Water Power

If you want to start following Christ of if you are trying to follow Christ and haven’t obeyed this command to be baptized yet, then this is a great opportuinity to make some significant spiritual progess in a single day! Have you ever been baptized? If you have, did you know what you were doing? Jesus told the apostles to “go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.”

Whether getting ceremonially dipped in water, makes sense to you or not, if we refuse to obey even that first simple command that anyone can obey, how can we build on that foundation? How an we learn to obey all the other commands if we can’t learn to obey the very first and simplest one?!

I actually go re-baptized as an adult. I didn’t feel like I had to, but I had been baptized as a child to please my parents before I was even converted so I didn’t really know what I was doing. Then I got converted, went to Bible school, seminary and worked as a missionary. Then the Lord gave me the idea of gettign baptized again where I could experience a meaningful baptism. It felt strange to be baptized after all that time, but it was a good experience.

Jesus got baptized by John the Baptist when he was 30! Faith plus obedience always releases the power of God into our life. Physical birth is a big deal to us and baptisms symbolize spiritual birth so it must be a big deal to God. He celebrates your baptism! Baptism symbolizes our real identification with death and the resurrection of christ as well as the cleansing of our lives. We share the suffering of Christ and by faith we will share in the resurrection power of Christ that transforms our thinking, desires, attitutudes and actions. This is a step in the process of discovering, experiencing and revealing the masterpiece God created you to be. You will be filled with the Spirit. You can sign up on your Connection Card or at the Connection Table.

May you live in His joy, peace and love – Pastor Steve