GOOD MORNING BELOVED CHURCH!
Today TUESDAY, March 19th, 2019.
Today is the 78th Day of 2019.
There are 287 days left in 2019 and only 281 days left until CHRISTMAS!
It’s TUESDAY, but SUNDAY is coming!
AS THE LORD ALLOWS, this coming Sunday, 3/24, I will begin a 5-Sermon Series called, “Countdown to Calvary” since we are five weeks away from Easter!
These sermons will be from (and part of my study of) the Gospel of John, but instead of following the biblical order, I will move ahead to Chapter 18-21 as we look at the biblical record of the events of what Christians call “Holy Week” or “Passion Week.” Over these coming 5 weeks, I will move around in John as we cover the specific events surrounding the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
The first Sermon – this coming Sunday – will cover the betrayal, arrest, and trial of Jesus!
After Easter, I will go back and cover the parts of John’s Gospel over which I am moving for the next five weeks…
WEDNESDAYS @ 6:30 – 8pm: “IGNITE!” Children’s Ministry!
THURSDAYS @ 6 – 7:30pm: “Thursday Night Theology”
TODAY IS COOPER SHOEMAKER’S BIRTHDAY!
ON THIS DAY IN 1730, Phillip Doddridge was ordained. He would become a faithful and godly Pastor whose writings would influence William Wilberforce and others to accept Christ.
(christianhistoryinstitute.org)
BORN ON THIS DAY:
1589, William Bradford, Puritan Pastor and Governor of Plymouth Colony for 30 years. Vevalee Smith was a very proud descendant of this man.
1813: Missionary Explorer David Livingstone
1848: Wyatt Erp, frontier lawman
1860: William Jennings Bryan, world famous orator and three-time Presidential Candidate.
1883: Army Four-Star General “Vinegar” Joe Stillwell, Hero of WW2.
(onthisday.com)
DIED ON THIS DAY:
1711: Thomas Ken, faithful pastor who authored the words of the “Doxology.”
(christianhistoryinstitute.org)
1930: Arthur Balfour, former Prime Minister of England and author of the Balfour Declaration which gave the Jews the right to return to and settle Israel following WW1.
2008: Arthur C. Clark, author of “2001: A Space Odyssey” and other sci-fi books.
(onthisday.com)
DEVOTION FOR TODAY – Why do Baptists insist that immersion is the only legitimate method of baptism?
Answer, “Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.” (Baptist Faith and Message 2000)
First, the very word translated “baptize” is “bapto” which means to “dip” or “to make fully wet” or “whelm over” which we say today as “overwhelm.”
Second, immersion is the only model seen in the New Testament…
Mark 1:9-10
9 “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.”
John 3:22-23
22 “After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing.
23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized.”
If John the Baptist was not immersing people, why would he need to go to a place where “water was plentiful?”
Acts 8:38-39
38 “And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.”
Finally, only immersion fulfills the theological picture portrayed in baptism, that is of being “buried” and “raised” with Christ!
Romans 6:3-4
3 “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
THEOLOGICAL NOTE: Baptism in water does not save, but God commands every believer be baptized!
Acts 2:38
“And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
If you have professed faith in Christ but you have not submitted to baptism after you were saved, you are (either intentionally or unintentionally) living in disobedience to this clear command of God.
Luke 6:46
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPJEJtUTe7E
1st Corinthians 16:13
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”
Soli Deo Gloria!
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