Water – Baptism

Deuteronomy 30:15-19

“See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants.”

  • God says you choose what kind of life you want to live: live or death, prosperity or adversity, blessing or cursing.
  • One of your greatest God-given abilities is your power to choose.

Joshua 24:15 

“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

  • Decisions are powerful, but they are not always easy.
  • Sometimes people want to keep all their options open just in case…“we’ll see what happens.”
  • The power of saying “no” to something is that you can say “yes” to something even greater.
  • A decision can change your life. When you decide something, you are literally cutting off other choices.

“You cannot change the destination of your life overnight, but you can change the direction of your life overnight.”  -Jim Rohn

Acts 8:26-38

the Ethiopian eunuch made a life changing decision. He seized the opportunity to be baptized on the spot. Why not step into your future and close the door to your past?

  • When you decide to get baptized, you can change the trajectory of your life. A new day and chapter starts with forgiveness. 
  • The gospel is that God releases us from our past to free us into our future. It’s not about doing better, it’s about heading in a new direction.

Baptism is a step of obedience.

  • Even Jesus submitted to baptism as a step of obedience. He’s calling you to follow.

Facilitating Discussion

  1. Are there decisions in your life right now that you need to make to move forward with God?
  2. How do your decisions, including baptism, have such a powerful impact on your future?