NEED: unique objects, clear glass of water, sins written down on whiteboard

>>> What makes something unique? 

[Objects: Lightsaber, comic book ] Are any of these objects unique? 

Examples of unique things: Ocean picture, DNA, fingerprints, things we create, places

Dr. Pepper's slogan: "I'm one of a kind" "/1"

What does it mean to be one of a kind? (There's no one like YOU in this entire world!)

Something is unique when there is only ONE. 

Ephesians 4.5 [4.4-6] - see the ONE concept here? 


1. SACRIFICES vs SPIRIT
+ Baptism is the culmination of God's perfect plan - it literally allows us to be perfect!
+ Don't you love it when a plan comes together? When stuff works out EXACTLY how you wanted it to? 
+ It rarely does, but when it does, it's a beautiful thing
+ God's spirit used to be in temples - but now it's in us
+ God uses to demand sacrifices - but now he demands repentance
+ God used to require cleansing, but now requires baptism to wash away our sins
+ With the new covenant, with Jesus, came baptism
+ Hebrews 8.6


2. WHAT IS IT?
+ 'baptize' = to immerse, to submerge
+ This isn't a sprinkling (What would happen if I sprinkled vs. submerged my phone?)
+ There is a difference, and the Bible is clear
+ What about infant baptism? Jacob is no where near understanding what implications his decisions will have on his life
+ Baptism is a decision made by us, a public confession of Jesus Christ as our Lord (Jacob couldn't do that)
+ We must be old enough to have an understanding of the decision we're making, or it makes no sense to do it
+ Bonnie's sister was baptized at such a young age that she was rebaptized just to make sure

+ Baptism washes away our sins, we have a clean slate. We are reborn, we are saved!
+ Imagine someone had a whiteboard like this one where they wrote down every sin > it would be wiped clean
+ While we are clean, baptism does not solve all of life's problems - we must still deal with consequences of our sin


3. DO I HAVE TO DO IT? 
+ If you want to be a Christian and go to heaven - YES. 
+ Jesus himself was baptized -- Matthew 3.13-17
+ So if Jesus was our ultimate example, we're supposed to do everything he did, and he himself says repent and be baptized many times in the Bible, would we not want to do this simple act of an outward show of love for him? 
+ In many other places in the New Testament, we see people being baptized - the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8.26ff, the Roman Centurion Cornelius in Acts 10, and on and on - why would we NOT follow this example? 


LAST FEW THINGS…

+ Baptism does not discriminate. Jesus is free and open to all men. 1 Corinthians 12.13
+ More of the "one" concept - baptism is God's unique way of saving us from our sins, but we must do it

+ Baptism is not magic. There is nothing "special" about the water, only the act. 
+ We are not literally cleansed, our souls are figuratively washed clean

+ Baptism should change us. If it doesn't, then we did it for the wrong reasons. 
+ Scripture says we should "walk in a new life" after baptism
+ Baptism should change our life and our lifestyle
+ Some people don't like that change, so they don't do it
+ Some people don't like the things they have to give up to become a Christian

+ What we did before baptism is forgotten - what we do after it is what matters. 
+ We will be tempted - it is not a question of IF, but WHEN - 1 Corinthians 10.12

+ You do not have to be perfect to be baptized!
+ You do not have to know the Bible, you do not have to know facts and scriptures, you just have to know that you need Jesus!
+ The Church is a hospital for sinners, not a country club for the perfect