You're listening to Mountain View Church Audio, Christ-centered teaching from the Wilderness City, Point Horse, UConn. Here's this week's message. How great the chasm that lay between us. How high the mountain I could not climb. Inspiration, I turned to heaven. Broke your name. Darkness, your loving kindness. Tore through the shadows of my soul. The work is finished.
So great a mercy, what heart could fath a boundless grace? The God of ages slipped down from glory, who wear my sin and bear my shame. The cross has spoken, I am forgiven. The King of kings calls me his humble Savior. I'm yours forever, my living hope. Hallelujah.
Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope, declared the great name on me. Then in the morning that sealed the promise, your very body began to breathe. Out of the silence, the roaring lion.
Declare the grave, has no claim on me. Jesus, yours is a victory. Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Oh God, you are my living hope.
If you didn't grow up in church, watching a baptism can be really strange. You're wondering, why are these people getting dunked into a tank of water? Why does everyone cheer and clap afterward? And what does water and getting dunked into water have to do with following Jesus anyway? If you've ever wondered why baptism, you are in the right place. Today's the day.
This is the first message in our Ever Wonder Why series. Over the next 20 minutes, we'll be digging into the historical context and theological significance behind baptism to help us understand this Christian practice and the reasons behind it. But before we do that, I'd like to take a moment to welcome you to Mountain View Church. We're thrilled to have you joining us, whether you're in person, online, over podcast or radio. And if you'd like to get better acquainted with our church community, you can visit us online at mountainview.church slash connect or text the number at the bottom of the screen. And if you're attending in-house, fill out a connect card handed in to the welcome desk.
We'd love to hear from you and welcome you personally into our church family. Speaking of families, let's talk about your little ones. We have a vibrant children's program that runs every Sunday morning during our 9.30 and 11 o'clock gatherings. It's a fantastic way for your children to learn and grow and make friends in a faithful environment that centers on Jesus. And for your teens, we offer a youth program every Sunday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. It's a great opportunity for your students to connect and explore their faith while enjoying some fun activities together. Now, let's move to this week's scripture reading, and then we'll get back to the message.
Hi, I'm going to be reading from Mark 16 verses 9 to 16. Now, when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. After these things, he appeared in another form to two of them as they were walking into the country, and they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
To unpack this question, why baptism, we have to start at the very beginning, understanding what the word baptism actually means. The etymology of baptism offers an excellent foundation. The term baptism traces back to the Greek word baptizma, originating from the verb baptizo to baptize.
At its root, baptizo comes from another Greek verb, bapto, meaning to dip or to immerse. This linguistic journey from bapto to baptisma communicates the action of dipping or immersing, which is central to the original practice of baptism. That being said, baptism isn't just an active immersion in water. It's an external physical action that symbolizes an internal spiritual transformation. According to the Holman Concise Bible Dictionary, the immersion or dipping of a believer in water symbolizes the complete renewal and change in the believer's life.
and testifying to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the way of salvation. This definition helps us understand the symbolism behind baptism, a vivid testimony to the Christian's new life, mirroring the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as the cornerstone of salvation, a new life, eternal life. All right, now let's get back to the why. Why do Christians get baptized? If you're a follower of Jesus, why should you be baptized? The primary reason that most Christians choose to be baptized is to follow Jesus' commandment.
At the core of the Christian faith lies a clear mandate from Jesus to spread his gospel message to the world, make disciples and baptize them. This mission is articulated in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 28, verses 18 through 20, which reads, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Mark's gospel account reiterates this Great Commission, but notes the theological connection, or perhaps difference, between belief and baptism. It reads, Those passages give evidence to the command of baptism, but there's a secondary, potentially less promoted reason why Christians choose to be baptized.
to follow the example set by Jesus himself, outlined in Matthew 3, 13 to 17, which reads, Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan, to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me. But Jesus answered him, Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water and behold, the heavens were open to him and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Here we see Jesus approaching John to be baptized, not of a necessity for repentance, as was the case for hundreds of others that were being baptized that day. According to Jesus, this was an act of righteousness and it stemmed from his humility and obedience, then accompanied by the Holy Spirit's presence as the father's affirmation of his sonship.
spoke out, marking the beginning of his public ministry. In Christ's baptism, we have a unique display of our triune God eternally existing as three in one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so, Christians should primarily pursue baptism to follow Christ's commandment. That's true. But also, they should do it to follow the example set by Christ. As fully God, Jesus wasn't required to be baptized. Yet, as fully human, he chose baptism, displaying a model of submission to God's will.
Perhaps our decision to be baptized is more about humility and submission than we'd like to admit. Something to think about. Now, depending on your church background, you may be wondering about baptism by effusion, which is sprinkling or pouring water on someone's head instead of baptism by full body immersion. Maybe that's your practice. Maybe that's your background. Let's dig into it. And we got to get back to some etymology. This word effusion is rooted in a Latin word, effundere, which means to pour out. Related to baptism, effusion means a pouring or sprinkling of water upon the person requesting baptism.
Unlike the word baptism, which translates to immersion, there isn't a directly translated word for effusion. That being said, there is a Greek verb, ekeo, meaning to pour out, most notable in Acts 2.17, quoting Old Testament prophecy, which states, and in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. To recap, the word effusion, translated directly, doesn't appear in the New Testament. And the term to pour out isn't ever connected to baptism, which... I'm assuming, probably brings up a few more questions for you. Like, why are there two types of baptisms being practiced in Christianity? Which form of baptism came first? Which one did the early Christians practice? Is there a preferred method and does it matter? These are great questions and we need to answer these questions, but we got to go from the etymology to the history. The history of baptism, both immersion and effusion. And so we start with the early church period in the first century.
Following Christ's resurrection and ascension, immersion was the primary mode of baptism in the early Christian church. In Acts 2.38, we read, And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, baptizo, or to be immersed, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Later on in Acts 8.12, we read, But when they believed Philip, as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized. Again, baptizo, immersed both men and women. Finally, in Acts 18.8, we have another example. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing Paul, believed and were baptized. Again, the word baptizo, to be immersed. Now, moving on and pass the early church into the post-apostolic period. This is the second to fourth centuries.
Historical evidence suggests that immersion continued to be the norm for baptism during this period. Early Christian writings, such as those of the church fathers, generally support immersion as the preferred mode of baptism. That being said, in the mid-250s, we see our first mention of effusion baptism. On an eventful day, circa 253 AD, a man named Novation lay in illness apparently upon his deathbed. Believing in the necessity of immersion for salvation, but unable to leave his bed, he was permitted by a local bishop to substitute the pouring of water, or effusion, all about him in its place. This episode, reported by the famous church historian Eusebius, constituted the first known historical substitution of another action in the place of immersion.
Clearly, this effusion baptism was an exception that was authorized by the bishop, an elder, an overseer at that time. It's clear from the account that the man would have been immersed if he had not been so ill. Next, moving on, fast forward to the Middle Ages, the early Middle Ages, 5th to 10th centuries. During this period, the practice of pouring or sprinkling for baptism began to emerge more regularly in certain regions. Most scholars believe this was influenced by practical considerations, such as the scarcity of water or cold climates in Northern Europe. If we fast forward to the medieval period, from the 11th to 15th centuries, we see the change even more so. Although immersion remained common in other regions of Christendom, the practice of pouring or sprinkling for baptism became very widespread across Western Europe.
especially where populations were dense, access to fresh water and risk of disease may have been a factor. By the early 1300s, the church held a council to decide on the matter. It was not until 1311 AD by the Council of Ravenna that the practice of baptism by modes other than immersion was officially legislated as a matter of indifference in any circumstances of conversion. This sparked a significant shift in baptism practice that would spread from Europe to the rest of the world, but not without pushback. And speaking of pushback, we enter into the Reformation era in the 16th century. The Protestant Reformation brought about changes in various aspects of Christian worship, including baptism. As a fusion gained popularity in high church structures, Protestant reformers, such as Martin Luther and John Calvin, continued to advocate for immersion as the preferred mode of baptism. Martin Luther's position is stated as follows.
I would have those who are to be baptized completely immersed in the water, as the word says and as the mystery indicates, not because I deem this necessary, but because it would be well to give to a thing so perfect a complete assign that it is also complete and perfect. And this is doubtless the way in which it was instituted by Christ. John Calvin stated, it is evident that the term baptized means to immerse and that this was the form used by the primitive or early church. Although pouring and sprinkling were permitted with certain structures, these theologians pushed back, reminding the world that baptism should be a full-body immersion. Now let's move into the post-Reformation church, the 17th and 18th centuries. Different Christian denominations had developed and with them their own baptismal practices, reflecting a range of theological and cultural influences. Immersion and effusion, the pouring and sprinkling, all continue to be used in various branches of Christianity, depending on the theological convictions and local customs.
Now we move to the modern era. This is the 16th century to present day. Theological and philosophical debates continued. There were advancements in technology, and there was globalization that all influenced the practice of baptism. Through the 1800s, overpopulation, health risks, and access to clean water may have still been valid arguments for effusion.
Likely so, especially in highly populated areas. And yet, the historical record shows that church tradition and denominational lines were a far greater factor in the decision to immerse or pour or sprinkle. By the end of the 20th century and into the 21st century, which is where we're at now, we've seen a significant rise in non-denominational movements, which has caused more congregations to ask, what do we believe about baptism? And what do we believe about church ordinances and practices of different kinds, of all kinds? They're asking why, how, what do we do?
Because there's a reset kind of in this age that coincides with a huge access of information, which we have online. And so there's been a resurgence of seeking the origins of baptism. People asking, what should we be doing? I think it's time for the church to come back to our baptizo roots. The practical reasons related to access to fresh water and risk of disease, these aren't valid considerations for most Christian communities anymore. Now, I get it. Traditional and denominational ties are difficult to break. Maybe that's you. And yet, think about the ties that the early Jewish Christians had to break to follow Jesus. If there's ample water available, and there's a believer ready to publicly declare their faith, it's time to step back from effusion and fully immerse them, displaying their internal and eternal immersion into Christ. Now, as we close this message, let's come back to Mark's gospel.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. When you read that verse, there can be a temptation to read the text in a centrist view on the belief and ignore the call to baptism. Someone might argue that because they don't need baptism for salvation to enter heaven, they don't need to get baptized. If that's the case, I kind of want to push back. Let's come back to Jesus' commandment and Jesus' example. Can belief in Jesus exist without a submission to him?
Can someone follow Jesus without following his commands and his example? I don't know. You see, ignoring the call to be baptized misses an important aspect of Christian identity and obedience. There's something powerful that happens in us and through us when we make a stand and we publicly declare that we belong to Jesus. According to scripture, baptism is the subsequent declaration that always follows our belief. In scripture, it always followed belief. It wasn't ever an option, but somehow today it is. Is it? Really? So what's your next step?
What do you do with everything that we've learned today? For you, it might be the inward belief. Maybe for you, today's the first day where you're ready to give your life to Jesus, to believe in him and follow him. That's amazing. That's huge. That's the important internal aspect of this whole thing. But what about the outward? That outward declaration. Have you given your life to Christ, but you haven't made it public? Is it time to be baptized? If so, please contact us so we can make that happen, either here at Mountain View or through another local church in your area. We'll get it connected.
Lastly, maybe you have been baptized. You're a baptized believer in Christ, and this has just been a reaffirmation of the decisions that you've made. It's amazing. You're strong in your faith, and that should be celebrated. But also, I would ask you, join me in praying for those who will be making important steps of faith, maybe today. These decisions, these are huge, and we want to pray for those that are about to make them. So whether you're new to Jesus, whether you're new to baptism, new to the church, or you've been here a while, let's pray together. Dear Father, I thank you for your son, Jesus.
I believe that he died on the cross for my sin. I believe that you raised him from the dead on the third day. I believe that he ascended to heaven to prepare a place for us. I'm thankful for his baptism and the example he showed us of submission and humility and obedience. I thank you for the mission that he's given us, that we need to spread the gospel across the world, make disciples, and call people to be baptized. Father, you see every person who's listening to this now. If they don't know you, if they've never accepted salvation through your son, I pray they would do so now.
And Father, if they've been on the fence and they've had a personal faith, but they haven't made it public through baptism, I pray that they would do so. Wherever they're at, here at Mountain View or whatever local church they're a part of. We pray for these individuals that are about to make this decision. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
But this water is a sign that change has occurred in my heart. My life will never be the same. So now I'm proclaiming it to the world. And just as Jesus was buried, I will be buried. Just as Jesus rose, I will rise. Faith, hope, love, none are greater than these. I have faith that Jesus is who he says he is. I have hope in his resurrection and his everlasting power. His endless love has forever changed my life.
Thank you so much for joining us here today at Mountain View Church. Before you go, I have a few updates, and then I want to give you a discussion and prayer focus to take with you this week. Next couple weeks is going to be pretty important for us as a pastoral team. We, along with our spouses, will be heading to Penticton, BC for the annual Fellowship Pacific Impact Conference. I would ask you to please pray for our pastoral team, that we have an amazing time of spiritual renewal and learning while networking with other pastors from across the Pacific region. A more exciting note is that prior to our conference, three of our team members will be receiving their pastoral licensure. That's Aaron Monis, Elijah Aschenko, and Byron Binganan. God has called these men to lead, and we want to celebrate their calling as they officially become licensed ministers of the gospel.
Good morning, church. My name is Haley. I'm the ministry leader for young adults. So the Young Adults Ministry at Mountain View meets once a month for an event, and there's no pre-registration required, not really any prerequisites required, except for that you have to be between the ages of 18 and 35. You don't even have to have been to our church before, so if you are a part of the church and you have a friend or a colleague that's been on your heart, this is a great opportunity to invite them and just the first step to get them.
into some community that just loves Jesus and loves each other. So our next event is going to be next Sunday at 3.30. So we're going to meet at the church. We're going to just mingle, have some hot chocolate and chat, and then we'll head out for a walk on the Millennium Trail. So hope to see you next Sunday.
Now, it's time for our discussion and prayer focus. Ask the person beside you, how has the historical and theological significance of baptism impacted your view of this practice? Today, as you've looked at the historical and theological significance of baptism, how has it impacted your view of this practice? After you've talked about that, spend some time in prayer. Pray together for those considering baptism and publicly declaring their faith in Jesus.
pray for those who are currently or in the future going to be considering baptism and the public declaration of their faith in Jesus. Thank you again for being here today. Please come back next week as we continue our Ever Wonder Why series with Why Child Dedication. Because some of you, through this whole sermon of baptism, you've been wondering, what about infant baptism? Isn't that a thing? Well, it is a thing in some church circles, but we need to tackle, is it the main thing? Is it the best thing? What do we need to be doing? And where does child dedication fit in? Are they the same? Are they different? These are big questions, and we're going to tackle them next week. So make sure you come back.
If you prayed to receive Jesus today or would like to connect with our church community, visit mountainview.church and click the connect link. If this podcast and radio ministry has been a blessing to you, please consider partnering with us or making a tax-deductible donation at mountainview.church. Thanks for listening to Mountain View Church Audio. Join us next week for more Christ-centric teaching from the wilderness city of Whitehorse UConn.