Pastor Malachi Maillot | Baptism Sunday | April 26th, 2026

Well, I'm honored to be with you this morning.

It's been a truly significant and special Sunday.

Amen.

Well, that was not convincing.

Amen.

You glad you came to church today?

Yes?

Man.

You know what?

We're gonna get them moving and get them warmed up.

It's okay.

I have the honor of talking about uh the next part of our service and what is happening.

Uh we're talking about baptism.

And uh with baptism, we're not only witnessing what's happening on the outside, we're we're witnessing an outward action, but it's really truly the response of what's happening on the inside of what God has done in some of these people's lives today, where the spiritual actually meets the physical.

And so uh, as I was uh walking through and just looking through what baptism means, it's it's always interesting you go to research something and you'll see uh all these different views.

And you've probably heard different views about baptism and what baptism is, and uh probably a laundry list of different ways to approach baptism, but Jesus makes one thing abundantly clear in Matthew 28, 19, uh in uh all the way to verse 20.

And you've probably heard this first before.

Uh it says this it says, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.

How many nations?

There you go, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am always with you to the end of the age.

So Jesus makes one thing clear that baptism is actually a commandment along with making disciples.

And so one of the conclusions I have come to and and and make out of this is that baptism should not be an optional thing for the Christian life.

Baptism should not be placed on an optional place, it should be pivotal for the life of a disciple.

Amen.

And so I just want to quickly go through uh what baptism is today.

And simply put, baptism, again, is an outward response of the inward work that God has done in your life.

Baptism illustrates the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ.

And at the same time, it also illustrates our death and our new life in Christ.

So as a person confesses Jesus is Lord and their savior, he dies to sin, as it talks about in Romans 6 to uh 6.11, and he is raised to new life uh in Colossians 2.12.

You'll hear Pastor Brody talk about that as he's baptizing baptizing people, that they're they're dying to their old self and they're risen to life.

Baptism is powerful because it illustrates a new identity, it illustrates our identification with Christ.

It actually is what unifies us with Christ's death, his burial, and his resurrection.

It is as if we're taking off that old self.

As one person, as they go down into the water, it signifies the burial.

When Jesus was on the cross, he was buried then for three days.

And it's like we go under the water and we take part in his death.

And the it's like the old life is being left down.

And as we bring people up, it reflects the resurrection and that new life in Christ.

Amen, church.

So Romans 6, uh, four, Paul puts it this way: He says, 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 the newness of life.

And so we go down, and that old life is gone, and as we're raised to life, we're raised to a new identity.

And so, again, water baptism is that it's an outward public testimony of what God has done on the inside when we are saved.

And so, some things that I just want to clarify baptism is not a human idea, it is not a human tradition, it was not created by human minds, it is not some extra ritual that we do when we're saved.

And also, baptism, we have to be clear that doesn't earn our salvation.

The only way we are saved is by grace through faith and by the work that Jesus did on the cross.

That is the only way that we are saved.

Salvation comes through Christ alone, not through baptism, but that that truth doesn't make baptism less significant.

Okay, and it doesn't actually merely pull it down to just being a symbol of what it is today because we look at baptism as a sacred thing.

It is deeply spiritual, it is a holy moment, it is a covenant between you and God.

Uh it's it's a public declaration of our obedience to Christ.

And so we look at the New Testament and the Church of Acts, the early church, we look at this uh idea of baptism.

Baptism, it's interesting, it was never a separate thing from salvation.

It was never this separated thing.

It was never this like thing that, oh, well, maybe I'll decide to do this one day when I feel like it, or or maybe, you know, we'll just like put this off, or or maybe we won't even do it.

It was always together.

It was it was almost as if it was tied to the response of salvation.

It was a part of that salvation process.

And we see in Acts 2, uh 41, we see the response of those who it says, those who received the word were then baptized.

And that day they were added, there was added 3,000 souls.

So this is actually a reference to Peter's uh, he preached one of the best sermons that that's ever been recorded in history, and it says that 3,000 people came to Christ that day, and he says what?

He says, Repent.

They ask him, you know, they hear the gospel, they hear the good news of what Christ has done for them, and they say, they say to Peter, what then shall we do?

And he says, Repent and be baptized.

Another example of response of the good news in Acts 8 is uh Philip.

He goes to uh this Ethiopian area and he preached it says that he preaches the good news about Jesus and uh he preaches to this Ethiopian and he's saved.

And and as he's traveling, he goes to travel with Philip.

It says, as they traveled along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, Look, here is some water.

What can stand in my way of being baptized?

And right away they stopped what they were doing and they baptized him.

And it's interesting, you know, in most instances, sometimes, you know, immediate baptism isn't always feasible, right?

Like maybe there isn't a body of water, but but the principle remains the same is our response to the gospel should be then that outward public declaration, God, I obey you, God, I want to walk with you for the rest of my life, and that's through baptism.

Someone who is baptized today, and the ones who are getting baptized today, it's very exciting, is saying this, it's saying, I belong to Jesus, my old life has gone, and I have turned from sin and put my faith in Christ.

It's a public declaration, and and I want to share some good news with you out of Romans 5, Romans 5, 8 to 11.

It says this, it says, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since therefore we have now been justified through his blood, how much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God?

For while we were still enemies, while we were enemies of him, we were reconciled.

That that word reconciled means to be, it's like you're making something right between two people.

Where there was distance, where there was distortion, where there was brokenness and relationship, Jesus reconciles us to God by the death of his son.

Much more, now we have been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

More than that, we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have received reconciliation.

So, really, this just means that that distance between us and God, it was like a chasm that could not be crossed.

The relationship between man and God was broken.

It was something that we could not get back into without someone coming along.

We were uh the Bible talks about how we were born in sin.

Romans uh talks about how through one man sin entered the world and it affected every single man and person on the in the as we come into this world.

We could not keep God's law and a price needed to be paid.

We could not get back to relationship with the Father.

But it says that Christ comes in and through his sacrifice he reconciles us to the Father, making the relationship whole again.

He talks about Paul talks about how his righteousness, Christ gave us, he imputed his righteousness to us.

Paul talks about his own righteousness as dirty rags, like he could not get to that place just through good works and through merit.

Jesus said there is no one that is good, and only through that him imputing his righteousness, that right standing with the Father, then we can be saved.

And when we accept that free gift, because it is a free gift, you don't have to do anything to do it, you don't have to earn it, you don't have to do anything to have that free gift.

All you have to do is receive.

And when we accept Christ as our Savior, Romans 10 says it this way because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you believe in your heart that He is God that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with one heart, one believes and is justified, and one mouth confesses and is saved.

Scripture says this it says, Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.

And verse 13 finally ends with this everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

And so I just want to I want to have an opportunity in this moment, and I don't know who's in the room, and I'm just gonna ask you to close your eyes if you're here in this place.

Just close your eyes, everybody.

This is just between you and God, and I don't want to embarrass anybody, and I just again I just want to give an opportunity because we have a baptism tank here this morning, and I just want to give an opportunity.

If you've never received Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you've never prayed that prayer and you've never given your life to Christ, I want to give us an opportunity.

I'm not even gonna ask you to raise your hand in this place.

All I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna lead us through a prayer.

And and and I want you to, if you're if you're here and you've never prayed this prayer, I want you to believe this in faith.

Maybe something right now, maybe the Holy Spirit has been stirring in your heart.

Maybe you just feel like I just need to to to come back to Christ.

Maybe you've been away from him, maybe you've been far from him, and you just want to come back to him this morning, or maybe you've never made this decision, you've never said the uh and and confessed that the Lord is your savior, that he is your that he is your rock and salvation, and that you've never confessed and believed in your heart this morning.

I'm gonna give us an opportunity, and I'm just gonna lead us through a simple prayer.

Uh, and if if everybody in the room that maybe you've prayed this prayer 4,000 times, I just want you to pray this with me today for those who are maybe praying this prayer for the first time this morning, and I just want you to pray this with me.

Say, Lord Jesus, I know I've sinned.

Today I turn from that sin and I turn to you.

Lord Jesus, I ask for forgiveness.

I commit my life to you.

I believe Jesus was the Son of God, that he died on the cross for me, that he took my sin, that he was buried, and on the third day resurrected.

Lord Jesus, come into my heart.

I want to follow you, I want to trust you.

The old life is gone and the new life has come.

Let my life never be the same.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

If you may, if you prayed that prayer for the first time today, I just want to let's let's just celebrate anybody who did that today.

I don't know if we're here today, but here's the next thing I want to do.

And this is for this is for if you've never been baptized.

I know we have uh some people that's already signed up for baptism, we're gonna do that today, but we just want to have a call out, and maybe this is like terrifying for you today, and you're like, I came to church in my nice clothes.

That's okay.

Uh, if you have if you have uh made that decision and you follow Christ and you've asked him to be Lord and Savior of your life and you want to be baptized today and you haven't been baptized, we want to invite you uh to come up and actually you can just get in line right now uh if you want to.

And I'm I'll also be at the back so you can come and talk to me.

But again, this is the the reason why I was talking about baptism and the way that that the new uh the the first church did it, they did they didn't separate baptism and salvation.

It was like, hey, what is stopping me?

There's a body of water.

What is stopping me from being baptized today?

Nothing, absolutely nothing.

We have a towel for you, we have an we have a different shirt for you, uh, and we'll baptize you today.

So again, I just want to leave it with this.

Uh and I'm not gonna pressure you too much more.

But if you have not been baptized and and you want to be baptized today, there's nothing stopping you.

Uh, you can go right now to where Carol is, or you can come.

You know me now.

My name is Malachi, I'll be right at the back.

You can come chat with me, I'll pray with you, and we'll we'll get you baptized today.

But with that, I'm gonna invite Pastor Brody up, and we're gonna get some people baptized today.

So, amen.

Let's go.