Baptism Week 2 • Colossians 2:6-15

Show Notes

Sunday, September 19th • Beau Bradberry

"And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses," — Colossians 2:13

–
Podcast: https://pod.link/willowridgechurch
Website: https://willowridgechurch.org
Instagram: https://instagram.com/willowridgechurch
Facebook: https://facebook.com/willowridgechurch
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@willowridgechurch

Creators and Guests

Host

Beau Bradberry

Senior Pastor

What is Willow Ridge Sermons?

Sermon audio from Sunday services at Willow Ridge Church.

Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.

This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons.

We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear

the latest message.

Thanks for listening.

Well, good morning.

Glad that y'all are here with us.

If you've got your Bibles, open them up to Colossians chapter 2.

That's where we're going to be this morning.

As you turn there, I want to echo a couple things that Dave said.

First Friday night, Low Country Boil, Oyster Roast.

Guys, would love to have you here.

I cannot wait for the fellowship and the time, and I'm just being honest with you.

I plan on eating so many oysters that someone has to cart me out here afterwards, all right?

So, would love for you to be there and be a part with us.

Sign up for that in the lobby out front.

Also, a couple mission trips that we've got going on.

Our Black Mountain mission trip that our men's ministry is putting together.

We're excited about that.

That's November 7th through the 13th.

That's also the sign up.

It's in the lobby.

And so, guys, if you want to be a part of that, we would love to have you.

But then also, there's another trip.

I want to pause as we get into our series and explain a little bit of what we're doing here

at our church as we partner with missionaries and other churches all over this world.

One of our partnerships is with Hope Valley Church, which is in West Jordan, Utah, which

is one of the suburbs of Salt Lake City.

And so, we are partnering with the Stottman family as they are seeking to plant Hope Valley

Church there.

It's a new work.

In fact, it is a very new work.

In fact, their first launch service, so they've had services before, but their public service

that they've been pushing happened last week.

And so, we're going to go and we're going to work with them on the 13th through the 20th.

In fact, I think we've got a slide of them, if we can throw that up on the screen of Hope

Valley Church.

And so, what we've been doing with our partnerships is through our denomination, the Southern Baptist

Convention, through the North American Mission Board, churches all over are partnering

with church plants that can go alongside and help them, not only in funding, but in support

and encouragement for the work that they're going to do.

And so, the Stottman family, originally from the Oklahoma area, felt the Lord was calling

them to Salt Lake City, which is one of the most lost cities in the United States.

And so, the level of equality of percentage of Christians in Salt Lake City is equal to that

of some Middle Eastern countries.

And so, you begin to think of the depth of the lostness and what they need in partnership

to come alongside and do.

And so, our high schoolers went there this summer, did a phenomenal work out in Salt Lake

City, setting up environments and sharing their faith so that the Stottmans could help kind

of go through and do that, the work that was there.

And so, we're going to continue on with that in this fall, November 13th through the 20th.

We're going to take a group out there.

We're hoping to take somewhere around six to eight individuals that are going to go, and

we're going to continue on in that work.

We're going to have some time of sharing of our faith.

We're going to have some time of doing some park ministry, of helping minister and care

for those.

And so, one of the things that we're celebrating as we're talking about our baptism series right

now is that on the launch Sunday for them last week, all right, they baptized three people

in their congregation who had given—yes, we need to clap for that—who Christ has saved.

And so, I just share all of those things.

There we go.

That's perfect.

That's the Stottman family here on my left.

That's their church.

That's their gathering of what that looks like.

And then the beauty of that, right, of just getting the metal garden tub, horse trough,

whatever that is, right, getting that out there and having that family to be a part of there

and seeing life change as people say, Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, and I identify

in his baptism and want to share and celebrate that.

So, I bring that to you guys for a couple reasons.

Number one is I want to see more and more of you to be able to take that step into missions

and to see what that's like.

And we've got a wonderful opportunity for us to go on the 13th and go be a part of that

work that God's doing out there.

Salt Lake City is a city that's been identified by our convention, and efforts are being poured

into more and more to see church plants come up.

In fact, one of my cousins, my third cousin from a town called Toccoa, Georgia, and if

you ever met anybody in your life from Toccoa, Georgia, I want you to picture that stereotype

of the people who sound like they got marbles in their mouth when they talk, all right?

That's my cousin Jason.

And recently, several years ago, he went out to Salt Lake City with he and his wife and

his kids to be a part of a church there and to pastor that church because of the Christian

influence there that's dying, the gospel influence there that's dying, and so they're a part of

that.

So there are tons of men and women and families who have gone out to Salt Lake City to see

lost people come to know the Lord, and so we want to go and support them physically.

But also, just so that you guys are just reminded of this, that when we give, whether you give

online, whether you drop it off in the basket, when we give, it's not just about what we do

in here.

It's that when we give, we're helping out so that men and women all over the world,

can help share their faith.

And when you walk down and you see that the people on these pictures that are there, it's

them.

But also, through the work of the Southern Baptist Convention, the International Mission

Board, and the North American Mission Board, there are missionaries that you and I will

never see their face, do not know their name, but because of faithful giving, they're able

to share the work that's there, all right?

And so, we're excited about that.

We just want a reminder sometimes of that.

I think sometimes when we think, when we give, all of that stays here.

And that would be a crime and a shame if that's what happened.

But we want to make sure that we continue to grow in our giving as a church, as we give

to missionaries all over the world.

So, continue to pray for Hope Valley Church.

If you would like to be a part of that mission trip, come talk to me.

If you've got questions, if not, man, sign up on the sign-up sheet that's out there in

the lobby.

That is not in a commitment to go, but that's just letting me know that you're interested and

we're going to be putting together a meeting to kind of sit down and talk about what that

trip is going to be like, all right?

So, we are talking about baptism.

We started last week, this week, and two more weeks after this.

And being Baptist, it's an important thing for us to talk about, right?

It's kind of in our name, so it's a big deal for us.

But also, what we see is it's a big deal for the Lord.

It's a big deal in Scripture.

We talked about it last week, you know, that Jesus was baptized.

Baptism was a part of Jesus's ministry.

Jesus tells us to go out and baptize.

And then what we see in the early church is that the early church does that.

And so, for us as a church in 2021, baptism needs to be a part of what we do, not so that

we can have a number to report or something to celebrate, even though that's an important

thing to be able to celebrate new life with that.

But at its basic core, the reason why baptism is important is because it's in God's Word.

God values it as important.

And so, if we are going to be about the things of God, then we need to be about baptism.

But I also know that when we talk about baptism, especially in a church context like ours, right,

we may have people from different denominations.

We may have people who have kind of journeyed in here, Willow Ridge Church.

You might have thought we were non-denominational until I just said that, right?

Oh, they're Baptists, right?

I didn't know that.

It might not have come if I'd known that, right?

But we are, like cats out of the bag.

Here we are, right?

We're Baptists, right?

And so, you've got questions.

You've been taught one thing, and we do something different.

You show up for a baptism service, and you're expecting to see what your denominational background

did before, and then you see us wheel what looks like a hot tub out, right, fill it up

with water and push people down underneath it.

And you're like, that seems kind of weird, right?

And so, we're going to talk about that.

What is baptism?

Why do we do baptism the way that we do it?

And so, that's part of what we're going to look at in this series.

And then, as we do this, for those of you, and this has been my prayer, right, Lord, if

there are men and women or kids in our church that need to be baptized, Lord, that you're

doing that, may they be obedient to you.

So, please hear me as we navigate and as we dive through this.

No part of this, and if you think this is my heart, like, it's not.

Please trust me.

It's not a, we're not trying to guilt you into something, all right?

We want you to be obedient in response to the Lord.

And so, that's the heart of this.

So, let's read Colossians 2.

I'm going to read verses 6 through 15.

Paul writes, and he says,

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in

Him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught abounding in thanksgiving.

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition,

according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

For in Him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in Him,

who is the head of all rule and authority.

In Him also, you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands,

by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.

Having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith

in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

And you who were dead in your trespasses, and the uncircumcision of your flesh,

God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

This He set aside, nailing it to the cross.

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in Him.

So this is a passage of Scripture.

We're going to kind of come back to it at the end of the message.

Normally, you guys know I'll kind of work verse by verse through a passage,

but we're going to kind of approach this in baptism a little more topical today.

But we're going to come back to it at the end and look at some aspects

that we're kind of drawing from this of what Paul wants us to understand based off of baptism.

Now, as a pastor, as I talk to congregational members, church family,

as a pastor, as I talk to some of my even own blood family,

as a pastor, as I talk to people in my neighborhood or out at places when they hear that I'm a pastor,

and then when they hear Baptist and questions like baptism come up,

I want to kind of share with you guys three questions that I commonly get about baptism.

Now, I'm going to be like I treat my kids.

It's like I'm not necessarily going to give you the answer maybe that you're looking for

or maybe even fully answer the question today.

There's going to be pieces that we pull in,

but there's going to be more tensions that we work through with these questions.

All right.

So usually when you look at baptism,

you get people who are going to reside and rest in denominational traditions.

All right.

And even though like I love our denomination, I'm a part of our denomination.

We are part of our denomination.

We're not going to look at it through a denominational lens.

We're going to look at it through the lens of biblical truth.

And that's how we're approaching this whole thing.

And I'll be honest with you, that is our goal of approaching everything within the context of scripture

is how do we answer these, not based on the traditions of man,

but how do we answer these based off the word of God?

So the first question I get asked quite often is who gets baptized?

It's a great question.

Who gets baptized?

Some people say, well, do I need to be baptized so that I can be a part of the church?

Is it requirement for, I'm not sure about Christ, but I like this organization.

I like what's happening.

So I'll get baptized so that I can be a part of the church who gets baptized.

Another debate that comes up is, is, is, is, is a person professes faith in Christ, right?

Who gets baptized?

Is it fresh new believers?

And we see churches that do this.

And I've been a part of worship services.

People respond to the call of Christ.

Christ saves them.

We do an impromptu baptism service, man.

They're coming down and we're sending people to Walmart to get towels and robes, all right?

Because we're baptizing there in the moment.

We've seen this happen even in our church.

We did a, we used to do late baptisms when we had access to that.

And, and we were doing some baptisms and somebody came over and, and we're sharing with me and

talking with me and they began to explain to me what God was doing in their life.

And they said, you know, I'd like to take this step and get baptized tonight.

And so we called everybody back and we went and got baptized, right?

And so what we did, fresh new believers, is it tested believers?

Is it faith in Christ?

And you've got some knowledge that's there.

So we sit down, we, we ask some questions, we talk through some things and I'm going to

use this and like, like, like now I'm a follower of Christ and I passed the test.

I know enough.

Is this who gets baptized?

Or is it proven believers, people who get saved?

And then we see the evidence of the fruit of the spirit in their life.

We see who they are and what they do.

We see the, the, the walk that, that Paul talks about this walk in the Lord.

Is that there?

We need to examine, we need to see.

And lastly, this is going to be an important one.

Is it terms of who gets baptized?

Is it their choice or someone else's?

Is it their choice or is it someone else's?

Is there a hierarchy within the church that, that needs to be able to say, you're worthy

of this, you're not worthy of this?

What does it look like?

And this is something I want us as we go through the message this morning to have that question

in your head, who gets baptized?

Second question, when does a person get baptized?

Does the timing of it matter?

Specifically the timing in the life of the person.

Question you get all the time, what is too young to baptize?

What is too young, right?

We don't baptize infants here.

We don't.

But what is too young to, to baptize?

Is it three?

Is it four?

Is it seven?

Is it 18?

Is it 35?

Right?

When is too young?

Does age matter?

In situations that we've been at before as well in the context of the church.

When does the timing of it matter?

Or you've got a person who's on their deathbed, right?

They profess faith in Christ, right?

So what do we do?

What do we do?

Hospitals probably won't dig us bringing in the baptistry, right?

What do we do with that?

What do we do?

When does a person get baptized?

And lastly, some questions we're going to kind of go as we go through here.

How does a person get baptized?

How does it work?

What do we need to do?

Sprinkled or immersed?

Does a pastor have to do it?

Does the hierarchy or the leadership of the church have to take this on?

And then also, can this be done privately or is this done publicly?

Like what does this look like in the life?

So there's lots of questions.

These are questions that I commonly get.

And we're going to kind of flesh some of these out as we go through the message this morning.

So the first thing I want us to get about baptism,

and a lot of this is kind of diving a little bit deeper from where we went last week,

is this.

Baptism is about union with Christ.

Baptism is about union with Christ.

This entire passage that we just read in Colossians begins with the establishment that the person has been saved by Christ.

As you have received Jesus, the apostle Paul says, walk in him.

So everything else that comes from that is going to be based off of this statement.

Christ has saved you.

Now you walk in obedience with him.

So when we get down to baptism, what we see is that the act of baptism is a step for a follower of Christ to say,

I'm being obedient to what he's called me to do, right?

I'm being obedient in how I give.

I'm being obedient in how I pray.

I'm being obedient in how I study God's word.

I'm being obedient in the fellowship of the saints together.

And I'm being obedient in baptism.

That is the part of what God calls us to within there.

And so it's about the union of Christ that begins in a relationship with God.

So that's kind of helping us out with some of the timing of when and who, right?

It's got to be about the union that a person has with Christ.

So if they're not united with Christ, they need to get baptized.

They shouldn't get baptized.

And in fact, if a person came to me and said,

that looked like a really cool religious experience, I'd like to be a part of that,

I'd pump the brakes for them on that, right?

Because baptism is about union with Christ.

Look at what Paul writes in Romans 6, verses 3 and 4.

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus

were baptized into his death?

We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death

in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,

we too might walk in newness of life.

And so what we find is that baptism is about your faith that has been placed in Christ.

The fact that Jesus Christ in his sovereignty, in his goodness, and in his grace has saved you.

And then baptism comes from that.

So baptism shows two things about faith.

Baptism is going to be rooted in faith for us.

It shows two things.

Number one, baptism signifies faith.

It is saying to the world, to everyone that's there,

this is who you are now.

This is who you are now in Christ.

So, does it happen when a person first gets saved?

Does it happen after a person over a season of time of being able to understand more?

Does it happen over a time of a person walking in their faith and seeing that?

My simple answer to that is yes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I've baptized people before right there in the moment.

They've gotten saved and in that and we have it and it's there.

We feel like this is what the Lord's leading.

I've had in that when people have made professions of faith.

Christ has saved them and they want to wrestle out.

They want to work out their salvation a little bit more.

Come into an understanding of a sharing faith.

Yeah.

That's what we walk through with our kids.

When they gave their life to the Lord.

When Christ saved them as we walked through that with them.

It also happens after a time or a period of seeing.

I've got a friend of mine who, maybe this was your story and this was a lot of my story as well.

He jokes around like he got saved every year at youth camp, right?

He didn't really get saved at youth camp.

So, he gets saved and he'd fall away.

He gets saved and he'd fall away.

He gets saved and he'd fall away.

And then in his 20s, he got saved and the pastor said, let's baptize you.

And he's like, man, I'm confident, but I know my track record.

All right.

I want to kind of walk through this a little bit.

I want to walk through it and see.

But it's what we see.

It signifies faith.

It shows who you are now in Christ.

But it also symbolizes faith.

And this is important.

Baptism displays.

It symbolizes your faith.

It's an important symbol of the faith that God has given us.

And what it helps do, the question is, is this private or public?

Look, it shows that our faith is public.

It's who we are.

Now, when we talk about public faith, I want us to make sure we're not confusing personal faith with private faith.

All right.

Personal faith is a yes.

Do you have personal faith?

Absolutely.

My faith doesn't save you.

Your faith is what saves you.

So, personal yes in the way that it's yours.

But us in our context, in our culture, oftentimes, we equate personal with private.

Well, I'm not going to talk about my faith because it's personal.

No, no, no, no.

Faith is always intended to be public, not private.

There is no such thing as private faith.

No such thing.

Faith always needs to be there.

And faith always needs to be shared.

So, why does public baptism matter?

Why does it matter that there's people there?

Why does it matter that there's a gathering?

Why does it matter that we put pictures on a screen for individuals that you've never met before so that we can celebrate?

Why does it matter?

Why does this symbol matter so much?

And here's what I'd like to ask you.

Why does a wedding matter?

Why does a wedding matter?

Because it does.

A wedding, regardless if you're going to roll out and ruin dad's line of credit, all right?

Or just gather a handful of people in a backyard.

It matters.

It matters.

Why does it matter when we could just go into someone's office and sign a paper?

Why does it matter specifically for the life of a believer?

Because what I love about a wedding, whether it's five people in a backyard or it's 5,000 people at Colonial Life Arena, all right?

Why does it matter?

Why does it matter?

Because it tells a story.

It tells a story.

As the dad or the granddad or the uncle comes walking down the aisle with the bride,

there's a beautiful symbolism of what's there.

As she is going to be joined with this man whom she loves and they're joined together in the given way of the bride.

One of the things as I do a wedding that I will emphasize in the premarital classes leading up and then remind during the wedding is in that moment when the vows and everything are about to start happening.

And I remind them, hey, during that time, hold hands and don't let go.

Hold hands and don't let go.

Because what are you showing?

This is a unity of two people who are linking their lives together in a covenant before God.

It tells a story.

This right here.

This wedding ring.

It tells a story.

It's a beautiful symbol of a reminder of the covenant made between God and man and man and his wife and his wife and her husband, right?

It's a beautiful story.

It's a beautiful picture.

The vows that are there are the words that are spoken.

Sometimes I get shy couples.

We want to get married, but we would really not like to say anything.

So if we can just do like winks and head nods throughout the whole thing, like we're good with that.

And I'm like, nah, uh-uh, uh-uh.

I'll maybe like slack off to let you do a barely whisper or an I do, right?

But you're going to speak.

You're going to have this so that your words are a testimony to the others about what you're committing yourself to.

And then what I love of why it matters is when the pastor, when I, when someone else, when the person officiating gets to stand up and say,

I now pronounce you husband and wife.

You may now kiss your bride, right?

I love saying those words.

And here's why I love saying that.

Because it's in the agreement of the congregation that this is good and this is who you are.

Now, let me let you in on a little secret.

Until we sign that paper, you ain't married.

All right?

That's got to happen.

So what are we doing?

It's in the symbolism of it.

And the symbolism matters.

And the symbolism is valuable.

Here's what I want to make sure that we understand.

Because whether you're married or you're single, everyone in here has been to and knows and has been a part of a wedding service before.

Baptism and its symbolism within the congregation of the body is your wedding service in that moment.

It is the symbolism that he is mine and I am his.

And I want you to know about it.

When Aaron and I got married, it ended up being like standing room only people packed into that teeny tiny church in Jackson, South Carolina.

Right?

And I wanted everybody to know that I'm hers and she's mine.

And in baptism, that's the joy of what we get.

That's the joy of what you get to experience and be a part of.

I need to keep going.

All right?

Next one for us, for baptism.

All right?

Baptism by immersion.

All right?

Baptism by immersion.

Now, I want you to hear my heart on denominations who don't do this.

Okay?

I tell people this all the time.

There are things that we get right.

There are things that we get wrong.

One day we'll get to heaven and God will point out how he's always been right and I haven't always been right.

And in the form of baptism, there are groups, there are denominations, there are people who do it differently than we do.

And some of you may have come from those.

Some of you may have baptized your children in different ways than what we do.

Some of you may have been baptized in different ways than what we do.

Before we talk about it, about why we do it the way we do it, I want to say this.

Number one, those denominations that do this, they are Christians who love the Lord.

They are.

We disagree on some things, but we can agree.

If they agree that it's Jesus Christ and Christ alone, then we can disagree on some things.

And we can have discussions on some things.

Just being honest with you, some of the deepest people that I love the most are Presbyterians,

and we disagree on a lot in the area of baptism, all right?

Doesn't mean that they're not saved.

Doesn't mean that they don't love the Lord.

They do.

We're just going to disagree.

And then for those who have gone about, especially in baptizing infants that we'll look at in just a second,

that is not done out of a heart of manipulation.

What those parents are doing in that moment is what they know to do in their love for their child and the love for the Lord.

So we will not vilify or demonize those who have done it that way, all right?

But we do want to explain why we do it our way and why we think immersion matters.

Why we think it's important for you to get into a body of water and go underneath the water and come out of it, all right?

So why do we do it the way we do it?

Well, first off, baptize means to submerge underwater.

So we take a literal translation of that that says you want to be baptized?

Well, we're going to take you underwater to do that, all right?

And look at Acts 8, verse 38.

There's a wonderful story.

Go back and read all of Acts 8.

It says,

And he commanded the chariot to stop.

And they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized them.

We take the literal not only of baptized to be immersed into water, to be submerged,

but what Scripture says, and it's what we see every time, something like that.

They both went down into the water.

Now, they could have stood on the bank, and they didn't.

They could have grabbed a jar from what they were traveling with, and they didn't.

They went down into the water, and he baptized, he submerged him under the water.

And so what we go to, if there's nothing more than simplicity, is say this is the way that

we see this in the Bible, and so that this is the way that we do it as well.

But just as it tells a story, baptism does, that we can draw from from a wedding, there's

another story that baptism tells.

The way we do baptism, we believe it tells the story of the gospel.

It tells the story of what we just read in Colossians 2, as Paul explains that, that from

the very moment that a person is standing on the outside of the water, and they begin to

walk down into the water, there's a very important picture that's being told, that is being displayed,

and it is one of the gospel that's being displayed.

Number one, what it tells is that the person, spiritually speaking, is dirty and needs to

be cleaned from their sin.

And so that walking into the water in order to be baptized is a picture of that, of being

cleansed through the work of Christ of what he has done.

The second thing of the gospel, that the gospel tells us, that baptism portrays, is in the

death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

That scripture teaches us that you and I, in order that we may have life in Christ, that

we need to die, spiritually.

And so we are crucified in Christ.

And so just as Christ was taken into the tomb, you and I go into the water.

And as he was laid into the tomb in his death, you and I do that as well.

And then as we are there, we identify with Christ.

We identify with Christ.

This is what he's done.

This is what I'm going to do.

I've identified in his death.

I've identified in his burial.

But just as Christ didn't stay in the tomb, I promise you, we don't leave you in the water

too long either, right?

And he came out.

And he came out, not as a spirit.

But he came out of life, flesh, and bone, and blood, that this is how he came out.

And so you and I, that we come out of the water, and it's the symbolism of what's happened.

This was the old, I died to my sin, and I'm resurrected in new life.

The story of the gospel.

But then also this, the story that it tells is, you can't do this by yourself.

There's a funny video that's out there on the internet, and bless his heart, a pastor is

standing there, and his son is getting ready to be baptized.

And it's a more traditional church setup where, maybe you grew up, I grew up in a church like

this where the baptism is kind of, a baptistry is elevated above the stage, you know?

And so the pastor's standing there, and he's in his white robe, and the son's there, and

he's talking about that important moment that they're about to experience, is he's about

to baptize his son.

And then all of a sudden, he goes, and now it's time, and he reaches out his hand for

his son, and his son's standing there, is just so excited, and he can't wait, and the son

goes, full cannonball, right?

Preacher's kids, right?

Full cannonball, right in there, right?

And he didn't baptize himself.

You can't baptize you, I can't baptize me, right?

Someone has to do it for you, which is a beautiful picture of the gospel, because you can't save

yourself, Jesus saves you, right?

And so in that, it's not about getting yourself into the water and laying yourself back, but

it's about the journey and the picture.

It's about what Christ did for you that you can't do.

It's about the people and the congregation that God has surrounded you with.

And then lastly, and we'll close on this, baptism is your expression of faith.

I didn't underline it on the slide, but if you are taking notes, underline your.

Baptism is your expression of faith.

I want to read Colossians 2, 11 through 15.

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of

flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you

were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from

the dead.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh,

God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record

of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them

in him.

All this is about Jesus.

All this.

From the songs that we sing, to the prayers that we pray, to the messages that we preach,

I want to be honest with you, we got an audience of one.

And we get to stand in the benefit of being a part of that, right?

So if the worship is guided toward you or the worship is guided toward me, we miss it.

If I preach a message with your heart and with you in mind, I miss it.

May my words be faithful to him and what he's going to do with that.

While all of this is about Jesus, we can't help but look and see the work that Christ did was for you.

It was for you.

And it was for me.

And so baptism is your expression of faith.

Baptism is telling all of us what Christ has done for you.

Your baptism does not tell my story.

Your baptism tells your story.

And so we may have a line a mile long, and each and every time that a person steps in there, whether they're seven or 107, it's their story about what God's done for them.

And just as it's for you, for you, for you, for me, that's what it's showing.

That's what it is.

So on October the 10th, and there's a baptism sheet that's out there.

We want you to sign up if this is where God's leading you, if this is where God's drawing you.

But understand this, right?

This is about you and Jesus.

Maybe it's something you've done before, right?

Maybe it's something that you got saved, you thought, you got baptized, and then you've seen a point in your life where you know that you were lost, and now you're saved.

Maybe this is for you.

Maybe this is a time where you know that Christ has saved you, but you put it off.

Put it off.

Put it off.

And now when you bring it up in conversations, you've now never been baptized, people are shocked, and you're embarrassed.

Right?

Maybe it's for you.

Maybe you're a person in here, and you've been sharing your faith with someone, a friend, a neighbor, a family member.

You've seen them come to know the Lord, and you'd love them to be a part of it.

Maybe it's a conversation that you need to have.

But we've got to understand that baptism is your expression of faith.

Parents, I want to talk to you for a minute.

When it comes to baptism with your kids, Emma and Grayson, at a young age, independently of one another,

I believe both of them came to Aaron first and then to me to talk about their faith in Christ.

We, as parents, prayed and talked and explained.

And when they were ready in their words, in their time, through us guiding them as their parents, they were baptized.

The question, when is too young, too young, I don't know, I'm not the Lord.

I don't know.

But I want to say this to parents.

If you've got a child who's expressing faith in Christ,

number one, don't be afraid to talk to them about baptism.

Don't be afraid.

Don't let baptism become the taboo subject of the house.

If anything that COVID has taught me is that sometimes I give the wrong answers.

Ask my kids about math sometimes, right?

Like, we know that, right?

They may ask you a question about baptism and you may give the wrong answer.

It's okay.

Give yourself grace.

Talk about baptism.

Don't let it become a taboo subject.

But number two,

encourage them to own their faith.

Encourage them to own their faith.

Right?

Grayson is not saved on my coattails.

Grayson is not saved on my profession.

Emma is not saved because Aaron is her mama and shared the gospel with her through Aaron's faith.

It is so important for our kids.

It is so important for our kids that they own their faith.

Share it.

Share it often.

Share it frequently.

Wear out your knees on the side of your bed and praying for their salvation.

But parents, let it be their faith.

And then here's what I would say.

Having had a lot of conversations with a lot of parents in my 17 years of ministry.

Well, my wife and I have been talking and we think it's time for our kids to get baptized.

Here's what I want to say as a pastor and as a dad.

Talk about it.

Let them own it.

Right?

Let them choose.

Let them choose.

As a church, as a congregation, what we want to do is we'll come alongside and walk you through that.

They've got questions that you don't have answers to.

We want to be there.

We'll be honest with you.

I've sat in my office with someone and I'm listening to why they want to get baptized.

It has nothing to do with Jesus.

It's just a religious obligation of a box that they want to check.

And I'm like, hold on, we've got to time out here for a second.

Right?

I won't do it.

I won't do it.

But parents, as you, as the greatest influencer for the gospel and the life of your children,

share the gospel, talk about baptism, encourage them to own their faith, and then let them choose.

Let them choose.

We'll walk with you.

We'll walk with you.

All right?

The beautiful picture of what baptism does and the obedience with Christ.

We want to celebrate and be a part of this.

All right?

Let's pray.

God, we come to you this morning.

And Lord, I thank you for so many of those that have had the privilege and joy of baptizing.

Lord, I thank you for so many of you that have had the opportunity to stand beside parents and small group leaders as they've baptized their kids, as they've baptized people in their small groups.

Lord, I'm reminded of a few years ago, a guy, Lord, in our church at a late baptism and was baptized by two men in our church because of their relationship that went all the way back to elementary school and the influence that they had on him.

So, Lord, I thank you for the symbol.

I thank you for the beautiful picture of baptism.

But, Lord, so, more importantly than the symbol, I thank you for why we do it.

Because, Jesus, you came onto this earth, lived a perfect life, were arrested, beaten, crucified.

And died and laid there in a tomb for three days.

Lord, but as Hannah sang earlier, walked out.

So, Lord, because of your work, we might be saved.

Jesus, we love you.

We praise you.

It's your name we pray.

Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church Weekly Podcast.

We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message.

If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com

or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram.

We'll see you next time.