More Than a Moment: What Baptism Marks in Your Life - Aaron McRae

What Actually Happens When You Get Baptized?

Most of us have watched a baptism. The water, the moment, the applause. But what if there's something happening beneath the surface that most people never stop to think about?

Here's something worth sitting with: repentance is the first word of the gospel. The first word out of John the Baptist's mouth. The first word of Jesus' public ministry. The first instruction after the resurrection. The first word of the first Christian sermon. Baptism is where that repentance goes public — where an inward decision becomes an outward declaration.

In this message, Pastor Aaron McRae unpacks the scene in Matthew 3 where Jesus steps into the Jordan River — and what that moment reveals about three things baptism marks fresh in every believer's life: a new identity in Christ, an inauguration into life and ministry, and a living illustration of the gospel itself.

Whether you were baptized decades ago or are still figuring out what you believe, this is an invitation to remember what that moment meant — and to keep living like it actually does.

📖 Scripture References: Matthew 3:1–8, 13–17 · Isaiah 40:3 · John 1:29–34 · Colossians 2:12 · Romans 6:3–4 · Galatians 5:22–23 · Acts 1:8

📚 Resources Mentioned:

• David Guzik — Enduring Word Commentary (enduringword.com)
• Sinclair Ferguson — on the baptism of Jesus and the "wonderful exchange"
• Jonathan Pennington — on baptism as gospel proclamation
• Matthew Poole — commentary on the Pharisees

For the full gathering of this message which includes worship, visit our Youtube channel.
 
Stay Connected With Hillside Community Church.
Youtube | https://www.youtube.com/c/HillsideCommunityChurch
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/hillsidechurches/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/hillsidechurches
Website | https://hillsidechurches.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

How are you doing today? Wow, that was terrible. Let's try that one more time. How are you doing today? We do have a baptism service, and we've got a number that are coming to be baptized. Could we just tell them how excited we are for them today? So thankful for you today. Life is full of moments that mark us. Some of the moments we choose, and others we don't really have a choice in. I just want you to take a moment, don't like say it out loud or anything, but like, what's a moment that's marked you in life? Some people in moments that mark them get rings. Or like the New York Knicks will get after last night. Some people after marking moments get tattoos. Some get scars, whether visible or invisible. Some people in marking moments get a child and then lose a lot of sleep. Some people in marking moments just want to try to forget the marking moment. Maybe they go to therapy or a shopping spree or to court. In some marking moments, there's a ceremony, there's a birthday party, there's a funeral service, there's a graduation. Our son graduated college yesterday, and so we we no longer have a kid in college. It's amazing. Every time we have a baptism service, it's an opportunity to have a marking moment. It's a marking moment for those who are coming to be baptized, but it's also a marking moment for those of us who have been baptized to remember what it is that God has done in our life. It's a remembrance service. It's to stir us back in our memory of this is what Christ has done on our behalf. When I was six years old, I got baptized. And if I'm being really honest, I don't have any memory of it. But I do remember sitting at Alan J. Baptist Church on a Sunday night, Pastor Yates Brooks preached, and I remember at six years old thinking, whatever that dude is talking about Jesus, I know I need that for myself. And after that, I got baptized. Now, also about that same time, my older cousin Todd, he got baptized. So I'm like, how much was I following Todd? And how much was I following Jesus? But isn't life always filled with sort of mixed motives? But baptism is a step that we are invited to take after making a decision to follow Jesus. If you've ever wondered what is baptism even about, if you've ever had a like a thought or a question about that, then I'm gonna try to help give a little bit of explanation and understanding of that today. A baptism is an outward sign and a symbol that represents inward truths, realities that have happened to us. Baptism is about a decisive step to take a public stand for Jesus. It's a marking moment of what God has done in our lives. One of our staff was talking the other week about their five-year-old grandson, said, Grandma, I'm gonna get baptized. And five years old is pretty young. Let's just say that. Um, they were curious, uh, the grandma was curious about this and said, Are you sure about this? Why do you want to get baptized? And the five-year-old boldly responded, Because I love Jesus and I want to follow him. That's good enough. We're like, sounds like you're right on track with that. Um, Jesus made a big deal about baptism. He talked about it a lot. It's a fundamental part of the great commission that he gives to the church. Go and make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But more importantly, we can understand baptism only through the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus. And then baptism has the potential to be a marking moment in our life of turning to Jesus and trusting him as we start our journey of faith and all throughout our journey of faith. So if you have a Bible, I'd love for you to grab that, turn to Matthew chapter three, or a smartphone. That would do good. I'll read out of the NIV version, the New International Version of the Bible, and we'll be there in just a second. My guess is that when I was six years old, I had probably seen dozens of people baptized. But now, as at a much older age, I've seen thousands of people be baptized. I've been a part of dozens and dozens and dozens of baptism services like this. And one of my prayers is for those of us who have been baptized to see in this moment a reminder that that sort of lights up our heart for Jesus. One of my goals is for some of us who don't have any understanding about what this is, that maybe we get a glimpse of the grace and the goodness of Jesus. And then for those of you specifically, that you understand what you're stepping into when you're stepping into the waters of baptism. This is a holy moment. So Matthew 3, I'll start reading in verse 1. In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, here's his message, repent. Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near. This is he, this is Matthew's words now as he's writing, this is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, a voice of one calling in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. So John the Baptist is this real interesting guy, we'll see that in a moment, who is what the Bible calls a forerunner of the Messiah. And what happens here is that Matthew quotes the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 3, where Isaiah, hundreds and hundreds of years before John the Baptist, said these words a voice of one calling in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. So Isaiah is a prophet in the Old Testament, and many of the prophecies that he gives are in reference to the Messiah, who we believe Jesus fulfilled all of these prophecies. But in addition to prophecies about Jesus the Messiah, Isaiah gives prophecies, predictions, you could say, of a forerunner, someone who will lead the way. And John the Baptist is fulfilling this role of a couple things, making straight the pathway for our Lord. That's sort of ancient language when a king would set out on a journey to a town. The king would send out representatives. And part of what the representatives would do, some of them would smooth out the road. Because who, what king wants to ride in a bumpy chariot? They'd get the road ready. A king would go, uh representative would go into the town that the king was headed to. Think about like secret service when the president's going somewhere. They go and make all the preparations. They get the food ready, they get the security ready, they would go and get the people and the place ready for what's about to happen. John the Baptist's role is to get the people ready for what's about to go down with Jesus. And so he's fulfilling this prophecy in the way that he lives. He's fulfilling this by calling people to a very specific thing. He says, repent. Not the most popular word in 2026. But John the Baptist leads with this message: repent. The kingdom of heaven is near. And this is a truly biblical word, repentance, that maybe we don't use in a lot of other areas of our life, but it literally means to change your mind. Repentance means you have a change of mind where maybe once you thought a certain way, now you think a different way because of the revelation of God, because of Jesus or an encounter. And then on top of changing your mind, you change directions in your life. You turn and it's turning away from yourself, selfish ways, turning away from your sin, and it's turning to Jesus. It's a biblical concept. Repentance is a sort of a first word of the good news, the gospel of Jesus. Look at this chart real quick. Repentance is the first word of John the Baptist's gospel. We just read that. Repentance is the first word of Jesus' gospel. When Jesus comes on the scene, his first sermons are repent. It's the first word of the preaching ministry of the 12 disciples. When Jesus sends out his disciples, they go out saying, repent. It's the first word in the preaching instructions Jesus gave to his disciples after the resurrection. Jesus is sending them out and he says, I want you to go and I want you to preach repentance. Repentance was the first word of exhortation in the first Christian sermon. We talked about this a couple of weeks ago. Peter in Acts 2 preaches repent and then be baptized. And repent was the first word of the Apostle Paul through his ministry. As Paul goes and does ministry, you can see here in Acts 26, he's preaching repentance. This is crucial because we can't just add Jesus to whatever we've already got going on in life. If we truly accept Jesus, it means we're we're turning from where we were going in order to go his way. Look at verse 4 of Matthew 3. We're told John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. That is quite the fashion statement, let me tell you. It's like he is a wild man. He is like he looks out of control. His food was locusts and wild honey. It was the latest diet fat of the day. No, he was living off the land. Simple and weird at the same time. But God is using him to do something profound. Verse 5, people went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. So from all these surrounding areas, people are going out into the wilderness to see this wild man with these strange words of repentance. Look what they're doing, confessing their sins. They were baptized by him in the Jordan River. So the Jewish people are coming and they're confessing their sins. Verse 7, but when he saw many of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, those are the religious leaders of the day. Often Jesus calls them hypocrites. Jesus has strong words for them. So does John the Baptist. He said to them, You brood of vipers, basically, you bunch of snakes. To the religious leaders. What are you doing? Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? John says, Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. It's not just repent once and then go about your life. His call is repent and then live a life that gives evidence, it gives fruit of your repentance. And so what John is saying is there's a call to confess your sins to these Jewish people, to turn from your sins, and then to be baptized. And so they're being baptized, which in the Greek language it literally means to be immersed, to go under the water. So that's really simply why we go under the water in just a few minutes. We're being baptized in a similar way that we see modeled here by Jesus. What's interesting is that Jewish people didn't really do baptism. They had ceremonial like immersions occasionally and whatever, but something unique is happening in John the Baptist's ministry as he's trying to prepare the people, and some of the Jewish people respond. Baptism was a way that a Gentile, a foreigner, got in on being Jewish. And so these Jews who are coming to be baptized, it's as if they're saying, I'm as dirty and as unclean as a Gentile, and I need cleansing. That was radical. And they came confessing their sins. That too, that's not something that Jewish people did necessarily individually. They had corporate confession where they would come together and cry out, God forgive us. But God forgive me. That was something unique. So what God is doing in this moment is wholly unique. They're confessing their personal sins. That's part of what repentance is. Like if you want to know how to do it, it's it's not really complicated. It's sort of like, God, please forgive me. I turn from my sin. God, would you help me? And that's how we start salvation. We repent, we have faith in Jesus, but it's also how we stay in an intimate relationship. We stay close when we sin. God, would you please forgive me? And we fill in the blank because I whatever. It's sort of like with my wife. If I want to stay in a good standing, when I lose my temper, the best thing to do is pretty quickly, as quick as possible, four days later, no, go back and say, I'm so sorry. It doesn't mean I get remarried, it just means I'm working to keep a healthy relationship, an ongoing, intimate relationship. And so what we see is this idea of confessing their sins and being baptized marks them, but then John says this word, and then keep uh bear fruit in keeping with repentance. What does that mean? Biblically, bearing fruit is really giving evidence, it's it's it's showing the authenticity. If I had a tree up here and it was a fruit tree and it was an apple tree, and I said, What kind of fruit is this on this apple tree? You would clearly say, Wow. You would say apples. And so if John is saying bear fruit in keeping with repentance, what would that fruit look like? Probably the best answer we have is what the apostle Paul says is the fruit of the Spirit of God, Galatians 5. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If we're bearing fruit and staying in a right relationship with God, it's probably going to look like this. Love, we're gonna be loving, we're gonna have peace, we're gonna have joy. Forbearance is patience, we're gonna have patience. And some of us are like, that would be an act of God if I had patience. We're gonna have goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. These are marks of the Spirit of God working in our life in accordance with repentance. And so John says, keep doing that, bear those fruit. And John is preaching, and crowds are coming, and in some ways, this is John's moment. But John realizes he's not the main character. Jesus comes on the scene. Jesus is the star of this show all the way, just like he should be. Look at verse 13. Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. Now, if that sort of messes you up and you're like, why does Jesus need to be baptized? Well, John thought the same thing. But John tried to deter him, saying, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? John realizes, why would I baptize you? You're Jesus, I'm not. And Jesus replied, Let it be so now. It is proper for us to do this, to fulfill all righteousness. And then John consented. So Jesus says, You you need to do this for now. There's a purpose, there's a there's a meaning in this moment, and part of it is to fulfill all righteousness, is Jesus' words. To fulfill what's lacking, to to make up for what's not there. This this word righteousness is a it's a loaded biblical word. So let me just try to make it as simple as possible. Righteousness means being in a right relationship with God, and we know that our sin separates us from God, so something has to be done with our sin. And righteousness means being in a right relationship with other people, having loving relationships, having peace in the midst of conflict, dealing with those kinds of things. And so Jesus comes to fulfill all righteousness because we can't do it on our own. God's standard is perfection, and none of us are perfect. I don't know if you know that. And so a perfect one needed to come in our place, and Jesus came in our place to be righteous, to be perfect, because we can't be, but now because of repentance and faith in Jesus, we become righteous not on our own, but because of what Jesus has done for us. And Jesus says, I have to do this to fulfill all righteousness. I have to do this to make the requirements that a holy God deserves and demands be met. So when we come to a baptism service, this is a holy moment, but it's not only just a moment to say, we're so excited for you, we're so happy for you, congratulations. That's great and that's good, but it's also a moment to look to Jesus and say, This is amazing what you've done for us. Wow, you love us so much. You're so holy, you're you're so sacrificial, you're you're so loving. It's a moment to look to Jesus and be reminded of his amazing grace and of his mercy towards us sinners. Amen? And to be reminded again and again in moments like this of what Jesus has delivered us from. Look at verse 16 of Matthew 3. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. So it just simply means John put him under the water and he lifted him. As soon as he came up out of the water, at that moment, heaven was opened. Now, I think this is going to be a powerful baptism service. I'm not sure the heavens are parting because of it today. But Jesus is baptized, the heavens open up, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him or landing on him. So the Holy Spirit of God in the form of a dove comes and it lands on Jesus. And then a voice from heaven said, This is my son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased. And so this just becomes sort of a sacred supernatural moment because God the Father speaks and affirms who Jesus is. This is my son. I love him, I am well pleased. The Spirit of God descends in the form of a dove and rests on Jesus, never to leave. We'll talk about that in a few minutes. This is a holy moment being fulfilled. And what's interesting is I was been studying this passage, is that this in many ways is a fulfillment passage of a story that's been going on from the very beginning of Genesis right up until this moment. Because throughout scripture, water represents the struggle that humans have with evil and with pain and with suffering. Water is this element, like the seas were feared because of this in the ancient world. And you can see in 1 Corinthians 10, the Apostle Paul talks about this idea of water and even baptism when Moses led the people through the uh the sea. Remember that story? And it's like what 1 Corinthians 10 says, Paul says, it's like they were being baptized by the water and being delivered through it. It's what Peter talks about in 1 Peter chapter 3 about Noah and an ark, and he builds this, and that there's these waters that are going to crush them, but God saves people in the midst of it. And 1 Peter 3 21 says, and that water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also. Not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience towards God, a clear conscience towards God. And so then baptism fulfills all of these illusions through Jesus that this is the work of God in our life. And so baptism's a marking moment. And I want to talk about three ways that we're marked in moments like this. The first is this baptism marks a fresh identity in Christ. A fresh identity in Christ. Don't say anything out loud, but if I were to come to you and say, Who are you? Tell me a bit about yourself. What would you tell me? How do we get an identity in life? You could tell me, if you have a job, what you do for a living. You could tell me what you like. An athlete or a hobby or something like that. You could tell me what you've accomplished. Sometimes we get identity trying to look a certain way or accomplish a certain amount or having a certain level of intelligence. Most of the identities that we strive for are self-derived. Or they're what we think other people think about us, and we try to form identities based off of that. But but what we're talking about in baptism as a marking identity is knowing who we are because of who Jesus is and who he has made us to be. And baptism provides an opportunity to discover our truest identity. Loved by God, created in his image to be who he has created us to be. So for Jesus, baptism is a public emergence. Really, before Matthew 3, we don't know a lot about Jesus in Matthew 1 or 2, except for who what his genealogy was and that he was born. And then there's like 30 years of relative silence. What did Jesus do? And then all of a sudden he comes on the scene and he's baptized. And all of a sudden the Spirit of God comes like a dove, and the Father says, This is my son, this is my identity. I love John's account on this. If you look at the screen, John chapter one. John writes this about John the Baptist. Um, the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I meant when I said, A man comes after me, has surpassed me because he was before me. And John said, I myself did not know him. He didn't even recognize fully who it was. But the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be, here's the word, revealed to Israel. Jesus' baptism is a revelation of his identity, of who he is. Verse 32. Then John gave this testimony. I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove, and what's the word? Remain. The Spirit of God came on Jesus and remained from this moment forward. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to bathroom. Baptized with water, told me. Again, John's saying, I didn't fully even know what was going on. God had sort of whispered to me something was going to happen. And God said, The man on whom you see the Spirit of come down and remain, there it is again, and remain, is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. I have seen and I have testified, this is God's chosen one. This is God affirming, this is my chosen one, this is the Messiah, this is the Savior of the world, Jesus. His identity is affirmed. And so is ours through baptism. Baptism is a mark of our identity of who we truly are in Jesus Christ. Look what Paul says in Colossians. He writes about this identity that we have. Colossians. There it is. Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith. It's faith that we're trusting in the working of God who raised him from the dead. Leave that verse up there for just a second. Here's what Paul is saying through Colossians: that we're buried with him in baptism. We go under the water in baptism, just like Jesus did in baptism, and just like Jesus did in a tomb. We come up out of the water just like Jesus did in his baptism and just like Jesus did in his resurrection, and we're raised with him. Raised with Christ, participating, united with Christ through our faith in the working of God. This is what we're being told is we've got a new identity that in Jesus we're not the old person that we used to be. We've got a new identity. We're not bound by our failures or our past or our sin or our shame. We've got freedom and forgiveness in Jesus Christ to go and then live a new life, a new identity rooted out of repentance and faith in Jesus. With him being united in Christ. Baptism portrays this. It's a visible symbol of what God has done. And if you're a follower of Jesus who has been baptized when we see others be baptized, I hope you remember. Look at what he saved me from. How good his grace is, how merciful he's been to us, and it moves your heart. Secondly, baptism marks a fresh inauguration in life and ministry in Christ. Inauguration, I love this word. It just simply means a ceremony that marks the beginning of something. It's to formally mark the start of a new thing. And that's what baptism is: it's a symbol of a new life, a new start with Jesus. For Jesus, it's his public emergence into ministry, being filled with the Spirit, and He's launched out. For many of us, baptism is our first act of being a witness. Before we even have the right words to say, let me tell you about Jesus. Baptism preaches a story because we're identifying with Jesus' death and his resurrection. We're being able to demonstrate this even if we don't have all the right language. It's what you do in the pool when you're bored. You practice baptism and you slam the kids down, and they come up and they're like, baptize me again. And you slam. I got really good at baptizing my son so hard he would flip through the water. And it was a game. But what we're talking about today is this is not a game. And we're not going through the motions. We're talking about what does it mean? And what difference does it make? And why does it matter? We're a witness, and today's a public witness for Jesus. Acts 1, we read this a few weeks ago. Uh um, Jesus says, You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. Meaning, you're going to witness for me, be an example for me. Yes, in words, but also just in the actions that you join in. And baptism is an action of joining in Jesus and what he wants us to portray. In Romans chapter 6, the apostle Paul writes this Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? So we've already covered that, going under. Um, we were therefore buried with him through baptism into death, in order that. So just get this, in order that the purpose is we're buried with him in baptism so that we can be raised. That means there has to be a dying in order to be a new life. And so he says, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we're baptized and nothing ever changes, we've missed the whole point. We're baptized into a new way of life. We're inaugurated into life and ministry for Jesus. This passage is uh King James Version, if you're following there, it says that that we could um walk in newness of life. It's it's talking about our conduct changes, our lifestyle changes, the way we think changes, the way we spend money and time changes. Our identity changes, our purpose changes in life. When we're in Christ, there's there's a change. That's why repentance has to have fruit of repentance, and that's why being baptized or salvation is to lead us into a new life of following Jesus in repentance and in faith. That's just how, that's just how we follow him, it's just how we maintain this relationship. And again, for those of us who've already been baptized, this is a reminder today. Yes, yes, Lord, yes. This is my identity. I want to remember who I am and what he's called me to. Third, baptism marks a fresh illustration of the meaning and mystery of the work of Christ. The meaning, like helping us to understand, and the mystery, like I don't fully understand, but I want to follow. We were moving here, and I just remember someone, I don't remember who it was, they asked me a question. Hey, you're moving here from Arizona. Have you heard about the Santa Ana winds? And I was like, no, what are they? Is it a big deal? And they're like, let me tell you, these winds are terrible. And they went on and on and on, and I was naive and I was like, oh, don't worry about it. We lived in Chicago, the windy city. We know what winds are like. And they sort of were like, you don't know what you're talking about, and they went on. And so I thought, okay, I'm prepared for the Santa Ana winds because I lived outside of Chicago, the windy city, until the first week that Santa Ana's blew and wouldn't stop blowing. And I thought my house would blow down. I thought my windows were going to crash in. I couldn't understand it until I experienced it. And so I can talk about all these things all day long. But God's desire is not just for you to know and understand in your head these things. He wants you to experience his life. He wants you to experience his grace, his forgiveness. God wants you to experience his peace that passes all understanding. God wants you to experience his love that is better than any kind of love this world has to offer. And so this whole call towards salvation, this whole call that's modeled in baptism, is an invitation for all of us. For Jesus, part of the reason that he's baptized, I love what uh one author, Sinclair Ferguson, talks about. He says that Jesus goes to John the Baptist and he goes into the Jordan water where many people had been baptized. Over and over, many people had been baptized. And he said it was almost like all of the sins of the people were being washed away by the water of the Jordan River. But Sinclair Ferguson paints a picture to say it's like the river was polluted with the sins of the people. Think about that. The river's polluted with the sins of the people. And Jesus is like, I've got to be baptized. And John's like, No, no, no, no, no, no. I need to be baptized. But Jesus is like, no, no. I need to be baptized in the polluted water of the people's sins. And Jesus took on the pollution of our sins. He entered into our situation. That's why we're told, He who knew no sin became sin for those of us who have committed sin. And so Jesus said, I have to do this to fulfill righteousness. I have to do this to make salvation possible. And for us, baptism is an ordinance of the gospel. It operates like the gospel. Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Those are the two things that we call sacraments around here. Baptism is a visible sign of what Jesus has done for us. It's not just a sign of what we do, it's not just about us, it's about something that we're called to. We're called to come to Jesus, to turn to Him. We're called to live for Jesus. And then every time we see a baptism, to be reminded of the goodness of the gospel, of the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus and how he forgives us, and we die to our old self in order to live to a new self that God does this work in us. I love what Jonathan Pennington said. You can look at the quote on the screen. Jonathan Pennington says, the church's ongoing practice of baptism, like another essential practice, the Lord's Supper, is simultaneously a repetition and a post-Pentecost transformation to Jesus' own act. Sorry, big words, but he's saying we're following in Jesus' way. After the Holy Spirit of God has come, we're following. So here it is. Jesus was baptized as a sign of his dedication, wholehearted obedience. That's what we're after. Wholehearted obedience to God. And so, too, we follow his example. At the same time, his own baptism is transformed in our experience because it's more than just a model. We don't simply get baptized because he did. We're baptized into him and he baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. We're baptized into Christ. Like I almost feel like I need to apologize because most baptisms I say something like, That water, that's just kookamonga water, it's not magical. And yet there's something mysterious that happens in our baptism where we're joined to Christ. We're united with Jesus in some beautiful mystery of the gospel that I don't fully understand, but we're invited to experience Jesus for ourselves. It's a turning moment, it's a trusting moment for us. And there's some of us here that I think, as I talk about being cleansed in the waters of baptism. Maybe you think I need to be cleansed. I need my sin needs to be dealt with. My addiction needs to be defeated. And maybe you would even say, I've tried on my own, I've tried on my own, and I just get back to the same place. And I feel so defeated or frustrated or disappointed. I want to invite you to come to Jesus today for the forgiveness that He alone can bring. Others of you, you're a follower of Jesus, but I'm asking you that to let this moment be more than just like, oh, we've done been there, done that, I've seen baptism. I want you to say, God, will you remind me of the depths of my own sin that you saved me from? Would you remind me of the goodness of your grace and your mercy? Would you overwhelm me once again with how much you love me as I remember my own baptism? Even if you're like me and you have a bad memory remembering your baptism, you know what I mean. What he has saved you from. Others of you, you have made a decision to follow Christ and you've not been baptized yet. Not being baptized doesn't mean you're not a Christian, but it is a step of obedience. And we've got another baptism service in two months, and it's already open for registration. I would say go sign up today and don't miss being a part of that. And then lastly, to you all who've come to be baptized, we really are thrilled with your decision. We believe God is on the move, and we pray that you could just sense his love, grace, and mercy as you turn to Jesus and you trust him wholeheartedly in these moments. Would you pray with me now? God, would you speak to us as only you can? Would you remind us of how good you are, how faithful you are. Even when life is hard and challenges are in plenty, would you give us a peace that only could come from you? Specifically, I pray for the sin that's in our lives and the invitation that you give us to repent. I love what the scripture says. It's not that we just repent because you're mad. We're actually told it's your kindness that leads us to repentance. When we understand how kind, how good, how gracious you are, it leads us to repentance. Would you lead us to repentance, God? Would you give anyone here that doesn't have it the gift of faith to trust you and to turn to you? We just say thank you, Jesus, that you enter into sin polluted water and you took our sin upon yourself so that we can be free. So we want to experience your freedom today. And we pray for all the people that I mentioned before, but specifically in this moment, for those who are coming to be baptized, that they would sense that you are with them, the new identity they have in you, Jesus. They are sons and daughters of the Most High God. They are made in your image and they are beloved, that they have a mission, a purpose for their life, that you want to use their lives and make a difference in this world. You want them to be a witness for you. And then also, there's a mystery and a beauty. I pray that they would just continue for the rest of their days to lean in, to follow you, to discover what it means to walk with you, Jesus, and walk in the step of the Spirit day by day by day. Jesus, we thank you for these moments. It's in your name we pray.

unknown 36:55

Amen.