I pull them out of the water and when they're coming out of the water, you'll hear me say, they'll hear me say, and raised with Christ to newness of life.
[21:32] So what baptism symbolizes is our union with Christ. They are going public with saying, I've been united with Christ in his death and resurrection.
[21:45] It's a little gospel proclamation lived out in them. Is that pretty cool? Well, that's pretty cool. And that's why we've got to be very careful and thoughtful in whom we baptize.
[21:59] What they're saying is, I was once in the domain of darkness, but now I've been transferred into the kingdom of the beloved son because I've been united with Christ in his death, in his resurrection.
[22:13] And so that's what each person is saying, will be saying, think about it like this. Think of our baptism service at the end of March and then the baptism service, Lord willing, if you should tarry, we do in the future.
[22:28] They're a series of one act plays. Again and again, people saying, lived parables, I've been united with Christ in his death and resurrection.
[22:40] That's how I've been saved. It's incredibly meaningful. And if you're the person being baptized, you'll never forget it. Here's what this means for us.
[22:55] Our problem is not that we take baptism too seriously. Our problem is that we don't take baptism serious enough.
[23:05] And have you ever wondered, well, why is that? I think there's this fear among Protestants of confusing a salvation by faith with a salvation by works.
[23:20] And so we're a little reluctant to talk about baptism as a command and as extremely important. And the way we resolve that is not to stop talking about baptism, but it's actually to talk about the sequence to make clear, no, you're, you're, you're, you're saved first, then you're baptized.
[23:42] We don't diminish the importance of these things. Are you starting to feel the weight, the theological weight of the symbol of baptism?
[24:00] This is a lived out parable and it's making, making a huge claim. There's, people are saying, apart from Christ, I was dead to God and alive to sin, but now that I've been united to Christ, I'm dead to sin and alive to God, all by his grace.
[24:24] Now, when you see someone then baptized, baptized, there's a very appropriate expectation. It's a New Testament expectation.
[24:36] It's not being judgy. It's just following where the New Testament goes. Because if someone is truly united with Christ in his death and his resurrection, one would then expect that that person, their desires for God are going to increase.
[24:54] their cravings for God's word and to obey their God's word is going to increase. Their love for God's people and the lost is going to increase.
[25:05] Their commitment to advance the kingdom is going to increase. It's a very powerful moment.
[25:16] When someone is baptized, that's not the moment they've been saved. that's the moment they've gone public. And it's worth celebrating. Now, there's two mistakes we must avoid.
[25:31] And parents, I'd really like you to pay attention carefully now. Because, because parents, if you're raising children, you are, you are on the front lines. God bless you.
[25:42] And, and if you have children who are expressing an interest in, in the things of God and even being baptized, it puts you in a position where you need to make some decisions. You need to be shepherding your children very well.
[25:56] And so, there's two mistakes we must avoid and here they are. Mistake number one, we baptize people too early, too quickly. We, we, we baptize people with a false baptism because they're not genuinely saved.
[26:13] Just because someone wants to be baptized does not mean that they should be baptized. What, what we need to be listening for is what's called a credible profession of faith.
[26:29] Has this person, however old they are, have they recognized their sinfulness and their desperate need in the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ?
[26:42] Are they able to communicate that at any level? now, for parents, I've been there, the challenge is, you're kind of like, I don't quite know.
[27:00] Well, the church can really help and the church can help in two ways, both informally and formally, informally and formally. Informally, let's say that you have a child that's expressing, they're 13 years old and they're expressing an interest in being baptized.
[27:15] that's good that they're interested in that. Informally, go to some of your friends, go to some of your brothers and sisters in the Lord who know you and know your family.
[27:26] They know your children and you're like, hey, so-and-so has expressed interest in being baptized and I can go either way. I want to err on saying yes, but I'm not sure.
[27:40] What do you think? Get their input. Let's do it. Let's do this together. Now, that's the informal side of things. The formal side of things is this.
[27:53] Every person who wants to be baptized here at Christ the King Church, they complete a Bible study on baptism in which they write their testimony.
[28:04] They got to make their conversion clear. And then after doing that, they meet with one of the pastors who walks through with them to be listening for a credible profession of faith.
[28:17] Now, we're doing this all together in order to avoid this first mistake of being a premature false baptism. We don't want to do that.
[28:28] Do I have an amen? We do want to do it. We don't want to do that. But we also don't want to make the second mistake. And the second mistake is this.
[28:41] We baptize people too late. We withhold this good, important, and commanded step. And we hold it back because of some kind of unsubstantiated fear.
[28:59] And so, if there are sufficient grounds, we want to be able to say yes. So, what this means is this.
[29:15] A lot of people, a lot of Christians, they're like, tell me an age. Give me an age. Please just say that you have to be 45 before you can be baptized.
[29:33] Now, the thing about having an age is that it can be helpful in some degree, but it boils down to being not really quite helpful. The harder way is the better way.
[29:46] You know what the harder way is? You enter into conversations with your children. You actually explore their desire of whether or not they want to, that they're actually saved, and why they want to be baptized.
[30:00] What we're looking for is the Goldilocks moment. Remember Goldilocks? The bowls of porridge. First bowl was too cold, and the next bowl was too hot, and then the next bowl, the third bowl, was just right.
[30:21] We don't want to baptize too early. We don't want to baptize too late. We want to baptize just right. When a person, when they have a credible profession of faith, and they're starting to demonstrate some things that are only attributed to the Spirit of God, that's the sweet spot.
[30:41] And that doesn't mean it's the same age for everybody. You may even have seven children in your home, and you have an array of times when your children were baptized, baptized, because you've been like a good parent, paying attention to each one.
[30:57] So these two mistakes we must avoid, and we're going to avoid them by seeking God's word, trusting in kind of the wisdom that he can provide, and seeking help in that as well.
[31:09] It will strengthen our church, and it will help us to avoid false baptisms, and help us to celebrate genuine baptisms. Remember, this is a symbol, and it's a symbol of incredible significance, that we're talking about people being united with Christ, and his death, and his resurrection, and we want to take the right, appropriate steps to that end, but we're not going to be ruled by fear.
[31:38] We're going to be walking by faith. So that's the third reason of why get baptized, the symbol of baptism.
[31:51] The fourth reason is the PSA of baptism. The PSA. Do you know what a public service announcement is? A public service announcement will both warn and help.
[32:06] Back in the day, before there were streaming services, you would tune into the 10 o'clock news during the summertime, and one of the anchors would say, it's 10 p.m., do you know where your children are?
[32:19] It's a public service announcement. Because the warning is, warning of the dangers that befall unsupervised kids during the summertime late at night.
[32:30] Not that anyone in the room was up to no good in the summertime when they were a kid. But it also helps remind parents to care for their kids.
[32:41] baptism is a public service announcement of a different kind. Who's it for?
[32:52] It starts with the one being baptized. How so? Well, in Matthew chapter 10, verses 32 through 33, Jesus says something that is incredibly helpful.
[33:07] in where baptism becomes a way to apply it. So Matthew chapter 10, 32 through 33, page 969 of your pew Bible.
[33:23] Just as Jesus speaking, so everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
[33:35] And what baptism does, among other things, is it helps a new Christian, a new believer, generally speaking, to go public with their faith in Jesus Christ, to acknowledge him before men.
[33:52] Something that he delights in. And so on the 29th of next month, you're going to have people being baptized, and what they're essentially saying is this, hey, y'all, not only have been united with Christ in his death and resurrection, booyah, but I delight in my King and fear him more than anyone in this room.
[34:18] What he thinks matters most, and I am glad to acknowledge him before men. Booyah! God, that delights our King.
[34:35] And so this PSA, man, it is good for those who are being baptized, and they'll never forget it. I still remember the day that I was baptized as a nine-year-old in the backyard of a church member of Valley Community Baptist Church in Avon, Connecticut.
[34:55] Never forget it. the next group of people that benefits is the church. Christ the King Church.
[35:06] It's a PSA for us. Not only will it remind us of our being united with Christ and Christ's death and resurrection, where we're like, oh yeah! But there's this other thing that happens.
[35:21] Have you heard of acoustic resonance before? There's this thing called Christocentric resonance. Acoustic resonance is when you have two grand pianos on a stage like this, and they're both tuned, and on one, you start tapping center C or middle C, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, and the other grand piano, center C starts humming.
[35:47] Hmm. Because of the acoustic resonance, the frequency, the sound frequencies going between them. That's what Christocentric resonance is during a baptism service.
[36:02] When someone goes public for their faith, they're like tapping center Jesus, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. I've been crucified with Christ. And for those of us who are genuinely born of God in the audience, we're like, yes, yes!
[36:20] It's Christocentric resonance in the room during a baptism. And that's why I want to say, schedule it. Reschedule around it.
[36:34] Come and be encouraged and strengthened to see what God is doing in brothers and sisters in Christ. You will be encouraged. You will hear testimonies of people coming to Christ and you're going to be like, amen!
[36:48] How glorious he uses different means! But it's the same Jesus being united to his death and resurrection. Here's the other benefit of it.
[37:03] Think about this. Members of Christ the King Church. Think about it like this. Let's say we see someone baptized on the 29th. And then a couple months later, they're like, I want to become a member of Christ the King Church.
[37:18] Do you know what you're going to be able to do? You're going to be able to like, yes and amen. We did a little Christocentric resonance. I heard their testimony. This is genuine.
[37:31] Of course, let's welcome them in. It has this church building commitment effect. And so we're going to try to do some more adjusting of our practice so that this happens more.
[37:46] There's one more group of people. It's to non-Christians. Let's say on the 29th, those being baptized bring non-Christians into the sanctuary. That's great. But while they're watching these people baptized, they might be saying, this is a little strange.
[38:01] This is a little weird. This is kind of some kind of spiritual right or something like that. But then they'll say like, but I get what they're saying. I get that they're saying this baptism thing.
[38:14] They're saying I'm with Jesus now and I'm with the people of Jesus now. But you know what they're going to be experiencing? A lack of Christocentric resonance. Like, I don't get it.
[38:27] What's up with that? But that is exactly what we want them asking. What does this person know that I don't?
[38:38] Why would they do this and go public like this? That Jesus, that's real business to them. I wonder what that means for me. And so we have an opportunity to start proclaiming Christ in these little lived parables to non-Christians and then following that to tell these non-Christians about the wrath of God to come and how Jesus alone is their only hope in face of that.
[39:08] Baptisms are a public service announcement. They both warn and help. They are good. So why get baptized? I've given you four reasons this morning.
[39:20] Pattern, command, symbol, public service announcement. Our problem is not that we take baptism too seriously. Our problem is that we don't take baptism serious enough.
[39:35] Think about this. Baptisms reflect our Lord Jesus Christ building his church one union at a time.
[39:48] If you're not a Christian your next step is not baptism. It's conversion. And I'd be happy to talk to you about that.
[39:59] If you've recently become a Christian or you've realized that your baptism when you were an infant or a child was a false baptism, don't freak out. Or you've been a Christian for a long time and you've never gotten baptized, don't flip.
[40:14] It's time to get baptized. And so what you can do is you can pick up a Bible study on baptism. It's out there at the Connect Center.
[40:25] You can grab it as you go. Sign up to be baptized and then we'll set up an appointment with one of our pastors. Christ the King Church. Would you please get this on your schedule?
[40:41] We think, we trust that this is going to be good. That this is going to be Christocentric resonance happening in the room at four o'clock on the 29th.
[40:53] You'll be encouraged. And remember, our problem is not that we take baptism too seriously. Our problem is that we don't take it seriously enough.
[41:06] Let's pray together. God in heaven, thank you for giving us this beautiful, beautiful rite, this beautiful symbol.
[41:20] And we pray that God, you would give us more and more occasions to baptize people who have been united to Christ in his death and resurrection.
[41:34] And we ask that God, you would use your word now to compel the brothers and the sisters in the room who need to take this step. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.