BAPTISM
 

WATER BAPTISM

 

Buried With Christ. Raised Into New Life.

 

Baptism is more than a ceremony.

 

It is a beautiful, visible declaration of an invisible reality:

 

I belong to Christ.

His death has become my death.

His life has become my life.

 

When we enter the waters of baptism, we are telling a story — the story of Jesus, and the story of our own becoming.

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We go down into the water.

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And we rise again.

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Not because water itself saves us, but because baptism points us towards the One who does.

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1. JESUS WENT INTO THE WATER

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Jesus Himself was baptised.

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He did not enter the Jordan because He needed to repent of sin. He entered because He was identifying Himself with humanity and stepping into the mission His Father had given Him.

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As Jesus came up from the water, the heavens opened and the Spirit descended upon Him.

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And the Father declared His delight in His beloved Son.

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“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

— Matthew 3:17

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Before Jesus performed a miracle, preached a sermon, healed the sick or went to the cross, the Father named Him:

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Beloved.

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That matters.

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Our identity does not begin with what we accomplish for God.

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It begins with being loved by God.

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2. BAPTISM TELLS THE STORY OF JESUS

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Paul describes baptism as being united with Christ in His death and resurrection.

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We are “buried with him through baptism into death”, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too may live a new kind of life.

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— Romans 6:4

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The water becomes a picture.

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Going down:

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Death.

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Coming up:

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Life.

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The old way of living no longer has the final word.

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Something new has begun.

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Baptism therefore isn’t simply about leaving something behind.

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It is about entering something new.

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3. BURIED WITH CHRIST

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The Christian life begins with a letting go.

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We cannot cling forever to the identity, independence, fears and patterns that once defined us and simultaneously embrace the freedom Christ gives.

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Baptism declares:

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The old has gone.

I am not who I was.

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It means we have entered a new story.

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Our deepest identity is no longer determined by our failures, our past, our achievements, our wounds or the opinions of others.

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We are learning to live from a new centre:

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Christ in us.

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4. RAISED INTO NEW LIFE

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The water does not end the story.

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We come back up.

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That is the wonder of baptism.

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Christianity is not ultimately a religion of death.

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It is resurrection life.

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Jesus was not merely crucified.

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He was raised.

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And the life of the risen Christ becomes the life into which we are invited.

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We are not simply saved from something.

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We are brought into something:

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the life of God.

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5. BAPTISM AND OUR IDENTITY

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There is something profoundly powerful about baptism because it gives our faith a physical expression.

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We can say:

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“I believe.”

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But in baptism, we embody that belief.

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We enter the water.

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We surrender.

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We are immersed.

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And we rise.

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It becomes a public declaration that our lives belong to Jesus.

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Not:

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“Look how good I am.”

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But:

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“Look who I belong to.”

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6. BAPTISM IS NOT A PERFORMANCE

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Baptism is not something we do to make God love us.

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God’s love comes first.

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Always.

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We don’t climb our way towards Him through religious achievement.

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He has already come towards us in Christ.

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Baptism is therefore not an attempt to earn salvation.

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It is a response to grace.

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A response to love.

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A response to the invitation of Jesus:

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Come, follow me.

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7. WHAT ABOUT SALVATION?

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Christ alone is our salvation.

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We are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

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Yet Scripture also treats baptism with profound seriousness.

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Jesus commanded His followers to baptise.

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The early church baptised those who responded to the gospel.

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And the New Testament repeatedly connects baptism with entering into the life of Christ.

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So we should neither reduce baptism to an empty ritual nor turn it into a formula.

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It is a sign of grace.

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A response of faith.

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A public identification with Jesus.

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And a beautiful picture of our participation in His death and resurrection.

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8. BAPTISED INTO CHRIST

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Paul speaks of being “baptised into Christ Jesus.”

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This is deeper than simply joining a church.

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Baptism points towards union.

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We are being drawn into Christ’s story.

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His death.

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His resurrection.

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His life.

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His people.

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His mission.

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The Christian faith is not simply knowing facts about Jesus.

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It is being invited to know Him.

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And to live from the life we have received in Him.

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9. WATER AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

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The New Testament speaks of both water baptism and the work of the Holy Spirit.

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They should not be confused, but neither should they be separated into competing ideas.

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Water gives us a visible picture.

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The Spirit gives us living reality.

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The Spirit is the One who makes Christ present to us, transforms us from within and teaches us to live as beloved children of God.

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Baptism in water points outward.

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The Spirit works inward.

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And both direct us towards the same beautiful reality:

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Life in Christ.

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10. WHY DID JESUS TELL US TO BAPTISE?

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After His resurrection, Jesus gave His followers a commission:

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“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them…”

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— Matthew 28:19

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Baptism belongs within the journey of discipleship.

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It is not the finish line.

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It is a beginning.

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We are baptised into a life of following Jesus, learning His way, becoming like Him and participating in His love for the world.

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The water is a doorway.

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Beyond it lies a lifetime of becoming.

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11. A PUBLIC DECLARATION

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In the earliest Christian communities, baptism was a powerful declaration of belonging.

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A person was saying:

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Jesus is Lord.

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I have chosen His way.

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I belong to Him.

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I am part of His people.

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Today, baptism can still carry that beautiful sense of declaration.

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As a willingness to say:

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“This is the direction of my life.”

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12. WHAT ABOUT INFANT BAPTISM?

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Christians have understood baptism in different ways throughout history.

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Some traditions baptise infants, seeing baptism as a sign of God’s covenant, grace and welcome into the community of faith.

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Others practise believer’s baptism, believing that baptism should follow a personal response of faith and discipleship.

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We don’t need to turn this difference into division.

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What matters is that we approach the subject with humility, honouring the sincere convictions of Christians who love Jesus and seek to follow Scripture.

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The water was never meant to become a weapon between God’s children.

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Christ is bigger than our arguments about baptism.

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13. BAPTISM IS ABOUT BELONGING

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At its heart, baptism speaks the language of belonging.

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We belong to Christ.

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We belong to His people.

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We belong within the great story of redemption that runs through Scripture and reaches its centre in Jesus.

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And beneath all of this is an even deeper truth:

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We belong to God.

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Before baptism says anything about what we have done for Him, it reminds us of what He has done for us.

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14. THE WATER AND THE NEW CREATION

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There is something wonderfully symbolic about water throughout Scripture.

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Creation begins with waters.

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Israel passes through the waters.

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The Jordan becomes a threshold into a new beginning.

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Jesus enters the waters.

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And Christian baptism carries that same language of passing through:

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from death to life.

from old to new.

from separation to belonging.

from self-rule to surrender.

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Baptism becomes a small enactment of the great gospel story.

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Jesus died.

Jesus was buried.

Jesus rose.

And in Him, new life is possible.

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COME INTO THE WATER

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Perhaps baptism is not primarily asking:

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“Am I good enough?”

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Perhaps it is asking:

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“Am I willing to follow?”

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Not:

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“Have I got everything figured out?”

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But:

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“Am I willing to trust Jesus with my life?”

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The waters do not demand perfection.

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They invite surrender.

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You go down carrying your story.

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Your failures.

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Your questions.

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Your fears.

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Your old identities.

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And you rise into a story that is bigger than all of them.

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A story of grace.

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A story of belonging.

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A story of resurrection.

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A story that began long before you knew the name of Jesus.

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And a story in which you are now invited to live.

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Buried with Christ.

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Raised with Christ.

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Alive in Christ.

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A FINAL INVITATION

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If you have never been baptised, perhaps take some time to ask God what this step means for you.

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Talk with trusted followers of Jesus.

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Ask questions.

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Read the Scriptures.

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There is no need for fear or religious pressure.

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Baptism is not about performing for God.

 

It is about responding to the One who has already come looking for you.

 

And when the time comes to enter the water, perhaps you will hear beneath the sound of it the same beautiful truth spoken over Jesus:

 

You are beloved.

 

And from that place of belovedness,

 

rise.