Leave it in the Water | Ps. Keith Pittman

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

Thank you guys for leading us.

We're gonna shout out our production team as well.

For the way that you guys lead us as well.

We're so so thankful for you, man.

I'm full of expectation.

If you're part of our youth ministry, this is the area that we want to invite you guys to go ahead and step out.

Your leader's gonna be in the back right there.

If you are a middle or high school student, we want to invite you.

There's a special environment just uh for you.

Um, parents, if you have a middle or high schooler, please invite them uh to come and join us in the back.

You guys can go ahead and take your seats as we're going to jump into uh today's message.

Uh, I really am excited because today, as we've heard it said, is Baptism Sunday.

How many people are excited about Baptism Sunday?

We're we're really pumped about it here at Celebration Orlando because of what we recognize it means to us as a community, but also what it means for the individuals that were pre-participating in baptism.

If you came here today prepared to get baptized, there will be a moment in the service where we're gonna invite you to go ahead and slip out so that you can go and get changed.

If you didn't come prepared, that's perfectly okay.

Um, you didn't have to sign up.

We're gonna have everything you need in the event that the Holy Spirit begins to stir your heart and tells you that that is um indeed your next step.

We have clothing, we have towels, we have everything you need.

So we're gonna get to that in just um a moment.

Um, if you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to join me in Romans chapter number six.

Romans chapter number six.

I'm gonna get there in in just a moment, but if you will, uh I want to ask that you give me um uh a little bit of space to to build the foundation of what it is that we're gonna be digging into uh today.

As we've been in a series on uh the book of Romans, Grace to You.

Um, it's really been around identifying these themes of grace found in the book of Romans.

Paul wrote this with a singular thought of helping to equip and empower the church in Rome to understand the power of the gospel and the grace that is now made available to them.

But when he wrote it, he didn't write it with um chapters and verses in mind as we have an opportunity to read it today.

He wrote it with a singular thought of weaving these concepts in.

So we're gonna look at a passage in just a moment that brings it all together.

But while we're doing that, um, I want to read a couple of passages that kind of sets the tone of what we're gonna be doing today.

The first passage I want to read to us is found in the Gospel of Mark, chapter number one.

Starting at verse number nine, it says this one day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River.

And as Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart, and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove.

And a voice from heaven said, You are my dearly loved son, you bring me great joy.

We we have Jesus being literally baptized into ministry, baptized into a new season of life.

He goes off into the wilderness, and then while he's doing his earthly ministry, which goes about three and a half years, there's even accounts of his disciples doing baptisms as well.

But as he prepares to conclude his earthly ministry, he he gives these instructions to his disciples.

His parting words to them is this Matthew 28, verse 18 through 20 says, And Jesus told his disciples, I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

Matthew 28:18–20

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Teach these new disciples to obey all my commands I have given you.

And be sure of this: I am with you always until the end of the age.

I don't know about you, but that's good news, knowing that Jesus is with us always to the end of the age.

Can we put our hands together knowing that Jesus is with us always to the end of the age?

The book of Acts literally picks up where Jesus leaves off.

The early church begins to do the very things that Jesus says.

We find that in Acts chapter 2 that Peter preaches the first full gospel message, and and in one moment, 3,000 people give their lives to Christ, and 3,000 people all get baptized.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Now, sitting on this side of it, that seems like a logistical nightmare to me, but nonetheless, they were able to pull it off.

It probably wasn't pretty, but they were able to do it.

When you read the book of Acts, you see that there is these massive movements where the power of God was being preached and demonstrated, and it was always supported with baptisms.

When Paul comes into the mix, we even see for Paul that when he's doing ministry, he he preaches the gospel, he prays for people, they get set free.

All these things happen, and there's a reference of them being baptized, them and their entire families.

We see this over and over and over again throughout the course of scripture.

In fact, the book of Acts gives account of over nine different instances of where the gospel is preached, people get baptized, it's directly connected.

So by the time we get to Paul's writing to the church in Rome, it was a well-understood practice that when you put your faith in Jesus, you get baptized.

That is what you do.

It was meant to signify that you're set apart, it is also meant to signify that you belong to a community as well as to a broad family.

So when the church in Rome is struggling with sin, struggling with their identity, struggling with relationships, Paul writes to them to remind them of who they are, whose they are, and what took place when they indeed were baptized.

So at Romans chapter 6, looking at verses 3 through 5, he says, This, or have you forgotten that you were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism?

Romans 6 · chapter mention

We joined him in his death.

He's saying that you're dead to some things.

He said, For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism.

And just as Christ was raised from the dead with glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

Somebody say a lot, new lives.

Say it with your chest, like you mean it.

Say new lives.

Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.

You see, baptism is this sacred ordinance, it's it's transformational, it ushers us into the newness of life.

And today I want to spend a couple of moments unpacking the simple thought, but I think it's something that can transform every single one of us.

And I've entitled today's message, Leave It in the Water.

Let's pray and let's see what it is that God wants to speak to us today.

Lord, we thank you for the opportunities that we have to come together in your name with an expectation, Lord, that you're going to meet us.

Your word reminds us that we're two or three are gathered in your name, that you're amongst us.

So, Holy Spirit, we invite you to have your way.

Stir our hearts, stir our minds, activate us.

What is our next step, God?

And I pray that we can step into it with complete boldness.

Lord, I pray for open eyes that we can see you, open hearts that we can receive everything you want to deposit, and open ears to hear your truth.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen and amen.

You know, family, if you if you guys have have been around our church for any period of time, one of the things that you're gonna learn um that I particularly enjoy is I I absolutely love um I love movies, I love TV shows, I love, I love the arts.

It's something that really is a is a filler for me.

I truly believe that if I was not pastoring this church, and if I didn't have my own um pit barbecue smoke shop, because y'all guys know I can throw down on my smoker, um, I would also be a movie director and a lawyer and and an engineer.

I feel like I'm in elementary school.

Like, what do you want to be?

Like, I got all kinds of things, but but I genuinely love, I genuinely love um the arts.

I love communicating story, I love storytelling, I love all these components, and and and what I love more about them is the complexity of them.

I I'm the guy that when I come home after watching um a movie or watching a TV show, that I go onto YouTube and spend the next three days unpacking people's different perspectives and understanding exactly what it is the director had intended for us to grab a hold of.

I'm I'm the guy that whenever I get the Blu-ray, I'm I'm watching and listening to the director's commentary because for me, I don't like the idea that there's something that's happening that the director intended me to understand, and I completely missed it.

So for me, it's it's really about I need to have a deeper understanding.

So I love looking at the subtlety, the storylines, and all these other things.

But man, this new thing that I've been on for the past couple of months is the way that they utilize the soundtrack and the music.

Oh my goodness.

That that is a complete, that is a complete game changer.

I began to really appreciate not just the characters that are being developed, the storylines and all those things, but the utilization of how they use music to really draw your mind back to certain instances, it is it is captivating to me.

Let me give you an example.

So just a couple of days ago, I was watching um Marvel um Infinity Wars.

Anybody, any Marvel fans in the house?

Okay.

If you if you anticipate watching this at any point, there's a part of this I'm gonna ruin for you.

The movie's been out for like eight years, so you had your chance.

But but there I'm I'm watching, I'm I'm watching Infinity War, right?

And there's this scene where Wanda and Vision have been have been ambushed and they're fighting, they're fighting against the enemy, right?

And and as they're fighting, it looks as if they're about to lose.

And as they're about to lose, there's this look of despair.

There's a moment where like there's a subtle shift in the music.

And you can see the enemy look over and they can see somebody off in the shadows, and so they throw this spear, and someone catches the spear, and I'm like, man, who is that?

And then Captain America emerges from the shadows.

Now, now that wasn't the thing that gave me the goosebumps.

The thing that gave me the goosebumps is when they played the Captain America theme music.

Oh my god, I literally jumped up in the theater.

I was like, Let's go! It's gonna be alright because Captain America is here.

Like, there's something about when you hear this music, it just immediately communicated that it's gonna be alright.

Uh, another another movie that does this really well is if you watch the Wonder Woman movies.

She has like her own theme music that when she shows up on the scene, you know it's gonna be okay.

It could be anything going on, but when you hear that Wonder Woman theme music, hey, it's gonna be alright.

There are times where I'm leaving from spiritual warfare coming from church, and y'all will see me in my car, and y'all think I'm listening to the latest Hills song or Bethel or Maverick City.

No, I'm listening to the Wonder Woman soundtrack because I know that if I could just channel that, I know it's gonna be okay.

There's something, there's something about how these nuances are meant to communicate something so much deeper.

I was watching another movie, and then and the director said, like, hey, I know this part's a little confusing, but if you listen to the soundtrack in the background, it's telling a story all by itself.

I was legitimately blown away.

Here's the reason why I bring that all up is because the directors know that on the surface there's a story being told, but there's something behind the scene that's tying it all together.

The Holy Spirit being the great, being the great director that he is, under the inspiration and inspiring the biblical writers, there's these themes that are working behind the scenes that a lot of times, if we don't pay attention, we can completely miss these pivotal moments that are taking place in scripture.

See, typically what a biblical student does is they begin to read the Bible and they begin to identify these subtle nuances that begin to bring a greater revelation of a story that God is trying to communicate.

We call those themes or we call those patterns or types or shadows, these things that we see glimpses of it and we begin to recognize, like, man, I wonder if there's a story that's being told with the fact that this is being referenced.

One of those things that seems to work its way from Genesis to Revelation is God delivering his people when they come on the other side of water.

It's a theme that you see from beginning to end.

Even when you look at Genesis in the very beginning, the Bible says that it was filled with chaos, that the darkness was upon the face of the deep.

But then God says, Let there be light, and he calls land out of the chaotic waters, that there was a newness that took place when God brought the land out of the water.

We see in in Genesis chapter 6 when God basically judges the world and he sends a flood onto the earth, and Noah and his family they build their ark, and then you know what happens?

Genesis 6 · chapter mention

He brings deliverance to his people on the other side of the water.

We get into the book of Exodus, and we're familiar with the story of the children of Israel.

They have been in bondage for 400 years, and now they're at a point where they've been set free partially, and now they're standing at the edge of the Red Sea, no clear direction forward, but the enemy is chasing behind them.

I'm not sure if I'm ever talking to anybody that's been at a place where you feel like I have partial freedom.

I know that I'm no longer where I was, but my past continues to chase me down, but I don't have a clear path forward.

But then God leads them through the Red Sea.

They went into the Red Sea as a people that were slaves, but they come out as a strong united nation.

They went in one way and it came out another way.

The same thing happens when they go into the promised land.

Something about them going across the water, they went in one way, but now they were on the other side and they laid claim to the promises of God.

We even see this in 2 Kings chapter 5 with Naaman, that Naaman was a man who was filled with leprosy, and he was waiting for God's word to heal him.

2 Kings 5 · chapter mention

But the man of God told him, Just go and dip yourself in the water, and when you come out of the water, you will be healed.

What we're seeing is this theme, these subtle nuances of God bringing deliverance to his people when they come through the water.

It's no wonder that when we look and see that John the Baptist is on the scene, he's leading people to get baptized so that they can return to God.

They come out on the other side of the water.

Jesus comes on a scene and he instructs his disciples to do the exact same thing.

He wants them to understand that as you are reaching people and as you're leading people, they're going to go off into some chaotic environments, and I want there to be a physical demonstration of what I've been doing on the inside of them.

This is the significance of what baptism is meant to be.

It's this idea of recognizing that I am being delivered on the other side of water.

I've come to the conclusion in my life that if I see Jesus do it and he tells me to do it, I do it.

There's really no more room for negotiation for me.

If Jesus did it, he tells me to do it, then I do it.

Because I believe in his infinite wisdom.

He understands that there's power, there's something that takes place when I go into the water and I come out on the other side.

Paul carries this messaging with him.

And as he's going into his varying environments, he begins to teach people confess Christ, go into the water, come out free on the other side.

There's this symbiotic thing that the Holy Spirit is trying to help us to recognize and to see.

There's three thoughts that I want to share with us.

We're going to keep this brief because we're going to conclude today's service with baptism.

But there's three thoughts that I believe that we all can embrace as it comes to understanding the power that takes place when we come out on the other side of the water.

Here's the first thing I want you to write down.

Baptism identifies you with Jesus.

Baptism identifies you with Jesus.

Here's something that I that I want to say to every one of us Your relationship with God is personal, but it's not private.

It's personal, but it's not private.

If we can be honest, no rational person wants to be in a relationship with someone and it be kept a secret.

No rational person wants that.

Megan, come here for a second, honey.

I want you to come here and let the people see you.

We got our mattress shirts on today.

So on October 8th, 27 years ago, I asked this beautiful lady to be my girlfriend.

Right?

And so I remember it.

We were standing in your mother's hallway, and I was looking at you, and I could see, I mean, you have been chasing after me for years.

Um and so she finally had worn me down to the point where I was like, okay, I guess I'm trapped in this relationship.

So I I'm joking.

I I'm I'm I'm looking at you and I say, the most listen, y'all need to be taking notes.

Y'all single people take notes.

I'm trying to put y'all up on game.

I look her in her eyes and I say, You wanna be my girl?

And what did you say, Megan?

I said yes.

You see, you hear that?

She said, I said yes.

She said, I was just waiting.

You had me with hay.

Um, so so so back then, back then, there was no social media, there was no Facebook official, there was no tension of do I put it on Instagram?

How early do I put it on Instagram?

What if it doesn't work out, then I gotta scrub you from the gram.

So the only way that we, y'all know I'm talking about somebody's like, I'm scrubbing somebody right now.

Um we we didn't have any of that baggage.

The only way that we could go public with our relationship is that we would go to the most popular mall in our town and we would go on the most popular night, which is a Friday night, and we would walk by the food court holding hands.

That's how you went official where I was from.

So I remember we went to the mall the first time, and we didn't have no money, but we're at the mall because this is how you go public with the relationship.

And I'm like, girl, you ready?

Yeah.

So we go and we start walking, and you're walking slow, and then you just know that you're gonna see somebody from the school that you know that's gonna be able to send a message out to everybody.

So we're walking, like, oh look, that's the neighborhood gossip.

It's definitely gonna get out in the streets.

And so we're walking, we're walking, and people are looking like, oh my gosh, Keith and Megan are together now.

We're like, yep, hey.

I like we're we're doing all of this.

Now, now imagine for a moment, Megan, when we went public with our relationship, we continued to build on it.

We we went out to the movies together, we went out to restaurants together, we did everything together.

People knew that we were together, it was very much on display.

I even asked you to marry me on display.

We got married and it was in front of everybody.

Now, let me ask you this.

What if I were to say to you, hey, you want to be my girl?

Um, but let's keep it a secret.

I would say I'm not a side chick.

She says she's not a side chick.

So the question is, are we worshiping God on the side?

Thank you, honey, for helping me make this point.

Don't give it up for making it.

Let me land a plane on this so we can move on.

We go public with everything.

We go public when we go on vacation.

We go public when we're going to eat our favorite meal.

We go public with our political beliefs.

We go public with everything.

When nobody knows that you're connected to Jesus?

What baptism does is it allows us to go public with our faith because no relationship wants to be kept a secret.

What God wanted to make sure of is that there is a physical moment where we acknowledge and recognize that I am in relationship with Jesus.

And now that I'm moving forward with Jesus, things that were in the past are in the past, but I'm moving forward with Jesus.

I am with him and he is with me, and the benefits of being with him are the things that I am able to inherit.

Why would I not want to celebrate the freedom that my Savior gives me?

My politician isn't going to give me freedom.

This food is not going to do anything but make me fatter.

If I could be public about those things, I can absolutely be public about Jesus.

When we go public with our relationship, it gives value to it.

It gives value to it.

I've often heard it said that when we get baptized, it is the wedding ring of our faith.

It means that I'm associated with Christ, and whatever I was in the past, it is buried, but I am now connected to something even greater.

Don't be more vocal about your vacations than you are about your salvation.

I'm identified with Jesus.

Here's a second thing that baptism does.

Baptism, it moves us forward.

It moves us forward, it allows us to walk in the newness of life.

Paul begins to instruct the Roman church like, hey, you guys have been baptized with Christ and you came out in the newness of life.

It's meant to help you to move forward, recognizing that there's more in front of you than there is behind you.

There's something to be said about it.

See, baptism unites us with other believers, even of different backgrounds, and then moves us forward together.

The book of Acts tells us a story about this Ethiopian man who was coming back from Jerusalem.

He's leaving the temple and he's heading back to Ethiopia.

Now I want to give you some context.

I wish I had more time to unpack this.

But because of his racial identity and because of his physical deformities, he would not have been allowed to go fully into the temple.

So he's leaving Jerusalem, the most holy city.

He's leaving the temple, the most holy place.

He's reading from the book of Isaiah.

He still has faith in Yahweh, but he's not moving forward with his life.

Am I talking to anybody right now?

Where you've gone to church, but you still feel like you haven't moved forward.

You you're engaged in certain things, but you still feel like you're not moving forward.

For this man, he was leaving this environment, still trusting God, but just not seeing it in his life as of yet.

But then God sends him Philip.

And Philip comes up next to him, like, hey man, do you understand what you're reading?

He's like, Man, I'm actually kind of confused because I'm seeing these things in scripture.

It's not reconciling and registering with me.

I'm at a standstill right now.

He was spiritually at a standstill.

He was intellectually at a standstill.

He was emotionally at a standstill, moving forward, but somehow still at a standstill.

So Philip begins to unpack who Jesus is.

And in his explanation of who Jesus is, he clearly begins to talk about the importance of getting baptized.

So as they're on this journey, this man says to Philip, he's like, Hey, there's water right here.

Is there anything to keep me from getting baptized?

He uses that language because when he went to Jerusalem, there was something that was keeping him from getting into the presence of God.

He said this because when he went to the temple, there was something keeping him from getting into the most holy place.

So now that he sees water, he's like, Man, am I still at a standstill or am I free to move forward?

Philip takes him out of his carriage and he gets baptized and it moves him forward.

Every one of us has those areas of our lives where it's like, I still feel like I'm moving forward, but I'm not making progress.

Does for us spiritually is it helps us to move forward.

It helps us to recognize what God has done.

It helps us to recognize that there's some things that I'm leaving in the past and I'm rising up in the newness of life, that God has given me something new, and it's time for me to move forward.

It's the physical demonstration of what God has been doing spiritually inside of me.

I'm today moving forward.

That is what baptism does.

It helps us to move forward.

I've come to understand that it is impossible to thrive in the present and in the future if I'm carrying the past.

Baptism is the place that I'm able to move forward.

And the reason why I'm able to do that is because of this third point I want to share.

Baptism is where we leave it in the water.

It's where we leave it in the water.

A few months ago Sam started attending our church.

And I still remember it just as clear as day the first time that I saw that he was coming to church, and he would sit over here to the right, your left, and he would just come in, mind his business, and leave.

And let the Holy Spirit do the work.

So he would come week after week after week, and and and you would just see he would come in, he would come to service, and he would leave.

But there was a moment when I knew that there was a revival taking place inside of Sam.

And this is how I knew it.

Because during worship, he went from doing this to doing this.

One hand.

Because for weeks he just stood there.

For weeks you could see that God is ministering to him.

For weeks he would come and listen to messages.

For weeks he would show up.

But now I began to see something happening inside of him, and he lifted one hand up.

And then I knew that we were in the middle of a Holy Spirit revival when the following week he had two hands up.

He was like, They were at half mass still, but he was still working.

He was like, Then he started bobbing a little bit with the worship songs.

And then he got committed to like the one hand up type thing.

Then he got to the two hands up.

So now I'm beginning to literally see on the front lines this the Holy Spirit stirring and moving Sam to a point where he feels needed to engage.

But then there's this transformational moment that took place.

We did baptisms about two baptisms ago.

And I don't know that Sam is getting baptized, but I see on that day that Sam is getting baptized.

So he climbs and he gets into the water.

We actually have pictures of Sam getting into the water.

So Sam is inside of the baptism pool.

And as I'm looking at Sam, I can see the progress and what God has done in his life up to this point.

I begin to whisper into his ear, I'm like, brother, I'm so proud of you.

And I shared with him what I just shared with you.

Like, man, I saw when you first started showing up.

I saw when when you would come in, didn't speak to anybody, and you would leave.

I saw when you would begin to slowly worship a little bit.

I saw when you actually lingered after church for two minutes to say hi to people before you dipped out.

I saw you progressively doing some things, and I recognized then that God was doing something on the inside of you.

And what I believe, Sam, is this that you're about to get baptized and you're already blood-bought, you've already confessed Christ, you're already saved.

But I believe today is a day you're going to be set free.

I said, Man, you're going to go into this water one way and you're going to come out a different way.

It's going to be something powerful.

And he looked at me and he said, Today I leave it in the water.

That is what inspired this message.

Because I saw him make this confession that today I'm leaving it in the water.

He went down, and when he came out, this man who was quiet, this man who was disengaged, came out with his hands lifted up, fully surrendered, fully engaged in the presence of God.

And if I could be honest with you guys, it felt like the moment that I just read in Mark chapter 1, where it said the disguise were ripped open, the Holy Spirit descended down and began to tell him, You are my son, and in you I am well pleased.

Mark 1 · chapter mention

Sam didn't have to do a single thing except be obedient.

But what I've seen in Sam since that moment has been nothing short of a revolution.

Sam serves here at our church every single week.

Sam is faithful in showing up in my men's group.

Sam is faithful in showing up in our disciple group.

Sam is faithful in going out and serving the underprivileged students at OCC.

Sam now lives a life of total surrender because he left some things in the past and now he's freed up to live a life that I could put God first in every area of my life.

What I want you to recognize is there's some things that we all need to leave in the water.

And if I can be honest with you, I don't know what the it is that Sam left in the water, but what I do know is that he came up in the newness of life.

What I do know is that he came up with a new level of freedom, with a new level of tenacity, with a new focus.

What baptism does is it makes sure that our salvation isn't fire insurance for the future, it's fire for living for now.

And what the Holy Spirit is telling us right now, that all of us have something that we need to leave in the water.

What is it that you need to leave in the water?

Galatians chapter 2 says this my old self has been crucified with Christ.

Galatians 2 · chapter mention

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

So I live in this earthly body by trusting the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Paul is referring to baptism.

Paul continues this thought in Colossians chapter number two, verse number 12.

For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized, and with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted in the mighty power of God who raised Christ from the dead.

Baptism is about us participating in this ancient biblical pattern of through the water on the other side, there is deliverance, there is healing, there is freedom, there is new creation.

Baptism, it points back to the work of God and forward to the life of faith.

So my question for us, family, is this have you been baptized?

Maybe you did when you were young, maybe you did at a different season.

Maybe you haven't.

If you haven't, why not?

If you have, have you left everything in the water?

Are there things that you need to leave in the water?

Today, some of us need to get baptized so that we can be identified with Christ.

Some of us need to get baptized because today we know we need to move forward.

Some of us need to get baptized because there's some things that we've been carrying that we need to leave in the water.

Every one of us has a next step.

I've seen people's lives transformed as a result of this sacred biblical pattern that brings us into deliverance on the other side of water.

I've I've seen couples decide to get baptized together so they can leave the baggage of their pain in the past.

I've I've seen I've seen children get baptized with their parents so that they can be reconciled.

I I've seen people who've been baptized before but straight away decide to get rebaptized because they were making a new commitment.

Whatever that looks like for you, maybe you've been carrying some things you need to leave in the water.

Today is the day that you get baptized, and I'm believing that what happened with Sam can happen with you.

You'll come up out of that water, the heavens will open, the Holy Spirit will descend on you, affirm you where you are, and equip you for what's next.

With every head bowed and every eye closed, I want to lead us into a moment of prayer, and then we're just gonna have a moment of quiet reflection, and then we're gonna go out and celebrate baptisms with everyone.

But if you are here with us today and you came prepared to get baptized, you know that that's this message is for you.

I want to invite you to go ahead and slip out of your seat now.

The rest of us are gonna stay here and meditate and reflect for a moment.

But if you came here prepared to get baptized, that this is a moment where you can go in the back and prepare to get changed.

Nate's gonna come up and give us some instructions in just a moment.

But I want all of us to just pause and reflect and ask ourselves, do I need to leave something in the water?

Heavenly Father, I pray that as we recognize that that baptism that identifies us with you, that that baptism moves us forward, and baptism is how we leave things in the water.

That Lord, that if there's some among us that we need to leave some things in the water, we we need to leave some some past burdens in the water, we need to have a fresh start.

God, your word promises us that on the other side of the water there's new life.

God, who among us needs new life?

I pray that your spirit stirs us, it motivates us and leads us to a place of obedience with an understanding that today I'm leaving this in the water and I will not revisit this.

So as we pause and reflect, Holy Spirit, stir us, speak to us, challenge us.

In Jesus' name.

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