Look, Here Is Water!

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 19th of March, 2017, the second Sunday in Lent.  Today’s service included adult baptisms and receiving new members, all toward the end of the message.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Jesus was tried, executed, pronounced dead, then buried and sealed within a tomb.  His followers were lost, confused, heart-broken.  But then He rose from the grave and came back to them, giving them some final instructions before ascending back into heaven.  His disciples found new hope.

Unfortunately, a Pharisee named Saul was wreaking havoc among the ranks of believers, having countless numbers arrested and imprisoned.  Many of the disciples scattered, leaving Jerusalem for fear of their lives, but they spread the Good News of Jesus as they went.

Philip was among those who left.  Listen and follow along to his experience as recorded in the Apostle Luke’s account of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 8, verses 26 through 40, and I’ll be reading from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible…

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise up and go toward the south on the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”  This is desert.  27 So he rose up and went.  And there was a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in command of her entire treasury.  He had come to Jerusalem to worship.  28 He was returning, sitting in his chariot and reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.  29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go to this chariot and stay with it.” 

30 Then Philip ran to him, and heard him read the book of Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?" 

31 He said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”  So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 

32 The passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: 

“He was led as a sheep to slaughter;
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so He opened not His mouth.
33 In His humiliation justice was denied Him;
who will speak of His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.” 

34 The eunuch said to Philip, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet speak, of himself or of someone else?”  35 Then Philip spoke, beginning with the same Scripture, and preached Jesus to him. 

36 As they went on their way, they came to some water.  And the eunuch said, “Look, here is water.  What hinders me from being baptized?”  37 Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”  He answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”  38 And he commanded the chariot to halt.  Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.  39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away.  And the eunuch saw him no more, and he went his way rejoicing.  40 But Philip was found at Azotus.  And passing through, he preached the gospel in all the cities until he came to Caesarea.

--Acts 8:26-40 (MEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, many times we can read in our Bible where You spoke to those who believed in you and Your Son Jesus through Your Holy Spirit or one of Your angels.  Speak to us now, Father.  Let Your Holy Spirit speak directly into our hearts the message You would have us hear this day.  In the beloved name of Jesus we pray.   Amen.


Although Susie was raised a Methodist, she started attending a Baptist church when she moved to a new community.  One day she was helping a group of women clean the church kitchen.  She emptied the large electric coffeepot and handed it to the lady washing dishes.

The lady washing dishes asked, “Can this be washed like everything else?”

“No,” Susie replied.  “This is a Methodist coffeepot.  It says right here: ‘DO NOT IMMERSE’.”


Three ministers were discussing the problem of bats in the attic at church and how difficult they were to get rid of.  The first minister said that his congregation had tried "smoking them out", but they still came back.  Another had tried poisoning them, but enough survived to repopulate the attic.  The third minister shared his solution: "I just baptized and confirmed them all, and they NEVER came back!"


There are all kinds of jokes about baptisms out there, but those two are definitely among my favorites.  Of course, I could have substituted many other denominations and churches in place of “Methodist” in the “do not immerse” category.  And I sincerely pray that those being baptized today will indeed return, and not be scared off like the bats.


Why be baptized?  Do we even need to be baptized?  Is it necessary for our salvation?

There are two schools of thought on that.  My personal take is that baptism is an outward sign of my acceptance of Jesus as my Lord and Master, my obedience to His command.  What command, you might ask?  Why be baptized?  Jesus tells us to, as seen in the Gospel account of the Apostle Matthew, chapter 28, verses 18 through 20…

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

--Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)

If we are to go and baptize in His name, it only makes sense that we should be baptized ourselves.  One way to look at this is that God signed a covenant agreement with us using the blood of His Son Jesus granting us eternal life in heaven.  We sign our line on that agreement with our baptism.  And we build up the body of Christ, His church on earth, by going out and making new disciples, baptizing them in turn and teaching them what Jesus taught us.

Another way we build up the body of Christ is by welcoming new members into His church.  Now many of you know that I do not care where someone goes to church, as long as they are getting fed the word of God, as long as their spiritual needs are being met.  And I don’t care if someone is an “official” member when they come here to be fed.  I just care that they know Jesus as their personal Savior, that they receive the true word and bread of God, that they know they are loved and welcomed by the church family.

Members are vital to the church, and a church is only vital – alive – when its members come together.  That’s a two part statement.  The first part is exemplified in what I told the kids a little earlier, and as given by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans, chapter 12, verse 4 through the first half of verse 6…

4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.  6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them.

--Romans 12:4-6a (NKJV)

We have a bunch of different body parts that must all work together for the body to function as intended.  And that is as true for the body of Christ on earth – His church – as it is for our physical bodies.

And that speaks to the second part of my earlier statement, that the church is only vital when its members come together.  God gives us all different gifts, different abilities.  No one of us can do everything that the church needs done to survive and thrive.  There are areas where one person may be terrible at functioning in but that another person may excel at.

We have to come together and work together or the church will die.  Jesus wants us to come together and work together, for He certainly does not want any part of His body to die.  Regular church service attendance is a huge part of that coming together.  Listen to what King David said in the 1st verse of Psalm 122…

122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the Lord.”

--Psalm 122:1 (NKJV)

We should be glad to be able to come to church, to come into the house of our Lord!  Many people in this world today do not have the opportunity or the freedom to do so.  We are blessed!  We should be glad!

And there’s this, from the letter to the Hebrews, chapter 10, verses 19 through 25…

19 My friends, the blood of Jesus gives us courage to enter the most holy place 20 by a new way that leads to life!  And this way takes us through the curtain that is Christ himself.

21 We have a great high priest who is in charge of God’s house.  22 So let’s come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith.  Let’s keep our hearts pure, our consciences free from evil, and our bodies washed with clean water.  23 We must hold tightly to the hope that we say is ours.  After all, we can trust the one who made the agreement with us.  24 We should keep on encouraging each other to be thoughtful and to do helpful things.  25 Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that.  We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer.

--Hebrews 10:19-25 (CEV)

We come together to keep our hearts pure, to encourage one another, to be washed clean spiritually.  We must not get out of the habit of meeting for worship, like some do, especially now that the day of the coming of our Lord is closer at hand.

King David knew how important this is, and we read that he was glad to be able to enter into the house of the Lord.  Listen to what he did while in church, from his 40th Psalm, verses 9 and 10…

9 I have proclaimed righteousness in the great congregation;
I have not held back my lips,
Lord, You know.
10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth
from the great congregation.

--Psalm 40:9-10 (MEV)

That sounds a lot like what Paul said in his letter to the Romans, that if we confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, then we will be saved.  Believe, and be saved.


The Apostle John, in his first letter to the far-flung church, chapter 1 verse 7, pretty much sums this all up…

7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

--1 John 1:7 (NKJV)

Jesus is our light, our guiding light.  When we come together in fellowship with one another, we walk in His light.  His blood has already cleansed us from all sin.  And now look!  [pointing to Baptism font]  Here is water!  What hinders you from being baptized?


God is not dead, and neither is His Son’s church.  We must not let our faith die out.  We must keep our family strong and vital, by joining together on a regular basis, by recommitting ourselves to serving Christ our Lord, by rededicating our hearts to Jesus and to each other.  None of us can keep a church alive on our own.  It takes all of us, working together, combining the gifts and abilities that God gave us to successfully complete our assigned mission on earth.

Come to the water.  Look,   [pointing to the cross]   here is water!  The living water.  All in the blessed name of our Redeemer Jesus.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You have generously gifted us so that together we can carry on the work of Your Son Jesus on this earth.  You’ve given us all we need.  We just need to come together and work together and make it all happen.  We need to keep our church family vital, alive, and relevant in our greater community.  Please help us do so, Father.

And please hear us now, Father, as we silently speak to You from our hearts, acknowledging our belief in and acceptance of Your Son and our Master Jesus and rededicating ourselves to His service, promising to turn from our disobedience and sin, seeking Your forgiveness, listening for Your voice…

Lord Jesus, You invite us to come to You.  Bless all those who accept Your call.  Please guide us to those who may be hesitating to take You up on Your offer, who may not believe, or who may think themselves unworthy.  Let them see You in our actions.  Let them hear You in our words.  Let them receive that great and wonderful gift of salvation.

This we pray in Your blessed name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith.  Amen.