Here Is Water: Water Baptism

Alrighty. Good morning, everyone. How are you? Can everyone in the cheap seats

hear me out there? Yep. Welcome, guys.

How good is this? I've just jumped on the Bureau of Meteorology.

Anyone have any faith in that these days? No. It's about to finish.

The rain is about to pass.

So we're good. But we're getting wet anyway. Plenty of us are getting wet anyway.

So So how good to be in church this morning. Welcome to church. Welcome to church.

I love this, wearing swimmers and sandals. And Jesus wore sandals.

I can wear sandals. So it's so exciting to be here, isn't it?

So exciting that we're going to be baptising 14 people this morning.

Maybe I should rephrase that. At least 14 people today, which is good,

which is good. So is everyone comfortable?

How nice is this venue? I'm calling it a venue.

It's actually, it's Richard and Wendy's barn.

I love Barnes. I love Barnes. Who could see this as a permanent church in here?

I'm picturing the TV up there. Pew's going back this way.

Bedroom for the pastor around the back there.

That's good. That's good. All righty. Let's get on with this,

shall we? I'm going to pray quickly. Then Josh is going to lead us in a few songs of worship.

But it's going to be a really good day. Put your hand up if you're getting baptised today.

Yeah, look at this. Look at this. That's awesome. All right.

Heavenly Father, we thank You, Lord, that we can meet here today.

At the outset, Lord, I declare that this barn, Lord, is none other than the

house of God this morning.

Lord, and we welcome Your presence here. Lord, as we've all come.

Lord, we acknowledge that You've also come.

You've come in our hearts, yes, Lord, but Your Holy Spirit has filled this place this morning.

It's going to be an incredible morning as 14 people, at least 14 people get

baptised this morning and enter into a new life with you.

Declaration of a new life with you, Lord. So I bless them.

I bless every person here this morning. I bless this service and we bless you, Lord God.

You are our hiding place. We can hide under You, Lord God. Be protected. Be set free.

Freedom comes from protection under You, Lord God. And we receive that, Lord, this morning.

Hallelujah. Freedom. You came, Lord Jesus, so that we could be set free.

And we receive that freedom this morning.

We receive it, Lord. Lord, I pray for those who are here this morning who maybe

are searching. searching for that freedom, searching for those answers,

maybe searching for healing.

Lord, I pray that you would meet those people where they are.

You would meet each and every one of us, Lord God, where we are.

That you would lead our ways, Lord God, and that we would follow.

We would follow you. Just as the 14 or more people this morning are following

you into the waters of baptism, Lord.

I pray, Father, that we would choose this day to follow you always.

Follow your ways.

Follow your will follow your freedom in our lives so we thank you for that Lord

I bless each and every person here this morning with the love and the knowledge

of the freedom of Jesus Christ in their life,

in Jesus name I pray Hallelujah Amen Amen why don't we give it up for Josh he

did an awesome job thank you Lord,

very good see not only is he worshipping leading us in worship this morning.

He's also getting baptised this morning. So it's cool, isn't it? It's so good to be here.

Ange, do you want us to come up and say anything? Are you, my beautiful wife, my beautiful daughter,

my handsome son-in-law, and my incredible grandson, Luca, over there in the pram. Oh, wow.

First time in church. Who else is their first time in church this morning?

Anyone else first time in church? Bless you.

For a few weeks. Okay, for a few weeks.

It's great, isn't it? It's so good to be here. How's everyone outside?

Has it stopped raining? Nearly.

Very good. All right. Awesome. Awesome.

I would like the people that are getting baptized to stand this morning with

me. Just stand. Thank you.

Ben, well done, mate. I knew you would want to be baptized this morning.

I just want to pray for these guys. And if they are nearby to you,

just reach out and touch them in support. In support.

Thank you, Lord. So, Father God, we thank you, Lord, for each person standing here today.

We thank you for the work you've already begun in their hearts.

We thank you for the faith that has brought them to this moment.

And we thank you, Lord, for the grace that will carry them forward.

Lord, we ask now for your peace to rest on each and every one of them.

Quiet every anxious thought, if there are any.

Strengthen every willing heart and fill them with courage, joy and confidence in you.

Holy Spirit, we invite you to be very near this morning.

Cover this moment with your presence.

Let this be a moment of encounter. and not fear, of freedom and not pressure, of joy and not striving.

We declare that as they step into the waters of baptism this morning,

that old things are laid down and a new life in Christ rises up.

We speak blessings over their minds this morning, peace over their hearts.

Clarity over their identity and grace over their future.

Mark this moment in their story, seal it in heaven.

Seal it in heaven. Let it bear fruit for a lifetime.

This one step this morning of declaring, I belong to Christ,

let it bear fruit for a lifetime. We commit each one of you now for your glory and your glory.

And your purposes in the beautiful and powerful name of Jesus, our Lord.

Amen. Amen. You may be seated, everyone.

Very good. It's good. Amen. All righty.

So like I said earlier, first time I've ever had the opportunity of preaching

in my swimming costume and my sandals, but let's give it a go anyway. I'm excited.

The title of my message this morning, it's only very quick.

Don't worry. We've got to get on to the main story this morning.

But the title of my message this morning is, Here is Water.

Here is water. I'm going to read from the book of Acts this morning.

Acts chapter 8, verses 26 to 39.

Acts 8:26–39

It says this, As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him,

Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.

So he started out and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority

under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia.

The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship. and he was now returning.

Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.

The Holy Spirit said to Philip, go over and walk along beside the carriage.

Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah.

Philip asked, do you understand what you're reading?

The man replied, how can I unless someone instructs me?

And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.

The passage of scripture he had been reading was this.

He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb he is silent before

the shearers. He did not open his mouth.

He was humiliated and received no justice, for who can speak of his descendants?

For his life was taken from the earth. The eunuch asked Philip,

tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?

So beginning with this same scripture, Philip told him the good news about Jesus

As they rode along They came to some water And the eunuch said Look,

there's some water Look,

there's some water over there Look, there's some water Why can't I be baptized?

He ordered the carriage to stop and they went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

When they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away.

The eunuch never saw him again, but he went on his way rejoicing,

rejoicing. Church, today I want you to notice something straight off about the

location of the encounter that we've just read.

We're taken to a dusty desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza. A dusty road.

Not a church building. Not a church building. Not a temple.

Not a revival meeting. God sends Philip to a place that looks empty.

It looks random and unimportant.

And yet heaven had already scheduled a divine appointment there.

I believe that heaven has scheduled a divine appointment here today as well.

Amen. Who agrees with that?

Yeah. God sent Philip to one man, an Ethiopian official, a seeker,

a worshiper, a man hungry for God.

He's reading scripture, but doesn't yet understand it.

Philip explains to him the good news about Jesus and something ignites in his

heart. You can relate to that this morning. something igniting in their heart.

And then the man says these words, look, there's water, here is water.

What can stand in the way of me being baptized?

No delay, no hesitation, no overthinking, just faith and obedience.

Church, that's what baptism is. And it's what we're about to do. It's not ritual.

It's not tradition. It's not performance. And it's not religion.

I want you to hear me clearly here. The Ethiopian isn't baptized to be saved that day.

He's baptized because he is saved.

He's not baptized because he wants to be saved. He's baptized because he is saved.

Baptism doesn't wash away sin. Jesus does.

Baptism doesn't change identity. Jesus does.

And baptism doesn't bring salvation. Jesus does.

But baptism declares this.

It declares, I belong to Christ. I belong to Jesus. It declares, my old life is buried.

It declares, my new life has begun.

I'm not who I was. I'm publicly aligning with Jesus this morning.

Baptism is death, baptism is burial, and baptism is resurrection in one moment. Just like that.

A sermon without words, you might say, or a gospel that you can see.

The passage ends with this. It says, when they came out of the water,

the spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see

him again, but went on his way rejoicing.

Now, I'm not expecting that the Holy Spirit's going to take me away after the baptism this morning.

What I do know is this, though. If you are baptized in obedience,

you will come up in joy. You will.

Just obedience and joy follows.

This is a spiritual order. If you look at it, there's revelation,

there's faith, there's obedience, there's transformation, and there's joy, there's joy.

And today the Holy Spirit asks the same question.

What can stand in the way? What can stand in the way of you being baptized today?

Not fear, not hesitation, not tradition, not your past, not your story, not shame, not delay.

Nothing stands in the way. Here is the water. there is the water just over there,

obedience is calling. Obedience follows.

If faith is real, response follows.

If salvation is true, then declaration follows.

And that's what we are doing this morning. We are declaring our salvation in Christ.

Church baptism is not the end of your journey.

It's the line in the sand where your old life ends and your new life begins.

What can stand in the way? Nothing.

Nothing. Amen?

Amen. Alrighty.

We're going to move right along here as the rain comes down even heavier now.

Should have told you this morning, don't just bring a chair, bring an umbrella.

No, that's all right. That's all right. What I'd like to do to start with before

we go over there, I'd like to pray over the water itself.

In the Bible, in the Gospels, it talks about a body of water in Jerusalem that

when stirred up, it produced miracles.

That water is going to be stirred up this morning as we baptize people.

I'm seeing miracles occur.

So, loving Father, we thank you for your grace and your peace this morning.

And as we offer this water to you, let your presence rest gently here,

calming every heart and marking every baptism, Lord God, with your love and

new life in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

All right. What are we waiting for?

Who's ready to get baptized this morning? Yep.

It's only a little bit of rain out there. What I would ask us all to do now

is start wandering across that beautiful lawn out there towards the swimming pool.

And we're going to get ourselves sorted and get some baptisms done this morning.

Is that okay? Okay. Excellent.