BAPTISM Is a POWERFUL FORCE
• Within the Life of a Christian
But So Often We Get These Things Confused!
Baptism Does Not Occur
• BEFORE You Become a Christian,
o But Rather, It Is Something
• That You DO BECAUSE YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN!
Baptism Is What GOD Has Set Forth
In Which - We Use to Express Our LOVE For HIM!
It Is Within Baptism, this is Where We - as Christians,
Can Join Together as ONE,
And Jointly Share - Our Love within The Trinity God
Together IN Them, As A Family!
Christians All Over the World,
Join - Together – With - Us
Because They Are Baptized in Jesus Christ.
Now - Here Are Two Things About Baptism.
1. Baptism Is a Blessed Gift from God Himself
• Which Connects All of HIS People
o Together As One Body.
2. And Baptism Is Such a Powerful Force!
As Baptized Christians,
• We Share in Our Faith,
• And This Introduction,
• This Rite,
• This Power of God
o Is A Lord’s Blessed Help
Which Protects Us ALL
• From the Deep
• And Often Raging Chaos of Life.
YOU SEE - All Over the World -
It Is – Within BAPTISM Itself
Which Unites Us
Not Only in A Highly Protective Force
But Also, A Very ALMIGHTY FORCE!
If You Can, Please Stand with Me as I Read the Scriptures for Today.
It Comes to Us from the Book of Mark, Chapter 1, Verse 1 through 11.
Mark 1:1-11 (ESV)
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1 The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“Behold, I send my messenger before Your Face,
who will prepare Your way,
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make His paths straight,’”
4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness, and proclaiming a baptism of Repentance for the Forgiveness of sins.
5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes He who is mightier than I, the strap of Whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
8 I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
The Baptism of Jesus 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
10 And when He came up out of the water, immediately He saw the Heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove.
11 And a voice came from Heaven, “You are My beloved Son; with You I am well pleased.”
Just as JESUS CHRIST HAS DONE,
• We Also Need To Do:
o As Parents -
o Grandparents -
o Teachers -
o And Leaders -
All of Us Christians -
We ALL Need to Return to
The Basics of Our Baptism!
And This Is Why:
Have You Ever Notice HOW Our Young Writer, Mark,
Chose to Begin Writing His Gospel?
He Began at The Very Beginning of Jesus’ Ministry
And that was at Christ’s Baptism in The Jordan River.
We Need to ALWAYS Keep –
FIRST THINGS - FIRST!
Baptism Should Remind Us of
The Three R's of Our Soul:
• REPENTANCE!
• RIGHTEOUSNESS!
• And REVELATION!
Allow Me to Ask:
What Would Be Your ‘First Thought’
If Someone – Right Here During Church Service,
Would Come Forward and Begin to Confess
Their Sins to All of Us Here???
I Mean - Right Here and Now?
• Would That ‘SHOCK’ You?
• Would you Be ‘AMAZED?’
• Would you Be ‘IMBARASSED?’
• Would You Film It For Later Viewing?
• Or Would You Be Looking for the Exit,
Being ‘AFRAID’ Of What is Going to Happen Next?
Just As We Read in Our Scripture –
• Even Jesus Christ Himself,
o He Began His Very Own Ministry Within
Identifying with The Basics: The Three Rs
REPENTANCE!
RIGHTEOUSNESS!
And REVELATION!
Those are Very Churchy Words - So lets Break them Down.
You See, it is True – JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF
He Submitted Himself to The Basics of Faith!
What Would Be Your Answer IF Someone Came to You and Ask:
‘Hey, What Is Baptism About
And Why Should I Be Baptized?”
Would You Say – “Christ Gave Himself to Baptism,
So, Should-We-Not-Also - Seal Our Christianity
Within God Just as Jesus Did?”
That Would Be a Great Answer
But What exactly Does It Mean?
YOU SEE – It Is Within Our Baptism,
• Where We Come Back to the Most Basic Elements
o Of Our Christian Walk:
Our Repentance from Sin!
Our Pledge of Living a Righteousness Life Within the Lord!
And Relying Upon the Solid Understanding
• Of Just Who God is
o Just as He Has Revealed Himself to us.
So - Let Us Take a Look At
• Our Lord's Baptism
o And SEE What It Tells Us
About the ‘Three Spiritual R's’:
#1
REPENTANCE Is the First Of The Three R’s.
And REPENTANCE Is a Requirement of Baptism!
Can You Shout Using “John the Baptist Words”
• That He Used
o When the People
Came to the Jordan
• To See or To Watch Him?
Wasn’t “REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED!”
REPENTANCE - Is Always Our First Action!
And Then Later On – Comes Our BAPTISM!
But Are We Clear on What REPENTANCE Means?
In the Webster 1828 Dictionary, It Shares its Understand of the Meaning of
“REPENTANCE:”
1. Sorrow for anything done or said.
The Pain or Grief which a person experiences as a consequence of the Injury or Inconvenience produced by his own conduct.
2. In Theology, the Pain, Regret, Sorrow, Sickness or Suffering which a person feels on account of his past conduct - Because it Exposes him to Punishment.
3. Real Penitence is a Sorrow; A Deep Remorse; A Deep Regret,
A Deep Shame for Your Own SIN which has Offended and Dishonored GOD.
And It Is a Violation of GOD’s Holy Law, and the Immoral Ungratefulness and Rudeness Which Was Brought Upon Towards the Being of Infinite Benevolence.
4. Repentance is a Change of Mind, or a Conversion from Sin to God!
Godly Sorrow Works Within You from Repentance to SALVATION!
YEARS AGO, During the Iranian Hostage Crises,
[ Back In 1979 thru 1981 ]
There Was a Pastor Who Was Visiting with A Woman
• As She Was Telling Him Her Story
o Of How She Had Befriended an Iranian Student.
NOW, Just as We All Probably Can Imagine,
During the Early Stages of This Revolution,
For ALL Iranian’s Nationals,
It was a Presidential Decree That All Banks
Would Freeze Their Funds
For A Certain Period of Time!
And Since He Was a student,
• It Was Not Long Before
o He Had Ran Out of Money.
So, in a Way of Earning Money,
o This Young Man Offered to Do Odd Jobs for This Woman.
BUT as You Would Expect,
• His Financial Condition Just Continued to Decline!
And so, in a Way of Helping Him,
• She Invited Him to Stay in Her Home.
She Gave Him a Room
• And He Ate His Meals with Her Family.
As it was then, And All Most Everywhere in our Today,
• It Did Not Take Long Before
o Her Neighbors Began to Gossip
And Showing Their Disapproval of This Arrangement.
The Neighbors Stated their Demands as:
“Unless this Iranian Young Man
Was Willing to ‘Denounce His Country’ -
They All Could Not Guarantee of His Safety”
Do You Think That This Would Not Happen in the USA?
During WW11, The First Confinement Camp in Operation Was Manzanar, Located in California. Between 1942 And 1945 A Total Of 10 Camps Were Opened, Holding Approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans for Varying Periods of Time in California, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, And Arkansas.
And All of The Women Within Her Community
Began Shunning Her and Her Entire Family as Well.
And so, ‘In a Way in Trying to Keep the Peace within the community,’
• This Woman Instructed Her Entire Family
o And their New Iranian Student Friend,
To ONLY Travel in Pairs,
And to Keep a Great Distance
• Between Themselves and their Neighbors.
And it was somewhere around here,
When the Pastor Interrupted Her Story
With His Question:
"O’ My Goodness!
How in the World Did You Ever Come to
Befriending Someone Like That?"
This Was When Needle Which Broke the Camel’s Back!
• She Pounded Her Fist Hard on The Desk
• And Through Her Clinched Teeth –
• She Shouted Out with Frustration:
"DARN IT!
It Is Because I Am a Christian!!
Do You Think This Is Easy?"
YOU SEE –
This Is Called: Baptismal Repentance!
BUT HERE is THE THING IS –
“The RITUAL of BAPTISM”
Is TOTALLY EMPTY
AND IT IS ABSOLUTELY “MEANINGLESS!”
That Is - Unless
IT IS SEEN BY YOU
AS YOU Are COMPLETELY DYING TO SELF!
And BEING REBORN
INTO A NEW WAY OF LIFE
Within Jesus!
And Just in Case You Are Wondering,
YES - This Is Seldom Easy!
However, it is ALWAYS TOTALLY Necessary!
#2
The First Of The Three R’s Was REPENTANCE.
That is The First Basic Component of Baptism.
And The Second Part Is Righteousness!
YOU SEE - Righteousness Is the Fruit of Baptism!
Have You Ever Heard the Story of Father Damien from the 1800’s.
• He Was a Missionary to Hawaii
o Planting Churches on The Island of Molokai [mO-la-kI ].
He Is Described as Being an ‘Apostle Paul’
• To That Part of The World.
He Planted Several Churches on The Main Part of The Island,
• But Then He Discovered Another Part
o Where Nobody Ever Went To.
This Area was a Small Peninsula That
• Jutted Out North from The Island
o And It Was Separated from The Mainland
By An Almost Sheer Cliff that was 2,000-3,000 Feet High.
The Only Way to Get to That Peninsula
• Was To Jump Off the Cliff
o Or to Go by Boat in The Open Ocean.
YOU SEE – IT WAS ON THAT DESERTED PENINSULA,
• That Was Where the Hawaiians
o Abandoned All Their Lepers too.
SO, If You Got Leprosy in Hawaii,
• You Were Taken to This Peninsula
o And Abandoned There
Never to Return.
And Father Damien Felt a Calling to Those People
• Those Who, at No Fault of Their Own,
o Had Been Cast Off by Society!
They Had Become Outcasts
• Removed from All of Society.
And So, With God in His Heart, Father Damien Went to the Island
• And He Worked Just as He Had Done
o On The Rest of The Island.
He Built a Church with His Own Hands
• And He Helped Others – Together, They Built a Society –
o Even Helping Many with the Building of their Houses –
And he Lived Among Them
And he Humbly Serve Them in Any Way He Could.
Then on one day,
• After He was There for ABOUT 15 YEARS,
o As He Was Cooking a Meal
And Boiling Some Water When an accident occurred.
This Was When He Accidently Spilled Boiling Water
• On His Foot,
o And it was Right Then When He Realized
That He Had No Pain!
There was no Feeling in His Foot.
Just to Make Sure - It Happened Just as He thought it had,
• He, on Purpose, Poured More Boiling Water on His Foot.
o But the Results were the same.
There Was No Pain.
And This Could ONLY Mean One Thing.
• YES - He Had Now Caught Leprosy.
It was the Next Sunday in Church,
• As He Began to Lead the People in Worship,
o That was When He Chose
To Change His Normal Greeting.
You See, Every Sunday
He Would Start Off With, "My Fellow Believers."
But This Sunday He Began with:
"My Fellow Lepers."
YOU SEE - He Had in Every Way
• Become One of Them.
Even in Taking Upon Himself - THEIR GREATEST PAIN.
#3
1st ] Repentance.
2nd ] Righteousness.
The 3rd R Is Revelation.
It Was Right There – IN THE JORDAN
• That was Where Jesus Bagan His ‘Public Ministry!’
But YOU SEE - It is NOT JUST
• THE BEGINNING OF JESUS’ PUBLIC MINISTRY
o That we See, Hear and Feel.
Right Here, There Is Something Very Powerful
o That We MUST take a Note Thereof.
Right Here Is One of GOD The Father’s:
• ‘STARTLING!’
o ‘FRIGHTENING!’
‘SHOCKING!’
• ‘ASTONISHING!’
o and ‘ALARMING!’ ACTIONS
It Is Truly an ‘AWE - FILLED – PUNCTUATION of GOD!’
Have You Ever Been
• Really - Super - Close to a Lightning Bolt
o That Had Struck the Earth?
Maybe A Tree or A Metal Beam.
And IF So, Do You Recall the Feeling of Being Filled with
Static Electricity From that Lightning Bolt?
Mark Used - ONLY TWICE within his Entire Book
• The Word ‘TORN’!
This Is God’s
‘Sudden Bolt of Lightning’
To All of the World
Telling Everyone and Everything to
Wake UP!
Both Times When Mark used the Word "TORN,"
They Were During a Serious and TRAUMATIC PUNCTUATION –
of Our HOLY and Almighty GOD!
They Were GOD’s Claim Upon HIS FEELINGS and MIGHT!
And In Both Times,
There Was a DRAMATIC
And an Active Sense Used.
GOD IS IN MOTION!
The First ‘TORN’ Occurred within Our Reading for Today.
It Comes to Us as Jesus Rose
Out of The Waters of His Baptism!
Mark 1:10
“As Jesus came up out of the water, He saw the Heavens TORN APART,
and the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove.”
And Then the Second Time Is at The End of Mark's Gospel
As When GOD TORE The Temple Curtain into Two
Mark 15:37-38
“And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.
And the curtain of the temple was TORN IN TWO, from top to bottom.”
Just as a Reminder, The Curtain was 60’ long, 30’ high and 4” thick.
The First of These Event Was
‘Breaking-Into the Kingdom of Heaven.’
And The Second One Was Of The
‘Tearing Away of The Religious Barrier Between God and Humanity.’
It Is as If Mark Is Saying God Has To:
‘Rip Open the Skies
and Change the Course of Human Behavior!’
And God Has to:
‘Rip Apart the Human Barrier of Sin
That Separates Us.
It Is Much Like Removing a Band-Aid from a Wound,
God Has to Do It - Suddenly
And in a Violent Way - Or Else,
We Will Remain Lost!
It is One Of The Three R’s,
• The Need for REVELATION,
o It Is the NEED to EXPOSE
Something from the Outside,
• Of Our Own Experiences,
o To GUIDE US and To DIRECT US.
We Need God to Break in
And to Reveal Himself to Us.
To Tell Us – ‘This Way You Go’
And ‘This Person You Follow.’
Just Listen to This:
Jesus Was Coming Out of The Water.
Jesus had Just Been Baptized by John.
And so now, Jesus can Begin His Ministry
And All of These People were just -
Standing Around Watching
And then, God Tares Open the Heavens,
God Descends Down Upon Jesus
And HE Announces,
“You Are My Son! - Whom I Love! –
With You I Am Well Pleased.”
Did You Hear That?
God Is Telling You: This Way You Go and This Person You Follow.
Jesus Is My Son and He Will Show You the Way!
And It All Starts with Baptism of Faith.
If You Are Sitting Here This Morning,
And You Have Not Yet Experienced the Water.
However, You Want to Know the Water,
IF That is You - Then Visit With me after Service.
I would love to talk to you about it.
It All Starts with The Basics of Baptism:
1. Repentance From Sin!
2. Living A Life of Righteousness,
3. Revelation – Having an Understanding That
God Has Reveled Himself to Us Through Jesus Christ
And HE wants to Share this All with YOU.
Closing Prayer
Turn Us Around, O Lord, - And Bring Us Back Toward You.
Revive Our Lives as It Was in the Beginning –
And Turn Us Toward Each Other,
Lord - For in Isolation - There Is No Life.
But Within You, There Is Eternity! Amen
