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Baptism
by A.J. Wilson

“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. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."Matthew 3:16-17

Seldom in our Christian lives (on Earth) are we closer to Jesus than the day we are baptized.  In this one act we are identifying ourselves with Jesus, because we are following his command and example.  The verses above show Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism (Mark 1, Luke 3 are the others).  I read that Jesus both began and ended his ministry showing the importance to him of baptism.  Jesus had no sins to wash away, yet he came and submitted himself to baptism to begin his 3 year ministry.  Then at the end of his ministry he commands his followers, “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” Math 28:19

My favorite item in our new addition is our baptistery.  Its mere presence shows anyone who walks in several important beliefs that we hold.  We cannot fall into believing that baptism saves anyone, it is merely a symbol of something great (much like a wedding ring).  We believe that being baptized is one of the first steps of obedient living for a Christian life.  By practicing baptism by immersion we show our belief that Jesus died, was buried, and that he rose again.

“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. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,” Romans 6:4-5

Answer to September 20 Trivia : Mt Carmel 1 Kings 18:19-20

Trivia: How many people did Jesus personally baptize during his ministry?

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