Live Free with Josh Howerton - Understanding Baptism // Acts 8:36-39

Episode Date: November 22, 2024

What does it mean to take a public step of faith? Today, we revisit the powerful encounter between Philip and the Ethiopian official as he chooses to be baptized. Philip’s willingness to follow God���s lead opens the door for a life-changing decision, one that mirrors the journey many of us take toward surrender. Baptism, as we see in this story, is an outward sign of an inward faith—a moment to mark new life in Jesus. If you’ve been considering baptism, let this story inspire you to take that next step today.   For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive  

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.combe. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, thanks for joining us on the Daily Drive. My name is Bro, and I have the privilege of sharing on this podcast and also the privilege of teaching at several great churches. And because of that, I get to meet so many people around the country. And I recently got to meet a very cool small group in Oxford, Mississippi, who listen to the Daily Drive every day. So I'm giving you all a shout out today. Thank you for what you're doing in a town that's full of college students who are looking for hope.

And I'm grateful for all of you who listen, as well as the team. team at Lake Point that puts all this together. So thanks for being a part of this today. Hey, we left off yesterday with a story in Acts chapter 8 about an encounter between a guy named Philip and another man from Ethiopia. God intersects their lives in the middle of nowhere. And Philip befriends this guy and helps him understand the good news of God's love through Jesus. And then out of the blue, the guy says, look, there's water. Why can't I be baptized? And they go down into the water and this guy surrenders his life to Jesus. Now, I told you yesterday that whenever I talk about baptism, several kinds of questions come up,

and I know that different churches teach different things about it, but one of the questions I often get is, like, why do y'all, like, dunk people underwater? I mean, we use pools and hot tubs and lakes and rivers and oceans, etc. And to be sure, it's about your heart. It's not about the amount of water. But the word used in the book of Acts, and all the way through the Bible is the Greek word baptizo, which means to dunk or to plunge or immerse or take under. And if you've ever witnessed one, then you know there's the obvious picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

It says here in this encounter with Philip and the Ethiopian dude, it says that they went down into and came up out of the water. And that just seems to be as close to the New Testament pattern of doing it, so we just choose to do it that way in the churches I serve. And a bunch of people have asked me through the years, like how long I've got to wait before I get baptized. believe in Jesus and surrender your heart to him and you're ready to take the plunge. It's a part of the initial response of faith. Again, all the way through the book of Acts, when people came to faith, they were baptized immediately. I have a good friend who had a pretty dark and crazy past, and he started walking with Jesus, and he asked me what he needed to do to be baptized.

And I told him, oh, man, dude, with your past, you're going to need to come and soak overnight. He said, really? I'm just playing with it. I'm just kidding. See, you don't have to wait months or years because you're still trying to get your act together. You acknowledge when you accept Christ that on your own, you can't get your act together. It's not about growing to the point where, you know, someday I'll be good enough to finally get baptized. None of us will ever get there. Being baptized is a beginning point of surrender, admitting that you need the help of God's spirit to live a new life.

I think that when you understand you need to be baptized, just go ahead and do it. whether you accepted Christ 10 years ago, 10 days ago, or 10 minutes ago, it's part of the response of faith. It's part of accepting God's gracious invitation. I love the humble response of this Ethiope. And he said, look, there's water. Why can't I be baptized? Not well.

Let me think about this. I'm not quite ready. I need to grow a lot more. He just says, you know what? I want to give my heart to Jesus and just let him take me from there. Again, baptism does not save you. There's nothing magical about the water. But there's something very magical about the grace of God when we surrender to him,

and baptism just marks that surrender. Lots of my friends have asked me, well, I was baptized as like a baby. Do I need to do it again? You know, often parents want their children baptized primarily as a sign of dedication and commitment to the Lord. And if your parents did that, I think their motivation was in the right direction, and you ought to be so grateful for their commitment to your spiritual foundation. And I think you ought to express that gratitude to them.

But in the Bible, baptism always came after someone put their personal faith in Christ. They personally believed, and then they were baptized. And as you've grown and matured, it's your decision now. It's your personal faith journey now. And when you reach the decision that you now believe in Jesus and you want to follow Him, now is the time for you to be baptized based upon your personal faith. You know, I love this story because it's so much like many of our stories. You got this guy on a spiritual Jewish.

journey, who knew in his heart there was one true and living God, yet he didn't know him personally. And God intersects his path, just out of the blue, in the middle of nowhere, by bringing a new friend into his life. A friend that meets him where he was, told him about Jesus, got to take him down into the water and experience the thrill of knowing that this guy not from Jerusalem, Judea, or even Samaria, but the people from the ends of the earth were now getting in. man, I hope you have a great day today and be aware of who God puts in your path and like Philip, just be a listening friend

and see where God might take it. And if you're ready to be baptized, you'll talk to somebody about it. I bet there's a local church near you that would be more than glad to meet you in the water this weekend. See you all on Monday. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship,

join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information about all the digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.combe. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out.