Baptism

Going Public at Highpoint

Acts 8:35-38 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. 36As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 37And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” 38And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

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Questions on Going Public

Lead Pastor, Chris Conlee

What is the purpose of baptism?

To be baptized is to publicly identify with the message and mission of Jesus Christ.

(1) Baptism is a sign of identification.

Public identification with Christ has cost people their lives, families, friends, and jobs.

Public identification says, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel.”

Matthew 28:18-20

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son,

and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,

even to the end of the age.”

(2) Baptism is a symbolic picture of the death, burial, and resurrection.

Baptism says that I have died to me and I’m alive in Christ.

Baptism is an outward sign of an inward reality.

(3) Baptism is a symbolic picture of cleansing, a washing away of sin.

The water doesn’t cleanse us; the blood of Christ that cleanses us.

The water is a symbolic picture of the cleansing from the blood of Christ.

Do you need to be baptized?

(1) If you have trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior but have not been baptized.

(2) If you were baptized as a child but came to faith later.

(3) If you’ve only been christened as a baby.

(4) Do I need to be re-baptized because I was sprinkled instead of immersed?

The answer doesn’t lie in the practice as much as it does the purpose.

Immersion doesn’t make you baptized.

Sprinkling doesn’t make you baptized.

The amount of water doesn’t make you baptized;

The meaning that you attach to the event that makes it a baptism.

We believe that the ideal method is immersion, but if someone has been baptized by another

practice after salvation, but had the same purpose, publicly identifying with the message and

mission of Jesus Christ, then it is our understanding that these are parallel experiences.

How will God use my baptism?

(1) He can use your baptism to lead unbelievers to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

(2) He can use your baptism to lead believers to invest and invite.

(3) He can use your baptism to lead the church to celebrate the Good News of Jesus Christ.