Baptism

Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus said, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world.

Tomorrow morning we will get up early and go to the Boy's Ranch where we presently have forty eight boys who are incarcerated. We will be having a baptismal service for the boys who have accepted Christ as their Savior and who want to make an outward expression of an inward change by being baptized. The service will take place outside of the facility in a portable baptistry underneath the canopy.

The teaching will be on the meaning of baptism. Romans 6:3 says, Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we should walk in the newness of life.

We will explain when they are immersed under the water it is symbolic of being buried with Christ, when they are raised up out of the water, it is symbolic of being raised up in the newness of life, and when they walk out of the water, it is symbolic of leaving the old life behind and walking with Christ.

We will give each young man the opportunity to speak before he is baptized. He will be able to share his testimony and why he has chosen to be baptized, we will pray with each one of them and as they are being baptized we will take pictures to share with their families.

I have seen young men in the past whose parents have come and wept during the entire service. Some of the young men have written down all of the things in their lives they want to change or the things they want to confess before Christ and they take it into the water as a symbol of burying the old life they lived. It has been a very sobering experience for all of us. I will post some pictures so I can share with all of you some of the joy we will experience as we see these young men openly confess their confession of faith and repentance through baptism.