Are You Ready to be Baptized?
Origin Story
Do you have one of these? It’s very valuable. It’s the kind of thing you normally don’t take out of the house. In fact, if you’re anything like me… you have this in a secure place in your home.
Some of you probably even keep this in a fire proof safe, or at a bank, or something like that, just so you know it’s safe.
Regardless of where you keep it, my guess is that almost everyone has this.
It’s a birth certificate.
It points back to my origin story. To the moment I was born.
If you look at my birth certificate you’ll see that I was born on clear night in Thomsaton, GA when the moon was bright & you could see the stars!
Ok, it doesn’t have that much detail.
But you can see where I was born, what day I was born on, what time it was when I was born. You can see what my parents named me and you can see my parents names. And it says on here that the day I was born was the happiest day of my mother’s life!
Ok, it doesn’t say that either, but I’m sure it’s true!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFdDRM9r3_g[/embedyt]We use Birth Certificates to prove that a birth took place. That you are who you say you are.
This piece of paper points to a reality, but the truth is you don’t need to see this piece of paper to know that I was born.
You don’t need to see this document to know that I’m alive. I’m right here. I’m the evidence that at some point, there was a birth. And my physical life points back to my physical brith.
The life we live points back to the origin of the life we live.
Physical life points back to physical birth.
A Better Origin Story
But God wants to give us a better origin story.
Even if you love your origin story God gives you a better one.
During the time when Jesus was walking the planet, there was a man by the name of Nicodemus.
Nicodemus was living from the only origin story he knew. He had a wonderful origin story. Some might say it was the best anyone could hope for.
He was born a Jew, born into the chosen people of God, the people who were chosen to be a light pointing all people to the only God who saves.
Not only was Nicodemus born an Israelite, he was a Pharisee, a Rabbi, a religious leader & a part of the high council.
He had the origin story everyone wanted. What he didn’t know was that he needed a new origin story. But he knew enough to know that he needed to talk to Jesus on his own.
He had heard Jesus teach, & it was nothing like he had ever heard before. He had seen Jesus perform miracles, & it was like nothing he had ever seen before.
So Nicodemus comes to meet with Jesus to ask him his questions.
Nicodemus says…
“Rabbi, we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are BORN AGAIN, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
John 3
At this point, Nicodemus is thinking… What do you mean? I was born into it. I’m Jewish. I’m a part of the kingdom of Israel. That’s synonymous with the Kingdom of God. What do you mean I can’t see it, or won’t even recognize it?! I’ve got a birth certificate that says I’m in.
And not only that, but what do you even mean? Born again? Nicodemus asks,
“How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.
We all understand this on the one hand. People give birth to more people. If you have dogs, they will give birth to more dogs. Cats give birth to cute little kittens. This is the way the world works.
Jesus uses this idea to teach Nicodemus that this is why he needs, in fact, this is why WE ALL NEED, a second birth. This is why we need to be born again, or born from above.
Because…
The life we live points to the origin of the life we live. And we need a better origin story.
For God So Loved…
And then Jesus says these famous words… you’ve probably known these words of Jesus all your life. Nicodemus had no idea that these next words that Jesus spoke to him would one day show up on bumper stickers, at football games & be written on the hearts of millions of people around the world. Here in this moment under the cover of night Jesus speaks these words to Nicodemus…
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
I’m not sure if Nicodemus got his questions answered that night. He probably left with more questions than he started with.
But Jesus was calling him that night to be a part of a new & better & different story!
What about you? What is the defining moment of your life? What story is your life pointing back to?
What origin story are you living from? If you’re anything like Nicodemus, you may need a different origin story. A new beginning.
The reality is the life we live points back to the origin of the life we live.
September 24, 1989
It was September 24, 1989, on a Sunday in Montgomery, AL when I was baptized by my father. I know what my birth certificate says, but when I tell you my story you’re not going to hear much about being born in a small town in Georgia. What you will hear me talk about is my rebirth, my baptism story & the spiritual journey I’ve been on since that day. That’s the story I’m living from. It’s a story about God’s love for me.
Some of you have not walked through the waters of baptism yet. Are you ready for a new start? A new beginning? Maybe it’s time to step into a different origin story, a better origin story. Maybe it’s time to step into the waters of baptism.
Because… A different kind of life requires a different kind of birth.
What’s keeping you from stepping into the waters of Baptism and into the abundant life Jesus offers?
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