Sermons from Good News: Water baptism

Church 3/30/2025


Offertory scripture:


Jeremiah 17:7 (all translations are NKJV, except one where translation is referenced)

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.

Sermon message:


Thesis: Water baptism


Point #1: Baptism and communion are the two ordinances (decrees) given to the church by Christ.


1 Corinthians 11:23-26

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

The bread and wine are pictures of Christ’s body and blood.


Matthew 28:18-20

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Point #2: Baptism is the outward and public act that symbolizes important and spiritual truths.


Colossians 2:12

buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Romans 6:3-6

3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

Point #3: Baptism is a public act declaring one’s faith.


John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

Matthew 5:16

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Water baptism indicates that the Christian life should not be lived alone but rather in community.


Acts 2:41

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

Point #4: Baptism doesn’t save people; saved people get baptized.


John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:18

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Believing is what counts.


Romans 10:9-10

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Mark 16:15-16

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

Acts 8:36-37: Philip and the Ethiopian

36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

[Verse 37 is so powerful is that certain heretical translations have redacted that verse.]


Point #5: Why should believers be (water) baptized?

Because we want to follow Jesus’s example.
Jesus comes to John the Baptist to be baptized.


Matthew 3:13-15

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”
15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

We want also to be obedient to Him.


Matthew 28:19

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Point #6: How should believers be baptized?

Baptism in Greek is a transliteration: to dip, to immerse, to submerge, to bury something.


Matthew 3:13-17

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”
15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.
16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Back to the Ethiopian that Philip baptized:


Acts 8:32-39

32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this:

“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;

And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,

So He opened not His mouth.

33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away,

And who will declare His generation?

For His life is taken from the earth.”

34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.

Matthew 28:19 again

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Point #7: We do not baptize infants; we dedicate them.


We believe that what saves an individual is believing in Jesus Christ and receiving Him as their Lord and Savior.


Why we dedicate instead:


1 Samuel 1:27

For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him.

Luke 2:22 NKJV

Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

Luke 2:22 AMP

And when the time for their purification came [that is, the mother’s purification and the baby’s dedication] according to the Law of Moses, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord [set apart as the Firstborn]

Mark 10:16

And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.

Baptism comes once you believe for yourself, after you are able to understand the significance of committing your life to Jesus.

Note after sharing the sermon: my church is holding its first baptism in the new (permanent) location. Apparently, it has been a while since the last one, and I haven’t witnessed any in the time since I first joined five years ago.

In short, I agree with the points of the sermon: baptism is an outward act symbolizing a commitment to Jesus Christ that was already made by the person. As such, it is not baptism that saves a person, but baptism is a sign of a person publicly declaring their faith and commitment to Him. Sprinkling water on an infant (or toddler) doesn’t count, for two reasons: 1.) the child is not yet old enough to understand what it means to receive Jesus as Lord, King, and Savior, let alone commit to following and obeying Him throughout his or her life; and 2.) only fully immersing oneself in water represents one’s death to their old way of life (worldly and full of sin) and the start of their new life in Christ in a way that “a little sprinkle here, a little sprinkle there” cannot.

The above are all reasons why I went ahead in 2013 to decide to get baptized, because prior to that point, I had never been fully immersed in water for my baptism previously (I had water sprinkled on me when I was 2 years old, and that was it).

However, one interesting point not captured in the sermon notes above because it occurred after the formal part of the message was concluded, was the idea that anyone who wants to get baptized can (and perhaps even should? ...trying to deduce that part of it), even after having demonstrated this act before as an adult. I prayed about it briefly, and the sense I got was that 1.) it was unnecessary since I’ve already been water baptized as an adult, and 2.) my potential choosing to do it this time would be more for show and for attention rather than a genuine lead by the Lord. My understanding is that one does it once, shortly after they first get saved; if I were to do it a second time, what would it say about the the last eleven years? That I actually wasn’t saved before, but am now? In some cases, that might actually be the truth (and thus necessitating a second water baptism, or a third, etc), but I would personally prefer that the discernment and decision-making processes be between the individual and God. As for me, to reiterate, I’m not getting any kind of prompting from the Holy Spirit to do it, and in fact am feeling prompted not to do it, at least not at this time.

It will be a wonderful time of praising God and celebrating those who are reaffirming their faith, as well as perhaps a few first-time baptizees taking this step as well.