Of all my pastoral duties, I feel most in awe each time I
lead the Lord’s Supper and Baptism services.
I feel especially inadequate and humbled when I think
about engaging in these two ordinances of our Faith with
other Christ followers, knowing such services go back to
the beginning of our Christian Faith.
The Bible compares baptism to burial. Believer’s baptism
symbolizes a person’s dying to his past course of life and
beginning a new one as a Christian dedicated to God.
When we trust in Jesus, we’re united with him by faith In
him, we die to sin and death. As we die with him, we are
then raised to new life in him.
As John Morrison explains, “Baptism symbolizes being
buried with Christ in his death. We go under the water,
cannot breathe, and for a brief moment, we are ‘in the
grave.’ But then, we are raised out of the water, which
pictures our resurrection with Christ. . . . this death we
share with Christ is a death to our old way of life. By
uniting with Jesus by faith, we are no longer slaves to
sin. We are dead to sin, and we are now risen with Christ
to live to God.”
Baptism does not wash away our sins, but it gives us a
tangible picture of how we can be cleansed. The Bible
teaches that we can be cleansed from sin only through
Jesus’ shed blood. Thus, a person must exercise faith in
Jesus, change his course of life to live in harmony with
Jesus’ teachings, and follow Jesus in baptism.
We enjoyed a wonderful service of believer’s baptism at
the lake this past Sunday. What a beautiful setting! I
believe that the witness of these boys and girls, students,
young adults, and adults will be a stirring testimony to
those who watch, encouraging them to make decisions of
faith that would please Jesus. Enjoy the Video!
Join us in worship each Sunday at Lakewood. At
Lakewood, we will proclaim Jesus and affirm God’s word.
It matters under whose teaching you place your family.
Lakewoodlife.org
See you Sunday,
Dr. Tom