I just wanted to let everyone know that there will be a baptism on November 18th immediately following the Sunday morning worship experience. If you are interested or know of anyone that is, please let them know that the opportunity is there. Remember, baptism cannot and will never be part of the salvation process. It is however a part of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19), it is one of the last things Jesus mentioned before He ascended to Heaven (therefore it is probably pretty important to God), it is a symbol of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection (Colossians 2:12, Romans 6:3,4), and, in following the New Testament model, it follows salvation.
If you want to take this step of obedience, please don’t hesitate. We see in Acts chapters 8 and 16 that when people committed their lives to Christ through repentance and faith, that immediately following or within the same hour, they would get baptized. In Acts 2:41, 3000 people received Christ and immdeiately were baptized. That is a staggering figure especially when you think about the fact that those who did so were putting their own lives at risk. Jesus had just been crucified weeks earlier for claiming to be the Messiah and now these 3,000 people were staking their lives on this “Messiah.” It’s not much of a risk for those of us who live in a free land with no persecution to face. We have it easy comparatively speaking. So what are you waiting for. Last night I challenged my small group of nine guys (figuring that some of them had not yet been baptized) to take the step of obedience. 3 of them stepped up to join 2 others who had already expressed interest. How about you? Let me know if you would like to join the others that have risen to the challenge. Have a great rest of your day.