I've got to set up a prop.
These are the waters of baptism.
Calm down the days to it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
Whether that is a friend or a co-worker or a child or a grandchild.
Now here's another little bit delicate one.
I'm a Christian.
But when I was baptized, I don't think I was a Christian.
I was an infant.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We see this in Acts chapter 2.
Peter preaches this sermon.
Over 3,000 people hear the gospel.
They respond.
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.
And he preaches the gospel.
Men and women respond.
And they're immediately baptized.
Acts chapter 8.
Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.
Acts chapter 16.
Paul and Silas, they're having this worship service.
In jail.
There's this huge earthquake.
The jailer runs out.
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.
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.
And all of them are baptized on that very day.
Baptized at once.
Acts 18.
Corinth.
Crispus.
Hears the gospel and is immediately baptized.
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.
And it goes gospel proclaimed, gospel heard, gospel responded to repentance and faith.
And then baptism.
Which now brings us to the second reason.
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.
It's in the back.
It's the very last chapter of Matthew.
Matthew.
It's on page 993 of your pew Bible.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Now, let me ask you this.
Is Jesus giving his disciples an option?
If you guys feel like it, go.
And if you go and you've got time, would you consider baptizing people who respond?
And those people who may respond, if you've got time to go,
would you consider maybe teaching them all that I commanded?
This is not an option.
This is commission.
This is command.
This is what the church should be doing as we proclaim Christ.
And people respond.
We baptize them.
We teach them.
Baptism is when a new believer goes public with their faith in Jesus Christ.
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.
That's flipped.
When we get saved.
When we believe in what Jesus has done for us.
Then we get baptized out of obedience.
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.
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?
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?
Why didn't he say, repent and believe and be baptized?
Baptized.
Well, think about that repent as just shorthand for conversion.
Just shorthand.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
You need to become a Christian.
And then after you become a Christian,
you're baptized.
So it's what's coming.
It's good.
This raises a rather delicate issue.
Here's the question.
Were you genuinely saved when you were baptized?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The third reason
is the symbol of baptism.
And this is going to help you understand
why we need to avoid false baptisms.
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.
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.
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.
So looking at Romans chapter six,
one through four,
and then verse five
is where you start hearing union language.
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?
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?
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.
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.
That's what baptism points to.
Baptism is a lived parable.
It's an act.
It's acting out publicly
what has taken place within you spiritually.
And this is where I'm coming down to the prop.
The waters of baptism.
Let's say we're,
it's March 29th.
It's not,
we baptize indoors in a horse trough.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Our problem
is not
that we take baptism too seriously.
Our problem is that
we don't take baptism
serious enough.
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.
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 saved first,
then you're baptized.
We don't diminish
the importance
of these things.
Are you starting
to feel the weight,
the theological weight
of the symbol
of baptism?
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.
Now,
when you see someone
then baptized,
baptized,
there's a very
appropriate expectation.
It's a New Testament
expectation.
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.
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.
Their commitment
to advance
the kingdom
is going to increase.
It's a very powerful moment.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Has this
person,
however old
they are,
have they
recognized
their sinfulness
and their
desperate need
in the one
and only
Savior,
Jesus Christ?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
And so,
if there are
sufficient grounds,
we want to be
able to
say yes.
So,
what this
means is this.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We're going
to be
walking by
faith.
So that's
the third
reason of
why get
baptized,
the symbol
of baptism.
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.
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?
It's a
public service
announcement.
Because the
warning is,
warning of the
dangers that
befall unsupervised
kids during the
summertime late at
night.
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.
baptism is a
public service
announcement of
a different
kind.
Who's it
for?
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.
in where
baptism becomes
a way to
apply it.
So Matthew
chapter 10,
32 through
33, page
969 of
your pew
Bible.
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.
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.
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.
What he
thinks matters
most, and I
am glad to
acknowledge him
before men.
Booyah!
God, that
delights our
King.
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.
Never forget it.
the next group
of people that
benefits is the
church.
Christ the King
Church.
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.
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, and the other
grand piano, center C
starts humming.
Hmm.
Because of the
acoustic resonance,
the frequency, the
sound frequencies
going between them.
That's what
Christocentric
resonance is during
a baptism service.
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!
It's Christocentric
resonance in the
room during a
baptism.
And that's why I
want to say,
schedule it.
Reschedule around
it.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What's up with
that?
But that is
exactly what we
want them
asking.
What does this
person know that I
don't?
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.
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.
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.
Think about this.
Baptisms reflect
our Lord Jesus Christ
building his church
one union at a time.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Let's pray together.
God in heaven, thank you
for giving us this
beautiful, beautiful
rite, this beautiful
symbol.
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.
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.