Amen. Well, I just want to jump into a couple of passages, obviously to talk about baptism, but hopefully to just bring it into a new, a fresh light for us before we head outside and we can watch these people take that step of faith. Isn't that great to hear what they say again and again? I want to be closer to God. I want to take a step. I want to make this serious. But, you know, when I was thinking about baptism this time around, I was thinking about how God is a God of new beginnings. Amen. God never runs out of new beginnings for us, for our life, for our family. And many times through the Bible, we see God stepping in to bring a new beginning for his people. And you know, it's beautiful that even the very language of that very first beginning is the language of God and an earth covered in water, and him sending his spirit upon the water. Amen. And you know, I'll just read it to you one more time. I know we're so familiar with this image. Genesis chapter one, verse one says, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the spirit of God hovered upon the face of the waters. And then God said, You see the conditions there, right? The waters and the spirits. And then God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness. He called the light day, he called the darkness night. There was evening and there was morning the first day. And I realized that when Jesus goes down into the water and the heavens open, and the Spirit comes upon him, and the voice from the Father speaks over him, it's a new beginning. Come on. Amen. And you know, it's a beautiful thing that we see in scriptures. There's layers upon layers of these things that happen and they're there to tell us something. So let's jump into Matthew chapter three for just a couple of quick minutes. You know, the first half of the chapter is the setup, and it's John the Baptist showing up on the scene. And, you know, I was reading this and I was just thinking about John the Baptist and his sweet buggy breath. You know, that honey eating, bug bunching prophet out in the wilderness, the sweet buggy breath of the prophet of God, declaring to God's people that it's time for a new beginning. It's time for the light to come again. It's time for God to speak on these waters and to make the darkness come to light again. But John knows that it's not his assignment to bring that beginning to pass. He's just there to prepare people, to gather people. And this is what he says in John chapter 3, verse 2 repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And you know, those who are getting baptized today are simply taking a physical step that's symbolic of a turning from whatever else life meant, life was, what life was like. And some of them have known God for a long, long time. Some of them are new believers, perhaps, but we're saying that enough is enough of the past. We're repenting, which means we're turning, we're embracing something new, something different, something that only God can do. Amen. Baptism is a new beginning. John's ministry was a new beginning for the people of God. After over 400 years of waiting and expecting for God to send a Savior, finally a voice declared, the time has come. How many of you know that even though 2,000 years of history have passed, that's still the message that we respond to as the people of God. That God has come near to his people, that God has a new beginning for his people, that God, if we will turn from whatever else was our life was about, and we embrace the kingdom, that means that we embrace that God is king, that he is Lord, and that he can make all things new again. If we would allow him into our lives, we would allow him to meet with us, to cleanse us, to breathe upon us, to speak to us again. God, you know, I was praying for those who are getting baptized today, and I my prayer for everyone who's getting baptized is God, open the heavens over these people. God, send your spirit upon these people. God, speak with that voice that you spoke to your beloved son over these people. Because I know it was such a beautiful, unique thing that we're about to read in scripture about Jesus, and it's still all about Jesus, but God wants to reveal Himself to you. God wants his spirit to be upon you. God wants to speak to you and to tell you who you are, and to tell the world that you are someone new. Amen. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repentance sometimes comes with tears. Sometimes it's just like a light switch being turned that all of a sudden I can see and things are clear. Repentance is all of a sudden turning to something better than what we're leaving behind. So John, with his sweet buggy breath, I don't know why I love that expression now. I'll always think of John that way now. He said this, he quoted the prophet Isaiah, letting people know that God, what he has always promised he would do, starts now. And that's the beautiful thing. It was now 2,000 years ago in Israel, but it's now for us. It's now if we will embrace it. It's now if we'll open our hearts to Jesus, to the Spirit of God, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord and make his paths straight. In other words, baptism is this beautiful picture. Once again, we're leaving something behind and we're getting straightened out. We're getting into a place where we're ready to welcome the coming king. We are dedicating our lives to preparing the stage for the coming king. John did it in his way, a very special role, a very special task. We do it in ours by saying yes, by being baptized, by day after day, week after week, year after year, continuing to say, Yes, Lord, my life is yours. Yes, Lord, my old life is back there. It it passed away, it was washed away. Come on. I love baptism people. Baptism people. Did I say that right? I love you who are getting baptized, yes, but I love baptism people. Gotta get the comma in there somehow. It's such a beautiful picture. Such a beautiful thing. So we'll jump ahead. John says in verse 11, I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Again, baptism, water baptism, and what we're doing, it's a mandate from God. Jesus got baptized, and then when he was about to ascend after his death and resurrection, he said, Go into the world, baptize, disciple, teach, you know, be filled with the Spirit. Go out and do these things. Baptism is never done away with in God's plan until Christ returns. Amen. But as important as baptism is, it is a gateway into an even more beautiful thing, which is the filling of the Spirit of God. John says, You're coming here to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, but the Spirit, that's what it's all about. The purifying fire of God, that's what it's all about. He says in verse 12, and his winnowing fork is in his hand, and he's clearing out his threshing floor to gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn away with unquenchable fire. You know, that's the beautiful thing about what we do as a church is we're out harvesting this amazing harvest that Jesus by his spirit prepares, that's prepared by the preaching of the word, that's prepared by the prayers of, you know, men and women of God. We go out, and today those who are being baptized get to be part of that harvest, right? The good grain that gets put into the barn. But then there's this twist, this turn in the story, because John, John knew that all of these others, all these sinful Jewish people, his people, needed to repent, needed to turn, needed to get their act together, needed to have their sins forgiven. But he got the shock of his life when Jesus walked down to the river and said, Baptize me. Because that doesn't seem to make sense. I'm here to get everybody ready for you. So what are you getting ready for? What's the deal? What's the what's I don't understand? And some of you have heard me say this before. I wrestled with this for a long time. Why did Jesus go and get baptized? He's got nothing to repent of. Why get baptized? Because Jesus, the whole point of Jesus' life on earth and his ministry was to show that I will leave behind my glory and what I deserve, and I will step into your story and into your need. I'm not getting baptized because I need my sins forgiven. I'm stepping into the story of my people who need their sins forgiven. Amen. You know, and baptism water is not magic, it's nothing like that. But, you know, if if there was any dynamic of, you know, the water purifying sins, Jesus is the one putting the purifying power in the water. You know, he's not stepping in the water to get purified, he's giving that water the ability to purify others. He's stepping into our story. And I love that about the baptism. Right from the beginning, Jesus is saying, I'm entering your story. This isn't about me. This is about me meeting you exactly where you are, me identifying with you. And aren't you grateful that that's the God we serve? A God who humbled himself, who left his glory. I love Philippians chapter 2. It says that he emptied himself, he took on the form of man, and being in the form of man, he died the death of the cross for us. Amen. So John, he's shocked and he says, I need to be baptized by you. Do you come to me? But Jesus answered, Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he consented. Notice it says he consented, it didn't say he understood. And I'll say this: there are different levels of understanding about the work of God in our lives. Amen. And we've got different people at different places in their walk with God getting baptized today. And some of them might understand the very basic level. Some of them maybe understand more deeply the riches of God's grace, his forgiveness, his spirit. It doesn't matter. We don't need to understand, we just need to consent. We just need to say, yes, God, here I am. Whatever you want to do, here I am. Let it be so. He consented. Then Jesus was baptized. And if there's any confusion in this room about what baptism means, it literally means to immerse, to dip, right? So that's why when we go outside to that, I say tank of water, I don't know, because inflatable hot tub doesn't sound as spiritual. You know, it kind of takes puts lounging into baptism. It's like but when we go into that water, now I lost my train of thought because I'm thinking of a hot tub. Okay. See, I shouldn't have gone there. That's it. Right. It's immersion, right? That's what the word baptism simply means. Jesus was baptized, and immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him. And again, that's my prayer that the heavens would be open over these people. And I heard it preached one time, and I'll grab a hold of it today. That, you know, there are places in the Old Testament where we hear about the heavens being closed because of the sin of the people, because of judgment, that the heavens being like bronze, like there's a barrier there between us and God. How many of you know that Jesus broke that barrier? He opened the heavens. The book of Hebrews says that we now can go boldly before God with confidence in our time of need before his throne of grace. So I look at the story of Jesus here and I say, He opened right from here. I know it was his death, his blood on the cross, his burial, his resurrection that completed the work. But right from here, we see him making a way to the Father for us, opening the heavens. The heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove. Now we read Genesis and we saw how in the beginning the Spirit came to the waters. And a little later in the book of Genesis, there is a judgment because the world was filled with violence and corruption and sin. And God sent a flood, and once again he sent his breath upon the waters. That spirit. You know, I I've studied a lot of the Old Testament, even the scriptures about the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, but the only connection I see is again that story of the flood. What was God saying? That judgment has passed, that new life has come. The dove came bearing that olive branch, that things are starting again, that what I created in the beginning that was good and beautiful, that was corrupted by sin, I haven't forgotten about my people. I have saved a people for myself, and I am now calling them to take up the task of bringing my life to the world. Like I placed Adam and Eve in the garden in the beginning, he then opens the doors of the Ark of the Covenant. He says, Now go out, Noah and your family, begin to plant again, begin to allow life to flourish again, begin to multiply, be fruitful. That's what we're called to. Amen. Judgment passed. Jesus took all judgment upon himself so that you and I would not have to pay the price for our sin. And you know, the Old Testament, we see these sorts of things repeat over and over, and they had to bring sacrifices again and again and again. Thank God that Jesus is a one-time forever sacrifice because he died, but he rose again. He lives forever. Amen. So it's a beautiful thing that he sends the Spirit on the waters to his son Jesus. A new beginning. A new creation. And Paul even talks about that later in scripture, doesn't he? That we are new creations in Christ Jesus. Just think about that for a moment. When God began to recreate, to bring a new creation, because the judgment had passed, he began to make all things new, that starts with you. He begins to make all things new, and that starts with you, it starts with me, it starts with this Jesus that we're reading about. Spirit descended like a dove, and he came to rest on him. And then, behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. What did we read in Genesis? There's water, the Spirit comes, and then God speaks. You know, he is speaking his voice from heaven as the Father, affirming Jesus as the Son of God, but Jesus is the very word of. God that created this all in the beginning. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. We see this all just coming together. I was imagining this. You ever remember those books as a kid? Those, you know, I don't know, you're studying maybe anatomy or maybe the design of a castle, and it's like all those different layers of transparencies. You ever see those books? I love those books. Anyone else like those books growing up? I still like those books. I have one of those books about the tabernacle in my office, and sometimes I still flip through that. You know, you start with the outside. We see Jesus down at the River Jordan, and with John and his sweet buggy breath. Then we peel back a layer and we start to see there's a new creation going on here. We peel back a layer and we start to see that just as God renewed the earth through the flood and the judgment had passed, and there's new things coming, that's happening again. The dove is there. It's starting again. You know, you peel it back, and you got John chapter one, it's layer upon layer. And it's hard to grasp all of the connections because this goes beyond our mind. How many of you know that his thoughts are higher than our thoughts? These are spiritual things that we receive in the spirit, and we get glimpses of them in our minds and in the scriptures. But you know, there's so much packed into that little phrase, this is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. You know, that phrase, beloved son, we're so familiar with it referring to Jesus, we don't remember many times that that's the very way that Abraham spoke about his son as he took him up to the mountain as a sacrifice. Oh, we're peeling another layer. I'm gonna go up there with with your son, with the son that you love. Take him up and offer him as a sacrifice. But of course, Isaac wasn't a pure, spotless sacrifice, only Jesus. So God stopped him and he said, No, I will provide, I will give a sacrifice. And there it was a goat that had to wait. We don't have to wait any longer. We have the pure, spotless Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Oh, there we are in John chapter 1 again. It's all connected, it's just this beautiful, beautiful multi-layer thing that God is talking about. And we could go into Isaiah, we could go into the Psalms, we could go into Genesis. All of these things are packed into that phrase right there. This is my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased. But, you know, I compared that over in Luke chapter three, we're in Matthew chapter three, but I jumped to another gospel. And how many of you know that the Bible doesn't contradict itself? I hope you believe that. But in Luke chapter three, it gives us a different layer to what's going on in this story. Because in Matthew chapter three, it says, This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. In other words, he's speaking to everyone within earshot to let them know this is him. This is my son. Watch, listen, obey. But you go to Luke chapter three, and we have this same story, and in chap in verse 21, it says, Now, when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were open, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, you are my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. Do you see how it's slightly different? Look, everybody, this is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. But in Luke, it's you are my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. And again, because Jesus enters our story, the beauty of baptism is we get to step into that same story. Right? And like I said, I just ask, Father, speak to these people getting baptized today. And not just them, but everybody in this room, everyone who is a born-again, blood-bought, baptized believer. I mean, if you're not baptized yet, we can get that, we can get there, okay? I know there are others that maybe still need to get baptized. But just there is the public declaration to the world this is who I am. Look, everyone, I am a Christian. I believe in Jesus. God is my father, I'm a child of God, and God, you know, he's affirming that to the world as you go into the water. But I believe God is also speaking to you and he's doing something, you know, as much as you know, we we believe the water's not some magic water that, you know, anything like that, but it's not just a symbol either. And I think we can swing so far to the other way, like, oh, that's superstitious, you know, that you know, almost kind of we gotta say just these right words, and the water has to be this and this and this. No, it's it's it's faith. But in faith, the spirit is also at work and it's deeper than just a symbol. It's deeper than just, well, you know, I'm gonna go get wet today and say I'm a Christian. And for the record, I always like to remind people: if you haven't repented, and if you haven't received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, if you go into the water, you go in a sinner, and you come up out of the water a wet sinner. And that's what I mean by the water isn't magic. It's not like whether you like it or not, we can dunk you in that water and you become a Christian. It doesn't work like that. It works when you have faith, it works when the spirit connects with that faith and does a work in your life. So again, what what am I saying? That as a reminder to all of us that yes, we would stand tall and you know, I know we don't like the word proud, but if anything, if of anything in my life I am proud, it's that Jesus died for me. It's that I said yes to Jesus, is that I get to enjoy the benefits of his redemption and not pay the price for my own sins. I get to stand tall in that, but I also believe that God in baptism speaks to our hearts by his spirit. You are mine, you are the one that I love, you are the one that I died for. There's the public, this is him, this is my child, look, and then there's the inner, you are mine, I love you, I cherish you. Isn't it a beautiful thing? This amazing baptism that we get to enter into. You know, Paul says some just amazing, amazing things about baptism, and I want to read a couple of them to you, and it shows us that not only are we being obedient and are we going into the water because we're told to? But how many of you know that our baptism, now that we know who this Jesus was and what he did for us, it's even deeper than what all of those Jews did anticipating the coming of the Messiah. How many of you think it's better to be able to look back and have a little bit more understanding? Let's go just for a moment to Romans chapter 6. And I imagine those who are being baptized today probably read these scriptures. We had a little class for you guys, you know, so you could understand a little bit about what this is that you're taking part in today. And you might be, well, if they heard it, then why are we doing this again? Because we need to be reminded. Amen. I got baptized when I was 10 years old. I can remember standing in that tank at the front of a Pentecostal church. I don't remember the name of the pastor. I remember him looking at me, and it's probably partly the nerves or the I don't know, whatever, but I was standing so tall and erect. I think they had a stool in there because you know, I was just a little guy, and and he's like, Oh, look at look at Adam. He's standing so tall and alert like a soldier, and you know, probably said something about being a soldier for God and all those good things. But I understood about this much. My heart just responded and was saying yes to the Lord. But now I understand that there's more depth, there's more layers to it. Before I forget, and we get into Paul here, and we're just gonna take a couple more minutes. I do want to say as well, and Paul does touch on this. He talks about how when we go into the water, it's like our old self, our old life is dying, and we're rising to new life. But then I connected it to another thing that Paul says in First Corinthians chapter 10. He says that the Israelites were baptized into Moses through the Red Sea and the cloud. And I take this, if you will, today, those who are being baptized, is that not only do you go in to be released out into a new life, you know, in Moses they were going out to become the people of God, to enter a promised land, but how many of you know that the enemies drown behind them? Come on. So if you've got enemies that are nagging you, that are chasing you, that have been hounding you, you know, that you haven't been able to be victorious over. We're just gonna believe with you today, all you who are being baptized, that when you go into that water, we're drowning enemies too. Your old self stays in the tank, and that's probably our biggest enemy right there, right? Ourselves. But any other influence of the enemy, any voice of the enemy, anything demonic that is trying to influence your life, it dies like Pharaoh's soldiers in the water. So in Romans chapter six, Paul says this. He says, where to start? He says in verse 3, do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? You know, it'll always stick with me. The very first time I got to participate in a baptism, be in the tank, and uh, you know, do the dunking. I had a father come up to me in front of his son, and in joking fashion, he had, I don't know, a $10, $20 bill in his hand, doing the old Pentecostal handshake, but it wasn't like a bless you, brother, because you're here to baptize my son. He held my hand and he said, Could you hold him under the water for just a little bit longer? And the son was there to hear what I was what was being said, and he rolled his eyes, like, come on, dad. And then I looked at the boy and I said, You know you're supposed to die in the water, right? That part symbolic, okay? We're not gonna. We're not going. Oh my goodness. Okay, Lord help us. Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? All that he died for is for you. Amen. He entered your story, he got baptized not because he had sin, but because you have sin. He died not because he had sin, but because you have sin. So we go into baptism so that we can receive all that his death paid for. Amen. We've been baptized into Christ Jesus. We're baptized in his death. We were buried therefore by baptism into death, in order that, I love this, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life, new things, new beginnings, new creation, newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly, say certainly, be united with him in a resurrection like his. And we get to enjoy that in part, in symbol, in newness of life by the spirit from this day forth. But that's also a promise that when he returns, we will literally rise from the dead. Those who have died in Christ will rise first to be gathered to him. And those of us who are still alive at his coming, we will all be gathered to him and we will be glorified to live with him forever. If we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing. Come on, let's believe that some people's old lives, sinful ways, temptations, and influences are dying in that water today. Amen. For one who has died has been set free from sin. I love it. Set free from sin. Baptism is liberating, baptism destroys enemies. Baptism, not the water itself, but the work of the Spirit as we obediently do these things sets free. Amen. One more passage of scripture, and then we'll take a couple of minutes to get changed, some of us, and we'll meet outside. Oh, and I should mention before I forget, when I do release you and I do tell everybody to go get changed who's being baptized. Uh, remember if you have kids in junior church, just the six to the 12-year-olds, you go get your kids and have them with you to witness the baptism. Sound good? The littlest guys can stay in their classes, right? The nursery, the fours and fives. But otherwise, we're gonna gather everybody. One more passage of scripture before we go out to enjoy these baptisms together. And by the way, don't just get into casual observer mode when you go outside. You know, just like we we wrestle sometimes to transition from worship to the word, you know, we kind of go from participant to spectator. Okay, now I'm listening. When we go out there, you're participating by declaring God's blessing, by saying, Lord, speak to these amazing people who are being baptized today. Give them that assurance that they are a beloved son, a beloved daughter, that they are yours. So we participate by praying, by celebrating, by shouting, by clapping, as they are taking that step of faith today. So Colossians chapter 2, verse 6 says, Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so also walk in him, rooted and built up in him, established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the word, and not according to Christ. You see, it's talking about a firm, a rooted, and established life in Jesus that's available, but it involves laying aside all the reasoning and all of these things, not that we don't think as Christians, but all of those contrary voices that would convince us out of all that God has, we embrace them. What did we say? John, he consented. God, I don't fully understand, but I yield. And I say, Yes, I want to be in Christ, I want his life. I don't understand how all this works. And look at what it says here in verse 9. For in him, in Christ, the whole fullness of deity, God, the the divine nature of God dwells in him bodily, and you have been filled in him. If there's a mic drop moment in scripture, it's right there, okay? The fullness of who God is was present in Jesus bodily, and that's amazing. The word that was in the beginning that was God took on flesh, he dwelt amongst us. But then it says from that fullness he fills us. He enters our story, and he allows us to participate in his fullness. You have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority. In him you were circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, but putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Okay, what's all this circumcision about? Well, it seems to be talking about baptism as a putting off. Okay, a cutting away. Verse 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead. You who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, having canceled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. He's this he set aside, he nailed to the cross. And he disarmed, listen to this. This is the enemies being destroyed, but one by one, right? He disarmed the rulers, the authorities, and he put them to open shame, triumphing over them in him. There's some triumph happening today as people are getting baptized. And there is triumph, there is victory available for us as Christians as we walk in the life of Christ, as we are filled from his fullness. Amen. Why don't we stand to our feet and pray just for a moment before we head outside? I love baptism because it's all right there. It's the gospel. It's the gospel acted out, it's the word of God layered in together. It's it's just a beautiful, beautiful thing. So, Father, today we thank you for this thing called baptism. That it is, Lord God, more than a symbol. It's your spirit coming from open heavens. It's the good will of the Father, Lord, declaring out to earth that these are my children, declaring that because Jesus came and died, and because death couldn't hold him, because the power of sin was broken once and for all, he rose to life again, and so we rise with you triumphant, Lord God. And as you sit at the right hand of the Father, we know, Lord God, as your children, though our feet stand on earth, we are seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. Lord, we ask that as each one of these amazing people is baptized today, that their enemies would be put under the feet of Christ Jesus. Lord, that they would be washed away like Pharaoh's army that was drowned in the sea. Lord, and that we enter out to seize, Lord, all of your promises, the new life, the new beginning, to be your people as you always intended us to be. Thank you, Jesus. We bless those being baptized. And could you pray with me? Maybe you're here today and you're like, wow, I never got all of that before, and I'm seeing it in a way I believe what you're talking about. Well, you might not have come prepared to be baptized today, but you can receive Jesus today. Amen. So why don't you just repeat with me, dear Lord, I believe that you are Lord and that you died for my sins and destroyed the power of sin and death. That you raise you rose up from death to newness of life. Forgive me of my sins, give me that new life. I receive you, Jesus, and your spirit. I want all things to be made new in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You know, if you said that for the first time today from a believing heart, I believe God just did something, and make sure you tell somebody about that. And you get connected with some people, and this is a great church to be connected with. If this isn't your church or you don't have a church, but we'd love to get to know you more and teach you more about the beautiful things that Christ has done and made available to us.