Sermon for the service of January 29, 2017 by Pastor Steve Hopkins[social_warfare buttons=”facebook”]
New Year, New You: Baptism
- There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” (John 3:1-8, NLT)
- Baptism is…
- Related to Jewish Ritual Washing
- They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then they will be clean. (Numbers 19:12, NIV)
- A Practice of the Early Church
- And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Mark 1:4, NIV)
- At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. (Mark 1:9, NIV)
- “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38, ESV)
- A Sign of the New Covenant
- Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. (Ezekiel 36:25-27, NLT)
- Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised form the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3-4, NASB)
- TQ: Do I remember my Baptism? What do I think my Baptism means for my Christian life?
- A Testimony of Grace
- Baptism in our life of discipleship
- “In principle, Humanity has already been ‘saved.’ We individuals must certainly appropriate that salvation, but the really tough work – the bit that we could not have done for ourselves – has been already done for us.” (C.S. Lewis)
- And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift. (Revelation 22:17, NRSV)
- TQ: Do I hold on to the guilt and shame of sin in my life? How does this hold me back as a follower of Jesus? What can I do to bring my Baptism into the experience of my daily life?
- Additional Reading on Baptism: John 4,7; Acts 1-2, 8-11, 16, 18, 19, 22; Ephesians 4:5; Colossians 2; 1 Peter 3;