Baptism Service 20th October 2024
Oceans
You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep my faith will stand
And I will call upon Your Name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine
Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now
So I will call upon Your Name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine
Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Saviour
I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine
No Longer Slaves
You unravel me
With a melody
You surround me with a song
Of deliverance
From my enemies
'Til all my fears are gone
I'm no longer a slave to fear
I am a child of God
I'm no longer a slave to fear
I am a child of God
From my mother's womb
You have chosen me
Love has called my name
I've been born again
Into Your family
Your blood flows through my veins
I'm no longer a slave to fear
I am a child of God
I'm no longer a slave to fear
I am a child of God
I am surrounded
By the arms of the Father
I am surrounded
By songs of deliverance
We've been be liberated
From our bondage
We're the sons and the daughters
Let us sing our freedom
Ooh, oooh
You split the sea
So I could walk right through it
My fears are drowned in perfect love
You rescued me
So I could stand and say
I am a child of God
What’s the Meaning of Baptism?
1. I’m saying Yes to Jesus!
Baptism is the act of saying your own Yes please! To God’s invitation to belong to Him through Jesus. God doesn’t take over your life by force. He offers to come into your life (and you into his). So your consent – your own ‘Yes’ – is vital.
Revelation 3:20 NIV
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
What is our response to when Jesus knocks on our door?
2. Baptism symbolises death & resurrection
Death to self (as you go underwater) and resurrection (as you rise back up). It represents giving up an old life and taking up new life.
- What am I giving Up?
You’re giving up on living your own way, apart from God (what the Bible calls ‘sin’). This includes trying to earn credit with God in your own way.
- What am I turning away from?
Repenting from sin isn’t promising to live perfectly from now on. It’s saying you want to be separated from sin and joined to God instead of the other way around.
- What am I taking Up?
In baptism you’re also taking up a new life filled with wonderful gifts that God wants you to have:
Peace with Him—security in and access to God, as a dear child to a loving parent, confident that you completely belong; His personal presence and power with, in and through you by the Holy Spirit;
A place in his family—growing in God’s love in loving community; A noble life to live – taking up a cross of your own as you learn to live in Jesus’ way of service and sacrifice, and
A unique role to play in His work to renew the world.
This is to name just a few! Unpacking them will take a lifetime – and more: because in addition to them all is the promise of eternal life with God. So baptism is your response to God’s love. You fully entrust yourself into Jesus’ hands, acknowledging him as your Saviour and your Lord, and receiving the new life he offers.
Life with Jesus is for everyone:
Acts 8:26-36,38-40 NIV
[26] Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road---the desert road---that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” [27] So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, [28] and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. [29] The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” [30] Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
[31] “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. [32] This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. [33] In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” [34] The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” [35] Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
[36] As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [38] And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. [39] When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. [40] Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
1. Salvation is found through Jesus: He died that we might live
The gospel message is very clear and simple. We as humans sinned against God, because of sin we were separated from God’s love, we lived in darkness. But, there was a solution. The bible tells us that despite our sinfulness God loved us so much that he chose to send to this earth Jesus Christ, his one and only Son. Jesus, God’s son, came to earth, fully human, he walked this earth and proclaimed salvation and hope for humanity. The only punishment for sin against God was death, the only way for humanity could pay this debt and to be made right with God was for someone to pay it on our behalf. Jesus paid this debt for us. He became the lamb that was led to be slaughtered. He died on our behalf so that we can have eternal life with him.
2. The Gospel message is for all people: Come as you are
The two people in this story represent God’s big and global heart for the invitation of relationship with him. From the worlds perspective the Ethiopian was rejected and counted as nothing. He did not qualify as worthy to be part of anything or any family. In God’s family, everyone is included, it doesn’t matter where you have come from, or what you may have done in your past, or what others think of you. Jesus offers us all the most wonderful invitation, he says “come follow me, come just as you are”
3. With Jesus there are no barriers to being baptised: Nothing can stand in our way
The world told the Ethiopian man in this story that to be able to qualify for things in life you need to achieve other things first. These might be knowledge you might have achieve through study, where you studied, how much you earn, your family background, your nationality, your social status, what mistakes or good deeds you might have done in the past. Sadly, many of us feel that when it comes to being accepted by Jesus and getting baptised we need to meet the right criteria. Humans set up barriers, in love Jesus breaks them down. Just like the Ethiopian experience the freedom to come and baptised just as he was there and then, so too we believe in Jesus there are no barriers for anyone to be baptised into the family of God.
To find out more about Baptism or South Coast Life Church contact Josh Duncan on 0419 204 671.
Aaron Richards Testimony
What has Jesus done for me in my life, what has made me decide that I want to live with Jesus for the rest of my life??
All throughout my life I have heard stories of Jesus, when I was younger I knew of Jesus but I didn't know Jesus. Starting in primary school I was unsure of what I wanted to believe, I was looking for not a truth, but the truth. After changing scriptures in primary school to baha’i then to an ethics class from the classic christian lectures I knew that I was looking for a path that was morally correct, one that separated the right from wrong. At this point in time someone rising from the dead was impossible, defeating all sin was impossible. After changing to Ethics I had made a decision to believe that Jesus was all a myth, just a really good story book. There was never a second thought in my mind about that.
Throughout my teenage years I have felt lost, lost to a point of doing things I knew were wrong, looking to fill a hole in my heart, looking to be accepted, to be loved, to be worth something. All I wanted, was to be wanted. And after all that time living for the world, I never found that feeling I was looking for. When I turned 16 I started getting really close with my good friend Dino, little did I know that this is how Jesus would enter my life. On April 14th 2023 Dino sent me a message in the middle of the night, “Jesus loves you bro”. I said “Amen” but looking back on it I never really cared, I just wanted him to stop all that nonsense. One and a half months later we were in Kiama and I asked him what the difference between a Presbyterian Church and a Baptist Church was, once he gave me an answer for that I left him un-delivered for four days then proceeded to reply with “don’t care”. Every time he tried to recommend me a powerful testimony to listen to I would either ignore him or completely change the subject. What was wrong with me? Was I a fool? Was I self centred? Or was I just not ready to take responsibility for my actions and hold myself accountable? I didn’t want to be a sinner. Although I was going to church throughout this time it wasn’t for Jesus, it was for the social side of this, I didn't want to submit my heart to the man who has now saved my life.
It wasn’t until the Drastic camp 2023 that I really felt Jesus move through me. On the 3rd of October, the second night of Drastic a man named Matt was preaching. He was speaking on his troubles, addictions and his struggle to belong. After Matt had spoken I could relate to so much of his story, and that was when it all hit. He said “everybody who would like to come and give their life to Jesus, just come and sit on the floor in front of me”, I saw people getting up left and right. But I sat there, on the floor where I had been for the past hour, and I just closed my eyes, after 5 minutes I got up and decided then and there I would give my life to Jesus.
After coming home from Drastic although I gave my life to Jesus I wasn’t seeing immediate change. I was reading my bible every morning, highlighting, writing prayers in my journal, praying over things I wanted to happen, but rarely would I see works. After Drastic I was sure that my heart belonged to Jesus but it just wasn’t happening the way i wanted it to. After two months went by I wasn’t seeing immediate change reading my bible on and off, praying on and off, living for Jesus but at the same time living for the world, not putting my trust where it should have been.
As it closed in on December Christmas time rolled around, and at this time Jesus was always on my mind, for whatever reason I’m unsure, but I was so ready to feel the holy spirit. Every single year my family has two Christmas parties, one for my Dads side, and one for my Mums side. The Christmas party on my Dads side fell on a Saturday, My Mums side fell on a Sunday, but church is on Sunday, and this was no ordinary service, this was Christmas eve service, and because the Christmas service was also on the next day, I was doing two church days in a row. So without a second thought I went to my Mum and said, “sorry if I’m gonna be late to the thing tomorrow Mum, I have to go to church”, this Christmas gathering had been planned a month prior and it happens every year so its not like I wasn’t expecting it. And in no time a storm had formed. A huge argument happened in the heat of the moment and words of all kinds were being thrown across the room in fear and self defence, mind you Mum and I NEVER argue. I was saying things I shouldn’t have, she was saying things she shouldn’t have. It was a mess.
Post argument I decided that I wanted to be rebellious. In this moment that I wanted to be rebellious it was not to get back at the woman who I love so so much and has looked after me my whole life and had loved me and watched me grow from birth, but to show Jesus that my trust was in him, my love was with him more than anything else, it was a power move. I also needed something to put out the fire, so i went to my room and read my bible, in the first minute of opening my bible I read Matthew 5:11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.””
I love Jesus, and I know he loves me. That is why I have decided to give my life to him, that is why today I choose to stand before my family and friends and declare my decision to follow Jesus by being baptised.
Christ is enough for me.
