Baptism Sunday | There's Something In The Water

I'm excited about this message today because I really sat down with the Lord on this one.

I said, Lord, I've preached a lot of messages on baptism.

I said, but can I make a confession, Church?

Can I make a confession?

There's so much about baptism I don't understand.

There's so much I don't understand.

How is it that you can get in this tank and you can get baptized and it does something in you?

And so I sat down with a hard task this week.

I said, Lord, I'm ready to preach something I've never preached before because I just feel like there are people in the room who need to hear something they've never heard before.

And so our heart and our burden for you this morning is this that you would understand more about baptism.

It's not just a ritual, it's not just a tradition, it's not something we just get all hype about for no reason.

We really believe the title of today's message is There's Something in the Water.

Y'all give me a hard time.

I share my whole life with you.

I feel like it's a little bit of a one-sided relationship.

And so when we're in the grocery store, instead of you asking me questions, I'm gonna start asking you questions.

Tell me all your parenting fails.

Tell me lately, because I shared the dog, the story about giving away my dog, you guys have been on me so hard.

I'm telling, just give, cut me some grace.

This is church.

But I I don't need um I don't need a pet dog because I have a lot bigger pets in my backyard to deal with.

Like this one.

Welcome to Magnolia, Texas.

That's not in Florida.

Some of y'all are like, your your eyes are no way.

That's not AI, just so you know.

Like I make some paintings with AI.

This is not a eye.

This is a friendly neighborhood alligator that uh roams the streets at night in my neighborhood uh in Magnolia West.

So if you live there, you you know I'm talking.

We have a they call it a pond, it's more like a retention ditch, you know what I'm saying?

And uh they they post signs though, people, don't you know?

You can't sue them because there's a sign.

Did you read the sign?

The sign says swim at your own risk.

What they meant to say is there's something in the water.

Don't get in.

I I'm new to this.

I grew up in the Midwest, I grew up in Kansas City, and um, and so I'm new to this whole swimming with alligators thing.

You know, I'm really having to adjust.

There are alligators in Lake Conroe, there are alligators in Lake Livingston, and so every time I go swimming, I have this thought when I get in the water.

There's something else in here, too.

My four-year-old, my five-year-old is now, I every time I think, I'm thinking, like, he looks like a chicken to them, you know.

Like I'm I'm conscious as a dad that there's something else in the water.

It changes the way that I think about it.

I there was a video several years back.

I lived in Conroe, and and uh down 105, uh you can pass the lake, and on Sunday afternoons, going down 105, there's a big uh community park, city park out there on the lake, and there'd be a church that would come out there in the robes.

Anybody get baptized in the robes?

Come on, where are you at?

That's how we know you're going to heaven.

Come on.

I was there.

I had my robe, and but uh anyway, we were driving by and uh we see them baptizing all the time.

Well, one day there was a video going around on Facebook, and in this video it showed them all getting baptized.

And about 50 feet behind them, somebody standing on the bridge filming, and about 50 feet behind all these people getting baptized is an alligator swimming down the cove on top of the water.

How many of y'all are glad they were saved already?

We're getting baptized today, thank God, for pools and hot tubs, you know?

Uh we're not going to the lake, but here's what I really believe: there's something in the water.

That when you get baptized, God is doing something more than just a ritual or a tradition.

God is doing something more in you than just what we can see on the surface.

And today my heart is how do we understand a little bit more about what happens in that water?

It reminds me a lot of this fancy water people buy.

I say people because I don't buy it.

Actually, I did buy this one one time.

Smart water?

Anybody just just praying and hoping?

Those are the smart people in the room, everybody.

Uh you know, I I grew up, I grew up on garden hose water.

Anybody else?

Garden hose water.

I came out just fine.

I found my kids the other day drinking water bottles out of the fridge, and I said, uh-uh-uh-uh-uh, not for you.

And uh, all those memories of your parents you come back to you, you know, your dad saying, Stop wasting my money, drink that whole water bottle.

And then you grow up as an adult and you realize you can buy a 48-pack of those for like three bucks.

You know, Dad, you got on to me all those years for wasting three cents in that water bottle, you know.

Here's the thing about this fancy bougie water, though.

It offers you or it promises you that there's something in the water, doesn't it?

Right here, this one has perfectly balanced.

I'm sure there's not one imperfection in this water.

Electrolytes and minerals to make your life better.

Vitamin water.

Anybody did not take their vitamins today?

Here you go.

This will cover all your vitamin needs.

How about this one?

From the islands of Fiji.

All the we know this ain't magnolia water.

Look how clean it is.

They got this all the way.

Listen, every time somebody buys one of these, I was I was amazed last night in HEB at how many selections there are.

Every time somebody buys one of these, you know what they're doing?

They're trusting in the promise of the water that it actually supplies them with something that they cannot even see.

That every time we take a drink of water like this, we are believing in their promise.

We're trusting that that water will do in us what they say it will do in us.

And I just wonder this morning if we can do that over a$7 bottle of water, how much more could we not do that in this water right here?

That there is actually a promise given to you in the waters of baptism.

And while you look at this water and think it's no different than the water you saw in the bathtub, the reality is this: that there's a promise in this water that if you trust its promise, that's when it begins to manifest in your life.

That's when you get to experience the effects and the impact, but not until you get in it.

Not until you take that step of baptism.

I want to paint this story to you in scripture today.

I'm not gonna quote an exact Bible story.

I'm gonna give you a lot of Bible stories today, so I hope you don't have lunch reservations, somebody.

I want to share with you these encounters in the Bible that people had with water.

Because here's what I began to realize this week as I was reading in scripture that over and over and over again, God has been in the pattern or the habit of using water in the Bible to enact some incredible supernatural work of God.

That when you see water in the Bible, that oftentimes it is followed by the supernatural hand of God's power on people's lives.

Miracles happening, lives being changed, impossible situations becoming possible on the other side of water.

We start in Genesis chapter 6.

Genesis 6 · chapter mention

Anybody know a guy named Noah?

Noah got a vision from the Lord, a word from the Lord.

He lived in a day and age where the Bible says that man and the inclination of man's heart knew only evil.

That literally the Bible says, and I'm gonna leave this to another pastor to preach, I'll invite him in sometimes, but it literally says this that God regretted that he made man.

The world had gotten so messed up, so discouraging, so evil that literally God is sending a flood on the earth.

And while you may not understand the purpose behind that water and why God would do such a thing, I find a glimmer of hope because God looks at Noah and he instructs Noah.

Noah, if in faith you will build a boat, I will float you on top of the water.

And Noah goes, when nobody else could see the water coming, Noah goes and he builds a boat, what?

In faith.

In a promise of water that was to come, that at the moment, what?

He could not see.

He couldn't see it, and yet his heart had an inclination to lean into what God was going to do in the water, and by the result of Noah having the faith to build a boat, it says that his family floated on top of the flood.

And at the end of the story, here's what we realize: that through the flood, God was taking the old world and making a new world.

But the only way to get from the old to the new was for Noah to have enough faith in the promise of God in the midst of the water to build a boat that would float on it.

Baptism today is a sign of that for you.

It's a step of faith where you're saying, Lord, I want to go from the old to the new.

And I have the faith today not to go build a boat, but to build my life around the water of God.

Noah encountered this, and over and over we'll see people in scripture go through the water just like Noah is what the Bible will call a type that God did it once and he's gonna have a pattern, he's gonna do it again.

We see it again in Scripture with a guy named Moses.

If you heard of the story of Moses, you've heard of the story of Pharaoh.

I'm not gonna sing the song to you.

I'm not a singer.

Pharaoh, let my people go.

He says, over and over, God's Israelite Hebrew people, they're in slavery for over 400 years.

There's a couple of million of them, and they're all tied up in slavery, and they're praying a prayer that maybe you've prayed before.

God, would you deliver me out of this situation?

God, would you get me out of this mess?

God, would you help me overcome the things that are holding me down and holding me back?

And they began to pray this prayer.

And do you know what the Lord does?

He takes them to the water.

Pharaoh lets them go.

They walk outside the city, they're standing up against the Red Sea, and Pharaoh changes his mind.

Pharaoh gets his chariots and his horses and all of his soldiers and all of his men when they realize what they are losing control of and they head out of town to meet them, and now the Israelites are wedged up against the Red Sea.

Israelites are staring at the water like we're staring at it today, saying there's gotta be a way through.

God, did you really bring us out here just to die right here?

And they're at the moment of truth for them.

They are at the point of death.

Death is knocking on their door, and God instructs Moses the same way he instructs Noah.

He says, Moses, in faith, I want you to believe in a promise in the water that you cannot see.

And he tells Moses, take your staff and put it out over the water.

And when Moses in faith has the faith to step out into a promise he could not see, the Bible says that God parted the Red Sea.

And the Israelites, they passed through on dry ground, the waters on both sides of them.

What's up, Nemo?

How you doing?

They're making their way through the water.

When they get to this other side, the water falls in on the Egyptians, and their enemy is defeated, and they go from slavery to freedom.

But the only way, the only way they could experience what it was that God wanted to do in them was through faith in a promise through the water.

Then they're out in the wilderness, and I know now y'all have kids that complain, right?

Y'all, y'all blessed, you go to the Ark Church in Magnolia, Texas.

The Spirit of God is falling on your house, your kids never complain.

Am I right?

Moses has a couple million kids in the wilderness, and they're all griping and complaining.

Are we there yet?

Are we there yet?

Are we there yet?

And they camp out in this town and there is no water.

And they're in this position where life and death are right before their very eyes, and they begin asking God to help them.

And Moses looks at God.

He said, You gave me these.

It's a lot like your prayers.

God, you gave me these kids.

I didn't choose this.

You chose it, God.

Now what are you gonna help me do?

And God says, Moses, I want you to take your staff in faith.

Because there's a promise in the water that you cannot see.

And God tells Moses, take a staff and strike the rock, and Moses strikes the rock.

And when he strikes the rock, what comes out?

Water.

Over and over in Scripture, we see God showing up through powerful water.

There's something in the water.

They went from thirsty to satisfied.

Why?

Because they had a faith that there was something in the water that they could not see with their very own eyes.

I wonder if some of you are here in the room today and you're like, I don't know if I've ever really understood baptism.

Maybe I did it, somebody had me baptized when I was a baby, but it wasn't really my decision, and I'm just wondering what's the significance and what's the point.

Well, maybe for you you're here today and your life needs to go from old to new.

Maybe you're here today and you've been caught up in addiction or slavery of your own form of any kind to sin or things in your life, and you're wondering if there's freedom any way possible in your life, or maybe for you, your soul is still thirsty, and you're wondering if God could strike the rock for you.

I want to tell you it's only through the water.

God has been working through the water over and over again.

They wander around the wilderness, a whole generation dies, and they get ready to go into the promised land.

This is a place they dreamed of.

Anybody have a dream for your life?

Anyone have a vision of what God wants to do in you, in your family, in your future, in your kids?

And they got a dream of the promise of God, but they're this close.

And when they get this close, they realize the Jordan River is the only thing standing between me and the promise of God.

And that Jordan River is no small creek, it is a big, wide, in-flood stage river.

And they're thinking the only way to the promise is to go through the water.

So yet again, God speaks.

I want you to tell the priests to go down and put their feet in the water.

And when they put their feet in the water, it's not like last time.

There's no staff involved.

The ark goes out in the middle, the priests are standing in the middle of the water, and it was not until their feet were in the water that the water began to dam up on one side.

Which means this.

You better be the first guy in line.

This is not at all parted.

This is it is damming up higher and higher and higher.

The last guy, I think, is the one who saw the miracle.

Because the last guy watched all these people cross through the water and is looking up the tallest water any of them sees.

Why?

Because the water continued to heap up.

In faith, there's a promise in the water, and you can't see it.

And they stepped into the promised land, and now the very thing they couldn't see before, they see now.

The move of God on their life.

Here's what I'm trying to communicate to you this morning.

Over and over and over through Scripture, God has been giving the invitation of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords for people who will get in the water.

This isn't new.

Yes, it's an old tradition, but God is doing something new today in the water that we don't need, we don't need a Red Sea.

We don't need a rock, we don't need Moses, and we don't need Noah.

What changed?

You turn the pages of your scripture and you get to the New Testament, and one of the very first stories is a story about you guessed it?

Water.

Jesus walks up to a woman, she's sitting by a well.

This woman is in the middle of the day all alone.

Why?

Because she was an outcast in her community.

There was just some things in her life that had gone wrong, some things that didn't go according to plan.

I know it's not like any of your lives, they're all perfect and got it all figured out.

She's sitting at the well wondering.

She's sitting at the well wondering, can God still do something in her?

And about that moment in time, Jesus walks up to the well and asks her for some water, and they have a conversation and they swap stories.

In the midst of swapping the stories, Jesus looks at her and he says in John chapter 4, he says, I don't know why it is that, you know, you're giving me water.

John 4 · chapter mention

If it was me, I'd be asking me, Jesus, for some water.

He said, because the water that I'm gonna give is not like the water out of this well.

The water that I'm gonna give, he says, is living water that wells up in you, not like the dam of the Jordan, but wells up in you to eternal life.

Not just to step into a good land flowing with milk and honey, but to step into an eternity.

That the living water of God is no longer on the outside in a river and no longer on the outside in a rock, but Jesus is introducing the idea that there's something in the water, and he's not talking about the pond, and he's not talking about the flood, he's talking about the water that's about to flow in you.

And he begins to paint this picture to the woman at the well, and here's what happens for her she goes from empty to satisfied.

She goes from from broken to whole.

She goes from this place of God, are you still thinking about me to God's water showing up for her.

And then the very next chapter, John chapter five, where are we again?

At the water.

You know, in Sunday school you used to just answer Jesus.

Today you can just answer water.

It's in the water.

And in John chapter 5, we read a fascinating story of a man who is an invalid for 38 years.

John 5 · chapter mention

And he's laying by the pool of Bethesda, a pool a little bit like the water sitting in front of us today, and he's laying here by the water.

And the reason he's laying by the water is because a lot of hurting and sick and disabled people are laying by the water.

Why?

Because they believed that once a year the angel would come and stir the waters.

And when the angel would stir the waters, they believed that if they were the first one in, they were the blessed one that day.

That if they could be the first one into those waters, then something supernatural would happen in them and they would be healed.

And the invalid is laying by the pool, and he's staring at these waters like we are today, and he's saying, God, please tell me there's something in those waters for me.

And Jesus steps up on the scene, and Jesus looks at him and says, Do you want to be made well?

And his first response is, Yeah, but nobody will put me in the water.

His first response is, It's not happening for me.

Maybe them, but not me.

Do you see my condition?

Do you see my situation?

Do you see the hurt?

Do you see the pain?

Do you see what I've been through?

Do you see how many people have overlooked me to get to where they want to go?

And Jesus says, then pick up your bed and walk to the water if you want to.

That would sound like a cruel statement to an invalid, except for the fact that in that moment Jesus supernaturally healed him.

And in this moment, here's what happened: Jesus just said to this man, You don't need what's in that pool, you need me.

The power of the water has never been in the pool.

The power of the water has always been in the God who hovers over the water.

When he steps up to this pool to a man is hurting and he heals him, here's what he's saying.

For all of human history, Jesus has been telling people just get in the water.

Put your feet in, cross through the Red Sea, do whatever.

Just get in the water.

And it's not because Jesus believes there's something in the water, it's because Jesus knows he's already in the water.

And in Genesis chapter 1, we read all we ever need.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

I skipped a story.

Genesis chapter 1, the very first verse of the Bible, here's what it says.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

In the beginning, the Spirit of God did what?

Hovered over the face of the water.

What's it saying?

It's saying, the only way in the water is through the Spirit of God.

There's not something in the water, there is a Spirit of God that would come to you that as you step today over this ledge into the water, you've already gone through Him to even get to the water.

The water's the aftermath.

The water's the part that you wake up and realize when you come out, my old life doesn't have to be my life anymore.

I had a guy ask me first service.

He said, Man, I woke up this morning, I feel like there's some things wrong in my life.

And I he said, he said, I just think maybe I shouldn't get baptized today because I gotta fix this stuff and get it right.

And I said, young man, I said, don't you ever let the enemy tell you or keep you from getting in the water.

Because he did not look at Noah.

He didn't look at Noah and say, Hey, Noah, you've lived with all these evil people.

Noah, you you don't have it perfect.

You shouldn't build a boat.

You're not gonna float on the water.

It was never up to Noah's ability, it was never up to Noah's perfection.

He looked at the people in the wilderness.

He didn't say, When you get your life all cleaned up, then go take a bath.

He's looking at these.

People, he's saying, I'm gonna take you just as you are because here's what he already knows.

He already knows that the second you step over the waters, you step right through him into the water.

That then when you come up, there is no spiritual power in this water today.

We got it from the well out back.

In fact, we probably paid less for that water today than I did for the water for my sermon illustration.

This this water, this idea, I don't know what background you grew up in, but listen, this water in and of itself is not holy.

It's just water.

But the God who rests over it, he's the one who's holy.

The God who meets you in it, he's the one that has power.

When you step in today to be baptized, here's what you are doing.

The word baptism means to immerse.

That's why we do it in water.

It's the idea of immersion, that you're fully submerged in the water.

And what happens when you get baptized is you are immersing yourself in Him.

But I want to propose something to you today.

I want to teach you something about baptism that maybe you didn't know.

Everybody getting baptized today by water, you're doing so because you've already made the decision to say yes to Jesus.

And because you've made the decision to say yes to Jesus, here's what you don't know: you've already been baptized.

Not by water.

The Holy Spirit, point number one is this, all the way, just to get to this.

You ready?

You still with me?

Point number one is this the Holy Spirit baptizes you into Jesus.

The Holy Spirit baptizes you into Jesus.

This is what we would call salvation.

Romans chapter 6 says it this way in verse 4, in verse 3.

Romans 6 · chapter mention

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 13.

1 Corinthians 12:13

For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink from one spirit.

How is this even possible?

I want to show you.

You had Moses, you had Noah, you had Moses again with the rock, you had the Joshua crossing over into the Jordan, you have the woman at the well, you have the man at the pool of Bethesda.

How is this even possible that you would be baptized and immersed in Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit?

One of the most powerful scriptures I've read of late.

It comes right here, that Jesus hanging on the cross, here's what it says of him.

Go back to the scripture right here in John chapter 19.

John 19 · chapter mention

It says this but one of the soldiers pierced Jesus after he had died on the cross in his side with the spear, and at once there came out blood and Jesus is hanging on a cross.

He's died, he has not risen yet.

And a soldier takes a spear, pierces it in his side, and what comes out?

Blood and water.

Your life is covered by the blood of Jesus and the water of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit baptizes you into Jesus, that you would be made one with Him.

There's not something in the water, there's someone in the water.

And when you get in the water, here's what happens: He claims you.

It's not the other way around.

It's not baptism today is not a sign of, yeah, I follow Jesus and I'm here to identify myself with Jesus.

Baptism in the water today is Jesus' way of identifying you with him.

There's a big difference because the other day, the other day, my my my brother-in-law, he worked for this famous group of guys, kids, some of you all will know them.

They're called Dude Perfect.

They got famous for doing these trick shots in a backyard in college, and they go off in YouTube sensation, all this stuff, and they go on tour every summer.

And so when they came to Houston at the Toyota Center, they invited us to come meet the dudes and come backstage and see all the things that were going on.

And so we drove down and I drove past every$50 lot and$10, all the parking lots.

I'm feeling like a king, somebody.

Because I know I'm about to go backstage and uh drink some of this fancy water just like this, you know?

And I pull up to the gate and I said, I'm with the dudes.

And the guy looked at me and he just kind of chuckled.

Like, yeah, right, get on back there.

Get on out of here, you know?

And I was like, Well, we have VIP passes, and he goes, That's fine, but you don't get to park back here.

You you can't come back in this way in the back door.

And I said, Man, what are we gonna do?

So we called my brother-in-law.

And when my brother-in-law came out, he said, What?

These guys are with me.

And I looked at that security guard and I walked right on by.

It's like, come on, once-in-a-lifetime treatment.

And now what am I doing?

I am now backstage eating their food, enjoying the benefits and the perks and privileges that us low life never get like that.

And I am receiving the benefit of what?

Being with someone else.

My name wasn't on the list.

There was nothing about me that was getting us past that gate.

But what?

But his identifying with me, pulling me in.

This is exactly what Jesus does.

That when you are baptized, here's what is happening.

Jesus is saying, I'm identifying your life, I'm incorporating your life, I'm baptizing you into me.

I'm immersing you in my life.

Which means this.

It doesn't mean that just Jesus died.

It means that now because you're identified with him and incorporated in him, here's what it means: it means that now you have died too.

With him.

It means that Jesus raised from the dead, and so here's what it literally means.

Because he raised from the dead, now you raised from the dead.

It's incorporating you with him.

It means that now because he lives, you now get to live.

So baptism is not this experience you just come say, hey, everybody's doing it at church, I'm gonna register, it's gonna be fun, it's gonna have a good old time, and maybe I'll get some free mixing of food from my parents after church.

You know, baptism is a spiritual experience where you are being identified with him in baptism.

Number two is this the disciple baptizes in water.

So the first thing is this if you're gonna get baptized today, the first thing you have to do is make the decision I surrender my life over to Jesus.

There's nothing I can do, there's no pool I could jump in that would clean my life up.

There's nothing I could do of my own power in my own strength.

There's nothing about that water, but I'm trusting in the water of Jesus Christ to save me from my sin and deliver me into eternity.

I want the living water.

That's a decision that you make.

The decision that follows after that is the decision to be water baptized.

This is in Matthew chapter 28.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

Jesus' command is this.

He tells the early church before they're even formed.

He's saying, Hey, listen, once I go, I'm raised from the dead.

Once I go, here's what I want you to do.

I want you to go and baptize disciples of all nations, making them, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Getting water baptized is an obedient step to the command of Jesus.

This isn't something you do because you feel like it today.

This isn't something you do because you think it seems like a good idea.

This isn't a last ditch effort to all your problems.

This isn't a thing you just wait on until somebody forces you in the water.

This is a step that you make that says, I want to be baptized in water because I know who I'm with.

I'm publicly declaring, Jesus has claimed me and I'm with him.

And if God asked Noah, listen, if God asked Noah to build a boat and then the floods came and Noah floated on top, how much more if you get in the water do you think God is going to be with you?

If God told the people of Israel, when people had swords and horses and chariots at their backside, hey, if you just step out into the water, I'll go with you and I'll protect you.

How much more does this water today not deliver you and save you from everything you're going through?

Listen, it's these moments in our life.

If he told the priests, put your feet out in the water, and they did, because listen, God always delivers on his promises.

You may not be able to see the promise in the water, you may not be able to understand it, but I all I need to understand is every time God makes a promise, he always fulfills it.

So all I have to do, God, is get my feet wet, and the Lord says, Yeah, because I'll take care of the rest.

Your step in faith delivers the promise of God to your doorstep.

And now, listen to me, the thing you used to maybe not be able to see, now you can see it.

Why?

Because it's not something you see with your eyes, it's something you live with your life.

The number of people I've met, they say, I got baptized and it changed everything.

I can't convince you of that.

The only thing that can convince you of that is for you to get your feet wet.

There's no story that I could tell that could compel you that that really is the thing.

The greatest story to tell is your own.

Your own experience and encounter of staring at the water and saying, That looks like any other water, but I'm gonna choose to believe in faith that there's something in there today for me.

And if he could heal the man at the pool of Bethesda without even dunking him, what could he do in you today as you step over the line, as you cross over?

Because in Genesis chapter 1, it says that the Spirit of God hovers over the face of the water.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

And today, stop looking at the water.

Because today what I want you to see is what's on top of the water.

You're like, but I can't see it, I know.

But we choose to believe in faith that the same God of Genesis 1 is the same God of today.

And if his spirit was over the waters before the world ever even began, how much more so right now?

And when you cross over that line, here's what it does: you've now been baptized in his spirit into the water.

That's why the third one today is this that once you surrender your life to Jesus, you're water baptized, there's another baptism, it's called the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

And here's what Jesus says in Mark chapter 1, verse 8 He says, There's gonna be one coming, his name is Jesus.

Mark 1:8

He doesn't just baptize with water, but he baptizes with the fire, the Son of the Holy Spirit.

Baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

Here's what he says.

So here's what I want you to believe today that when you get baptized, when you walk out, you're different.

What happens?

You go home to your family and you look the same.

I'm sorry, the water today is not gonna make you glow up.

Okay, you may not look any different on the outside, but there's something in the water on the inside, which means this.

Dads, when you do this, it's a demonstration of faith to your family.

And your family changes.

Moms, it means this that for all the days in your life where you feel like you're empty and poured out and you don't have anything left to give.

It means that through your faith and the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of you, you have more to give than you think you do.

When the water in the river of God flows out of your life, it means this that the same water that God has been using for all of human history is the same water he wants to use in you today.

That when you go to work, the people you don't like, the Holy Spirit pours out of you, and all of a sudden you're a blessing to the people you don't like.

You can't explain that to me other than the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of you.

It means you become a bold witness, it means you give generously, it means you live your life for the sake of other people, it means you become a servant, it means you start doing the impossible things.

There was not one story in the Old Testament where any of those guys stepped on something and said, This is possible for me to do in my own strength.

Every single one of them walked up to an impossible situation that God made possible.

Why?

By the power of the same Holy Spirit.

And that Holy Spirit is available to you today.

Uh it's a lot like this.

You think about um as you make this decision, uh as I as I think about this, it's like the idea that one little decision can change the rest of your life.

And I know that can be an overplayed situation, but I love what it says in Acts chapter 22.

Acts 22 · chapter mention

Why do you wait?

Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.

It's the idea of the continental divide.

At the continental divide, water and rain can flow and fall just inches apart.

But all of you know, because you're smarter than a second grader, right?

That water ends up in two different oceans, worlds apart.

That's the decision of baptism that you're making today.

Today you're making the decision, I'm going to get in the water.

And because I'm just making a couple-inch decision, my whole life has a totally different trajectory.

I made this decision when I was nine.

My wife made this decision after we had just gotten married.

She made the decision.

She said, I realized something.

I said, What?

She said, I realized that I got baptized before I ever really even knew Jesus.

And I said, Then you should get baptized.

She said, Well, what do you think people will think?

We work at a church and we lead all these youth and all these.

She said, It doesn't matter what people think.

And she got in that tank.

And I want to tell you what, the ministry of God is on her life.

And I'm thankful for that.

But it's not just for me, and it's not just for her, it's for you.

So the invitation today is for you.

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes?

Father, we're here today to celebrate the water.