The Symbolism and Celebration of Baptism | March 1, 2026

In just a moment, the kids are gonna

join us for this baptism celebration,

but I wanna just say a couple quick

things about the goodness of God.

You know, this morning at 3:00 AM

up with Illa praying and just being

with her a minute and watching this

transition from the land of the

dying to the land of the living.

You look at the world around you

and you look at your circumstances

and all the things that you face.

And you can say that God is good if, as

my wife preached a really great sermon

in a couple seconds, and Joel said, we

fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and

the perfect of our faith, who for the

joy set before him endured the cross.

Right.

And he did that for us.

And no matter what we face

in this life, it's temporary.

It's but a vapor.

Right.

And he is eternal, and our

life and our hope is eternal.

That doesn't mean we don't have some

joy in this crazy adventure of life.

We absolutely do.

God made us for life, not for death,

but even in the transition from death

to life, we find hope and we can

even find joy and peace and comfort

knowing that it's not the end.

This life of ours is a very

short preface to the book, but.

I digress from the fun of what

was really in store today, the

eternal hope that we have in Christ.

Uh, that didn't show up.

All right.

It's supposed to be a really cool graphic

that sloes, and it was really exciting.

It's gonna be a great transition,

but you're gonna get the word Sunday.

So Derek, if you can come up here, buddy.

D's, grab that door.

We're gonna pop open these doors for

just a second to cool this place off.

Uh, if you've been around White

Rock, you know that, uh, we like to

celebrate as a family and I don't

know if at your family's picnic.

Yep.

Hold all the open please.

Uh, I don't know if your family's

picnic, you guys open the windows

and the doors and you let the bugs

come in, but that's what we're

gonna do and there's no bugs yet.

So kids are coming right up here.

They're gonna join us right up here on

the platform or on the, on this concrete

area right up here, guys, so you can

get a good view of what's gonna go on.

'cause we are gonna

celebrate baptism together.

As the church, and we're gonna

talk a little bit about baptism,

whether the graphics work or not.

Hey Josh, you want to kind of keep

our line in this area here so we got

spots for people to pile down there.

Yeah, I used to be a bouncer.

You like the baptism bouncer right there.

I love that.

Love that.

Great.

Yeah.

We're gonna have to go

like multiple rows, guys.

Keep.

Keep filling up the

space here around, huh?

You wanna bring him over

this way a little bit?

Yeah.

Whatever you got.

Jamie.

Jamie.

Not walk back there a minute.

Yeah, I thought Dax was on this, right?

Well, we were waiting until

you were done with it.

No, we're gonna do all that now.

Big one right here first, and then

Thank you.

And we're done.

Let's,

I don't know what your normal

baptism experience is like,

but this is how it should be.

Because if you're getting

baptized, you know, with Jesus in

the Jordan, something like that.

You had birds and you had

animals and you had kids and you

had crowds and you had noise.

So this idea that baptism should

be some quiet, somber moment

just seems unbiblical to me.

The village experience.

What's that?

Village experience.

Oh, it's, yeah, it's an experience.

Alright, so we're gonna talk for

just a minute about what baptism is

because we got a lot of people getting

baptized today and we've got folks in.

Family that are here to celebrate.

And we're gonna talk just a minute

about this whole idea of baptism.

What is baptism?

Sound like a plan, Corey?

Good.

All right.

Corey's paying attention.

We're good.

Long as I got Corey.

We're gonna roll.

Hey, the word baptism in, uh, the Greek

is this fancy little word, baptizo.

And when you hear the word baptizo.

You might guess, oh, that's

probably a baptism thing, right?

And it literally means to dip, or to

plunge, or to immerse, which is why we use

this very fancy, high level horse trough

filled with water so that we can immerse

people in the water as a symbolic and a

significant act of faithfulness in Jesus.

Baptism is super symbolic.

It symbolizes some things

that are really important.

Now, don't make any mistake here.

Jesus is the one who forgives

our sin and makes our heart clean

and washes us white as snow.

This is just, this is just water, and

it's kind of warm, so don't be worried.

Those of you who are gonna get

baptized, but baptism symbolizes this

idea of the washing away of our sin.

Scripture teaches us that in one John, the

blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

So it's not water that

cleanses us from all sin.

It's the blood of Jesus.

And if we confess our sins right, if

we confess our sins, he's faithful

and just to forgive us of our sins

and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

And today as people are gonna be baptized.

I'm gonna ask them a simple question that

they've confessed their sin and asked

Jesus to be Lord and Savior of their life.

It's an act of submission and confession

and faithfulness, and that's really

the prerequisite for getting to be

baptized, is that we've confessed

our sin, we have a relationship

with Jesus, and we're choosing in

obedience to be baptized in faith.

Now, this idea of washing away our sins.

Isn't what the water does, but

it's a pretty cool image of

taking the filth and the dirt and

the grime and washing us clean.

It also has this imagery of being dead

to sin as we lay back in the water

and being raised to life in Christ.

I had a group I worked with years ago

that they liked to do baptisms, kneeling,

and they would go forward in the water

and come back up and I don't know that

there's anything wrong or bad about that.

But the imagery of being laid to rest,

that our sins are dead and gone and we

are raised to life in Christ, is a really

powerful image and picture of baptism.

It says in Romans six, four that we are

therefore buried with him through baptism

into death in order that just as Christ

was raised from the dead through the glory

of the Father, we may live a new life.

And so baptism gives us a

really cool picture of that.

And don't forget, it's just water.

It's not the blood of Jesus.

It's symbolic, right?

So it demonstrates something

that Jesus has done in us.

You might know this old phrase,

you've been around the church, much.

Baptism is an outward sign

of an inward work, right?

It's an outward expression or act

that we can all see on the outside

that really is saying, Hey, Jesus.

Has done something on the inside

as I've confessed my sin to him and

I've surrendered to him as Lord,

he's begun this transformation in me.

Now, people ask me this question a lot.

Do we have to be baptized?

And I think I can take you to

the scene where Jesus is hanging

on the cross and beside him is

a person who's dying and says.

Lord remember me today in paradise

and, and or Remember me when you come

into your kingdom and Jesus said, this

day you'll be with me in paradise.

And we don't have a story of Jesus flicked

a little water from the cross back onto

that guy, like it's not recorded for us.

And so we definitely have instances

in scripture where we see people who

have put their faith in Jesus Christ

and baptism wasn't recorded for us.

Do we have to be baptized?

I don't know that I would say biblically,

there's no other option at all than

faith in Jesus without baptism.

So maybe you say like,

why should we be baptized?

Well, you could go to what Jesus said

to us, right when he said, go and make

disciples, baptizing them in the name

of the Father, son, the Holy Spirit.

So Jesus said to us, baptize people.

If these people want to be

followers of me, they ought

to be baptized by you church.

So it's a pretty clear mandate, but

probably my favorite answer to the

question, well, why should we be baptized?

I mean, if the thief on the cross

wasn't baptized, why should we?

Well, I'm kind of a dummy and I

like, you know, Jesus did right?

Of all the people who probably

had the exemption to not go ahead

and get baptized, Jesus himself

went through the act of baptism

in submission to the father.

To demonstrate for us that

we too ought to be baptized.

So I think the question really

isn't, why should we be baptized?

It's really why shouldn't we be baptized?

Right?

And if you remember in the book of Acts,

Phillips riding with this Ethiopian

unit guy, and they're riding along the

road and he says, wait, check it out.

There's water.

What, what?

Why shouldn't I be baptized?

What prevents me from being baptized?

And I love that picture.

And I think that ought to

be the picture of those.

Who say, I'm gonna come to faith in Jesus.

Why shouldn't I be baptized?

What prevents me?

What's the reason I shouldn't?

Well, there isn't a reason you shouldn't.

Now, baptism has some different, um,

practices, maybe where your church that

you're a part of, if you're a guest with

us today, you might see some of these.

If, uh, you know, friends who've been

baptized that, uh, are different than a

epic horse trough adventure, you might

be like, why are there differences?

Let me, let me say a couple

quick things on this.

Um, I dunno if you've heard

of this, but there's something

called baptism of the heart.

And if you know anybody in the friends,

uh, or the Quaker denominations of

churches, they don't do the physical

act of baptism because they believe

that baptism is a baptism of the

heart and they don't do communion.

They don't want to get caught up in

some of these external expressions that

become tradition, that become routine,

that lose kind of maybe the heart.

And so I can respect the angle of that.

I'm a big fan of doing baptism,

but there are people who hold the

faith in Jesus Christ and that

Jesus just baptizes our heart.

And so this physical act

doesn't necessarily apply.

There are people who are big on

sprinkling that instead of submersion

in water, that you're sprinkled

with water, and that's a baptism.

Uh, I can't argue that we can go back

to the thief on the cross, right, who

probably didn't get sprinkled at all.

I've also been in some hospital rooms

lately where I couldn't figure out

how to get the horse trough in there.

So I can see a scenario very easily

where somebody says, I want to have

faith in Jesus and confess my sin.

I'd like to be baptized.

And I think there's absolutely a place

where you can do some sprinkling stuff.

I think that's legit.

We also have this issue that shows up

all the time called infant baptism.

And, uh, we at here at White Rock, we

do, um, child dedications where moms and

dads commit themselves and their children

to the Lord and try to follow him.

And, and that ends up being a lot of

what infant baptism kind of looks like.

But in his truest sense, a

lot of places will practice

something called infant baptism.

And there's nothing like evil or bad

or wrong except as we read scripture,

it's pretty clear that everybody

who ever got baptized in scripture.

Amen.

Chose to get baptized in scripture.

And so something we practice here

at White Rock is something called a

believer's baptism, where the person

who's choosing to get baptized actually

makes a conscious profession of faith in

Jesus and chooses that act of baptism.

There's nothing wrong with baptizing

your baby is just that that infant didn't

actually make the choice to become a

follower of Jesus and get baptized.

Uh, it's more of a dedication to the Lord

than it is really their act of submission

and baptism to faith in Jesus Christ.

And so I'm a big proponent we let kids

get baptized, but you gotta be able to

explain why you should be getting baptized

and why you want to get baptized and why

you think you should be baptized because.

You ought to understand, and it doesn't

have to be like deep theological

craziness, but I saw my friend do it.

I want to get in the hot tub.

That's a fun reason, but probably not the

right reason to choose to get baptized.

But if you're old enough to say,

Hey, I've confessed my sin to Jesus.

I want him to be my savior and I

want to get baptized and obedience

to him, you are absolutely at a

place where we'll be happy to baptize

you in the name of the Lord Jesus.

So that's kind of a picture

of what baptism is and how we

reflect on it here together as a

church and how we celebrate it.

And so this morning we are gonna

celebrate some awesome imagery

of raised to life in baptism.

And so, Regina, if I can get, no.

Carly Carly's first.

Where's Carly at?

I need Carly.

If we get Carly up here,

we're gonna let her fire away.

It's gonna be great.

I know you said I want my mom to go first,

then you're like, no, I'm going first.

So why don't Regina and

Carly both come up here?

We'll get a mother daughter duo for

our first victim, or not victim.

Sorry.

Carly.

Carly.

Our first epic baptism

here, this AF this morning.

And while they're coming up here,

I just wanted to share a thing

that we do here at White Rock,

um, which I think is really cool.

It's biblical we see where.

God has told, um, women their children's

names such as Jesus, John the Baptist,

and also where Jesus even changed

Simon's name to Peter to just, um,

declare what his purpose is in life.

So that's something that we do here as we

take names and find Bible verses for that.

Get in there.

Now, Carly, the only thing that's

really important here is don't scream.

'cause there's little kids and

they'll be like, no, it is cold.

He tricked us.

Didn't trick us.

Alright, well you can have a seat, kiddo.

Young lady.

Sorry.

I always say kiddo, but

I'm at that age, right?

Do you wanna give your

glasses to your mom?

Maybe that might be a

good, good move here.

Alright, well we can see

you and Jesus can see you.

That's what's important, right?

Hey, I'm really proud of Carly

because Carly, I think the word is

like a little social anxiety, right?

Like not so fun.

And Carly was hoping to

get a secret baptism in.

But you know what's really cool

is baptism is a public confession

of faith in Christ, right?

And so I'm really proud of you for

saying, Hey, I wanna get baptized.

She did also mention, I'm going first so

I can run out the door as fast as I can.

So that's another angle,

but super, super cool.

So I think I'll just use

this as much as I can.

So we'll try.

Yeah, that's great.

Alright, so Carly, you've asked Jesus

to be your Lord and Savior, confess

your sin to him and you want to be

baptized today in obedience to him.

Is that correct?

Yes.

Alright.

Is there anything that you

would like to share or say?

Okay.

Alright, we'll plug your nose 'cause

this day Carly, we baptize you.

In the name of the Father and

the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We

the Lord God.

Alright, we're gonna pray just a

moment of prayer blessing here.

Just, we just wanna pray a prayer

of blessing over Carly and God.

This is a huge moment, a wonderful

moment, a spectacular moment where.

She has made a decision to follow you

and willingly stepped into this trough

in front of this church to proclaim that

loud and clear of who she's following.

So God, please bless her

journey along the way.

The bumps, the hiccups.

The hard moments, the great moments.

I pray that she would always seek

you first, and we pray this in

Jesus's awesome and powerful name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Good job,

right that way.

And as for Carly's name,

her name is Carly Rochelle.

Carly means free man.

Rochelle means sheep.

Her bible verses I'm a good shepherd.

I know my sheep and my sheep know me.

Just as the father knows me

and I know the father and I

lay down my life for the sheep.

That's nice.

Thank you.

And you can wait to pick up those

plaques when your hands are dry.

Don't worry.

Alright, get this over there.

Ann does.

Happy anniversary to you and Willie man.

He wouldn't get a hot tub for you,

but he got you a baptism trough.

All right.

Alright.

That's a special thing to get to

do a baptism with your daughter.

That's pretty cool stuff.

That's really cool stuff.

Alright.

Well, Regina, you've asked Jesus

to be your Lord and Savior.

You've confessed your sin and want

to have this moment here of obedience

being baptized today in his name.

Is that correct?

Okay.

Do you have anything that you

would like to say or share

to keep them?

Yeah.

Oh, he loves you.

That's right.

That's right.

All right, well, Regina, hug your nose

and we're gonna get ready this day.

We baptize you in the name of the

Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Well, Regina, we're gonna pray a

blessing over you, so let's pray.

Lord God in heaven.

Thank you for this day.

Thank you for this day

that Regina has chosen you.

She has chosen Jesus Christ.

She's baptized be the Father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And this day she's born new.

And although this just be a, a

public display, a symbolic moment.

We praise you for the eternal change in

her heart as she's chosen to follow you.

Yes.

Thank you, Jesus Christ, for what you

have done and given her someone to follow

who loves and gives and is so great.

It is in your amazing name that

we pray a blessing over her.

Thank you Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Great job.

And they need some extra help.

Oh yeah.

We got no worries.

That's why I brought Josh up here.

And Regina's name is Regina Michelle.

Regina means queen, and Michelle

means who is like God, you will be a

crown of splendor in the Lord's hand.

A royal diod Dem diadem.

Sorry, I looked that up and it

was in the hand of your God.

Isaiah 62, 3.

Right.

Very cool.

Very cool.

Alright, Tony, you guys

wanna sneak up here?

You can.

And Isabella.

Isabella.

Ah, see I had the a and then

I dropped it at the end.

My bad.

Alright, Isabella, you should hear the

poor girls in my, uh, high school classes.

I had just mixed their names up.

Just for fun.

You.

Sorry ladies.

Alright Tony, we're gonna

get you in here first man.

And then, uh, let the husband

lead the way in this fund.

All right, we'll scooch up

here just a little bit here.

This guy, this guy's pretty special to me.

Yeah, we have a list, but

I'm gonna lose track of it.

That's so you guys jump in

when you're supposed to, so

that's where he ran off you?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

So, uh, Tony made the mistake of

showing up on a men's retreat last year.

Right.

And then ever since you just can't find

a good excuse not to get out of here.

So we're pretty excited that you're a

part of this crazy adventure, my friend.

Alright.

You've asked Jesus to be your Lord and

Savior, confess your sin to him and want

to be baptized today in obedience to him.

Is that correct?

Yes.

Do you have anything that

you'd like to say or share?

No.

Okay.

Alright, well plug your nose, man.

'cause Here we go, Tony.

This day we baptize you in the name of the

Father and the son and the Holy Spirit.

Heavenly Father, heavenly Father,

we just lift Tony up to you.

We thank you for who he is.

We thank you for him stepping out

into this, this crazy spot in front

of everybody, God, and we just ask

you to bless his, bless his hands.

He puts everything to God and all

his influence and everything he does.

May he bring glory to you

and Jesus as he walks.

Please hold him close, holy Spirit, guide

him to a deeper relationship with with

God the Father through Jesus Christ.

We, I thank you for who he is.

I thank you for what he is to his

family and his son, and I just

ask you to be with him and just

bless him in Jesus name, amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Get out

and Tony's whole name is Anthony,

which means praise worthy.

We will not hide them

from their descendants.

We will tell the next generation

the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord

his power, the wonders he has done.

Psalm 78, 4.

Awesome.

Awesome.

Alright, well have you scoot

up just a little bit here.

Thanks.

I didn't say kiddo that time.

I fought the urge dating myself.

Alright, well, Isabella,

it's really special to get.

This moment here with you and

your husband both making a public

profession of faith in Jesus.

It's really, really special and

we're excited and honored that you

would choose to do that here today.

You've asked Jesus to be your Lord and

Savior, confess your sin to him and wanna

be baptized today in obedience to him.

Is that correct?

Yes.

Do you have anything that

you'd like to say or share?

No.

Alright, well plug your nose.

Here we go, Isabella.

This day we baptize you

in the name of the father.

And the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Dear Heavenly Father,

thank you for Isabella.

Thank you for who she is in

our, in our family's life.

Thank you for her willingness to

step into this church family with

her husband, and just go all in.

God, I thank you for her heart.

I ask you to bless it and protect

everything she does, God and.

Everything she puts her

hands to as in her vocation.

God, I just ask that people feel the

love of Jesus Christ, that she tends to

them and cares for them, and God, just

please bless her, bless everything she

puts her hands to, and Holy Spirit just

guide her into a deep relationship with

God the Father, through Jesus Christ.

In your name we pray, amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

And Isabella's name means devoted to God.

Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted

to his, to the Lord God, to walk in his

statutes and to keep his commandments,

as at this day, one Kings 8 61.

Awesome.

Awesome.

Alright.

I'm, I very rarely get to say a thing

during these things unless it's one of

my kids and they're pretty much done.

Uh, at any rate, the first thing

these two said to me when I walked

in and greeted them this morning was.

We get to get baptized today and

you just bless this old man's heart.

Amen.

Amen.

That's good.

That's good stuff.

Alright, so Josh, I'm

gonna pull you back in.

We got a couple teens that we're

gonna do some baptism force.

So Elizabeth, if you wanna grab your

mom and sneak up this direction and.

Did you wear like baptism boots today?

I love that.

That's, I love it.

I love it.

That's great.

Alright, Cannonball.

No cannonballs?

No.

Okay.

No cannonballs.

Come on Josh.

Alright, we're gonna get you in here.

I'll have you scoot up

this way just a little bit.

All right.

So Josh is gonna lead this

and I'm just the helper.

Uh, and we'll get your mom right

over here too, beside Josh if

you want to, so you can get close

enough to be part of the fun.

Maybe we'll get you in the splash zone.

How about that?

Oh, sorry.

Sorry.

Now for the record, I just wanna

go on record as saying Elizabeth

has been asking the longest

for us to do a baptism service.

Great job, Elizabeth.

We appreciate you doing that

young lady and staying after it.

It's really great.

And your mom said she couldn't be

guaranteed to pull you back up,

so she's just kind of observing.

No, that's not true at all.

Not true at all.

Well, this is really special

and we're really honored that

you would choose baptism today.

So I'm gonna hand it to Josh and

let him lead the charge here.

Hi sweetheart.

Well, I can't help but sit here and

look at you and having been with

you for oh, a year and a half and

seeing the things you've done and the

things you've chose, be proud of you.

What a huge moment where you've

declared it in front of this

whole church, what you're about.

Well done.

But I got, uh, I got a question for you.

So you're telling me that you've

chosen Jesus Christ, you've asked

him to forgive your sins and you

wanna be baptized here today.

Is there anything else

you wanna tell the church?

That's good.

Well, alright.

Well you're gonna plug your

nose and, and we baptize you.

And the name of the father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Well, you know, we're gonna pray

over you, Lord God in heaven.

What an amazing moment.

Another.

Another person, another

child of yours has chosen you

and this symbolic display.

Symbolic yes, but important

and huge and pivotal tattoo.

God, we thank you for the

choice that Elizabeth has made.

We thank you that you gave her such a rock

to hold onto that it became clear in her

heart that you were the one to follow.

God, you are so good.

God, we pray that you continue to

be good in her life, that she would

look to you for answers, for comfort,

for joy till the end of her days.

Thank you, God.

Thank you, Jesus, and it's

your amazing name that we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Good job.

And for Elizabeth, I didn't know it

was this Elizabeth, but I was super

excited when I found out it was

Elizabeth means God is abundance and

her middle name is grace, divine grace.

Grace and peace be your abundance

through the knowledge of God

in of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Second Peter, one, two.

Awesome, awesome.

All right.

Well Riley, we're gonna get you up

here kiddo, and uh, Abby is gonna sneak

up and join you and I'm gonna step

outta here, Josh, so you can have the,

either way you can.

Yeah, it's you and you and Abby.

No, you're good.

Wherever you want to.

So, lemme say something real quick

while you guys are getting situated.

Um.

Something that's important in baptism,

uh, obviously is that people who are

baptizing you have been baptized in

faith in Jesus Christ themselves.

And, uh, it's pretty cool to have

a Christian friend who's kind of

like poked you and prodigy and

loved you like Abby has, right?

And so, uh, RI asked if, if Abby, uh,

could, could help in this baptism.

We were gonna let all the teens do

it, but then there was no way you're

getting back outta that water.

You know what I mean?

So I think this is as, this is

as safe as we could agree on.

So, no, go ahead Josh.

It's all yours.

Well, Riley, I, uh, I was sitting in the,

the chair over there just considering the

young lady that you are and the things

that I've literally seen from you, right?

The fruit, the choices you're making,

whether it be reading scripture or.

Showing up consistently time and time

again where you're proven that you

really are fighting to walk the walk.

So I'm proud of you, but just like

always got a question for you.

So, you're here today because you've

chosen Jesus Christ as your savior and

that he has atones you of all your sins.

Is that true?

Yeah.

Awesome.

Now, is there anything you want

to share with this, this crowd,

this group of family and friends?

No nothing.

Alright, well you're gonna plug

your nose and I just want you to

know, and you put your hand right

here in the back of her head.

Yep.

We baptize you in the name of the

father, the son, and the Holy Spirit.

Woo.

All right, well, we're gonna pray for

you, Lord God, thank you for this young

woman who has chosen you in front of all

to sea because she knows you are truth.

You are love.

You are life.

God, I pray that you are with her

day after day as she continues to

make decisions every single day.

Lord, God bless those decisions,

encourage her, guide her, and comfort her.

Thank you Jesus Christ

for this young lady.

And that's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

And I'm sure it's no secret.

I love this girl with all my heart.

RI means courageous, which there's no

word I think that can describe her better

beyond your guard stand firm in the faith.

Be courageous, be strong,

do everything in love.

One Corinthians 16, 13 through 14.

I'm on, sorry.

Alright, so now, uh, we got some

kids who've made a decision to

follow Jesus and want to get

baptized and we're super excited.

About that.

And so Ben Distler, one of our

Sunday school team leaders is

gonna join Tom, pastor Tom, and

you guys are gonna have the floor.

So maybe I'll get you on that

side and give you the mic around.

All right.

Let's have Gideon Dunder come on up.

Oh wait, sorry.

You want your brother go first.

Sorry.

Older brother first.

Zeke, come on up.

My fault.

Have they got towels?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Here.

Where's your towel?

Zeke,

my man?

Sit on your butt.

Sit on your butt.

There you go.

All right.

I am gonna use your full name, Ezekiel.

All right.

You ready to be baptized?

So from what we understand, you've

asked Jesus Christ as your Lord and

Savior to dwell in your heart and asked

him, forgive you all of your sins,

forgive you, believe he's died, and rose

from the dead and ascended to heaven.

All right.

Is there anything you wanna say?

My man,

Jesus is all we have.

Jesus is all cap.

All right.

All we have, all we have.

Sorry, I'm getting deaf.

Old man.

Thank you.

Thank you, rusty.

All right.

Well, Zeke's a good dude.

He's got a heart for what's right

and that's why he loves the Lord.

And uh, I'm excited to see you continue

your life living for Jesus, my man.

All right, we'll, we'll baptize

you in the name of the Father,

son, and the Holy Spirit.

Go ahead and plug your nose, my man.

Dear Jesus, thank you for Ezekiel.

Thank you for his willingness to

step out, out, out in the light

and make his public declaration.

As for As with you, as His Lord and

Savior, God thank you for, for everything

He is in this ministry that we have.

I thank you for his.

Influence and his leadership

to all the other kids.

God has just asked you to bless him,

bless his life, bless everything

He puts his hand and heart to help

his mind just continue to grow

in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Holy Spirit, please strengthen his

and deepen his relationship with God

the Father, through Jesus Christ.

We thank you for who he is.

In Jesus name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

And for these next two boys, I feel

like their parents named them perfectly.

Ezekiel means strength of God.

Finally be strong in the Lord

and in the strength of his might.

Ephesians six 10.

All right, let's get Gideon up.

Alright.

You wanna try getting on your

knees so maybe people can see you?

Just sit there.

He's in there, we promise.

And his head is above water.

All right.

All right, Gideon, I love you man.

I appreciate what you've done.

Get in.

You've accepted Jesus Christ

as your Lord and Savior.

And ask him to forgive you all your

sins and you believe he has died.

He laid his life down, raised himself

up from the dead and ascended to

the right hand of God on this day.

Would you, is there

anything you wanna say?

My man?

Alright.

On this day, we baptize you in the name

of the Father, son, and the Holy Spirit.

Go ahead and plug your nose

dear Jesus.

Thank you for Gideon.

Thank you for his heart.

God, thank you for his passion.

I know he loves you.

God, I know how deeply he loves you.

I thank you for everything he is in our

ministry, uh, the influence he has and

all this younger generation coming up.

God, I ask you to bless everything He

does, everything He puts his hands to God.

Thank, bless his heart and his mind.

Help him seek a deeper

relationship with you.

Thank you.

Holy Spirit.

Please guide him into a strong

relationship with God the Father, through

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Whom we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

And another perfect name.

Gideon means Mighty warrior.

And he is, um, when the angel

of the Lord appeared to Gideon,

he said the Lord is with you.

Mighty Warrior Judges six 12.

Awesome.

Awesome.

All right, where's Sean at?

Hey, you wanna bring Braden up

this direction and we'll get.

We will get you guys up here and Braden

said, can I please be the grand finale?

Not really.

Not really, but buddy, you get

to be the grand finale, my man.

Get your dad in there

and we got extra towels.

We're good.

Yeah.

Alright, Sean, I'll get

you on the hug side.

That's a, that's a better option for me.

I'm just, alright, let's scooch

you up this way, buddy, and we'll

have you hop up on your knees,

that way your mom can see you.

There we go.

We gotta make this photo off.

Good.

Love it.

Alright.

Alright.

I'll give it you in a second here.

Alright, well, Braden,

this is kind of special.

I remember being here not too long ago

with your big sister and her choice

to get baptized into faith in Jesus.

And God's been doing lots of cool things

in your house and got to hang out with

your mom and dad at marriage retreat

last weekend and we found some dead fish.

I think.

So there's no dead fish in this right.

Okay.

We cleaned them all out, so we're good.

We're good.

Alright buddy.

Well, this is a pretty exciting

thing and we're really proud

of you and your choices.

So let me ask you the

big question of the day.

You've asked Jesus to be your

Lord and Savior and confess your

sin to him, and you want to be

baptized today in obedience to him.

Is that correct?

Yes.

And do you have anything

you'd like to share?

Alright, well I'm gonna hand

this to Pastor Rusty a second

so I don't dip in the water.

Oh, Braden, this day we baptize

you in the name of the Father

and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Go and plug your nose.

Dear Lord.

Thank you for for Braden.

You always know.

You always know what we

need, not what we want.

And just thank you for Braden's

energy and his, his heart.

Um, he's, he's one of the sweetest

boys I've ever, I've ever known.

And just hopefully this will be the

next step and to, to honor you and

use that heart for, for everything

that you have envisioned for him.

And just thank you so much for this day.

In Jesus name, amen.

And as for Braden, Braden means salmon.

And so his Bible verse

says, come follow me.

Jesus said, I will send

you out to fish for people.

Mark one 17.

Sean, was that intentional?

Did you know that?

The salmon thing.

Okay.

Okay.

I say, man, if that was a

moment, and Ava meant bird.

Yeah, I love it.

Bird and fish.

I love it.

I love it.

That's awesome.

Hey, how about a big round of applause for

all of our people who are baptized today?

Way to go

super, super proud of your public

confession to faith in Jesus

and want you to know that, uh,

doesn't mean that perfection is

all you got to look forward to.

We're real people walking

in this crazy life.

But Jesus will walk with you every

moment of everything that you face.

And as we talked about this morning in the

big kids church here, fixing our eyes on

Jesus on that journey changes everything.

Well, I'm gonna pray for us and, uh,

we'll, we'll, uh, I was gonna try to get

our baptized folks out into the entryway

first if we can, so people can greet 'em.

But maybe getting that look from Jamie,

like, I got a bad choice coming up.

Do you have something to.

I think that's the right thing to do.

I think that's the right thing to do too.

Okay, so I tell you what, before I

pray, if you got a towel and you're

soaking wet, so we'll be able to tell.

If you're sneaking out, would you

please make your way towards the back

so the people can at least fist bump

you and say, great job on the way out.

Now who would've thought that the

people who got baptized would feel

cooler than everybody else for

the day in this hot box today?

It's crazy.

Well, hey, thank you for being

a part of this celebration.

It's pretty fun to gather together

in this place and celebrate what

Jesus is doing in our lives.

And even though the world may

have wars and rumors of wars,

and your house might have.

Man wars and rumors of wars, and you're

navigating all kinds of stuff, man.

Jesus is on the throne, and this

is the stuff that really matters.

We'll keep our eyes fixed on

this truth and this eternity,

and it changes everything.

So let's pray.

Father, thank you so much that we

can come to you, that we can confess

our sin, that you'll cleanse us of

our sin and unrighteousness, and

that you make us clean before you.

Thank you for this special symbolic act

of baptism that you took part in and your

disciples took part in, and disciples

for generations have taken part in.

And thank you for each of the

folks today who made this public

profession of their faith through

this symbolic act of baptism.

We celebrate that together.

And God, I pray that you would bless and

keep them, that you would watch over them.

That you would watch as they come, as they

go, as they face decisions and forks in

the road, and challenges and adversity and

joys and excitement, that everything that

they face, Lord, that you would be ever

present in their heart and in their mind,

and that your spirit would lead them.

And God, I pray that for all of us

that we would walk from this place

in love and really be your hands

and feet to the people around us.

Thank you so much for the

incredible celebration today.

In Jesus name.

Amen.