Baptism: A New/Living Hope
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
WELCOME to family & friends to this wonderful moment when we can witness Levi’s confession of faith & his baptism
----------------
Levi is now familiar, I believe, with the Star Wars trilogy which originally began in about 1977
In fact, I remember going as a 19 yr old to the Sundale Cinema in Southport to watch it - the cinema is now gone & new developments have taken its place
That’s how long its been since it debuted
-----------------
In this initial trilogy, evil was flourishing & the Emperor was gaining more & more ground against the rebel fighters
But something changed - a new hero emerged which challenged the darkness & evil & refused to succumb to it or to give into it
The title of this first movie of the trilogy was entitled “A New Hope”
By the time we reach the last movie in the trilogy, the “hero” was faced with the ultimate challenge of the Dark Emperor himself who beckons him to give in to the dark side
----------------
It was rather reminiscent of the wilderness temptations where Satan was beckoning Jesus to submit to the darkness
Of course, the Emperor was brimming with confidence of success because he thought he knew the outcome
Upon his urging to give in, the hero (Luke Skywalker) says, “Your over confidence is your weakness”
The Emperor responds with “your faith in your friends is yours”
-------------------
There are some very interesting themes that come through in the initial Star Wars series
The Emperor, no doubt, reminds us of Satan - that evil entity whose desire is to keep people under his control & to prevent them from enjoying the liberty that comes from the light & not from the darkness
--------------------
Interestingly, the Emperor stands for the dark side & for evil with his lightsaber colour of blood red - for killing
Luke, the hero, stands for the light & for good & his lightsaber is green
Like in life, there is a choice between darkness & light, good & evil, Satan & Jesus
These parallels, although not the same, are similar enough for us to draw out some truths of the faith
-------------------
Firstly, there is a new or living hope the Christian has which is grounded in the Gospel of Jesus
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
Jesus is our hero who has conquered the darkness & defeated Satan
He has given Himself over to suffering & death so that He could be raised from the dead to show that God is greater than evil & death put together
The Christian will lose nothing because God’s power will be our shield
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
If anyone is in Christ, the old has gone & the new has come
What Jesus ultimately achieved was our relationship with God
We can freely come to God now with nothing hindering us
The “Emperor” & his evil ways have no power over this powerful hero
----------------
Finally, the apostle John shows that the “Emperor”, Satan himself, has no hold on the One who has attached himself to Jesus
18 We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
This is a great & mighty truth
----------------------------
Levi can be assured today that as he commits himself to Jesus, the opposite also happens - Jesus commits Himself to Levi
The promise to repent & be baptised is revealed in the forgiveness of sins & the gift of the Holy Spirit which is the presence of God Himself
The evil one cannot touch him says the apostle John
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
In Christ, we have been set free from the power & hold of sin & Satan
We still fail God & sin, but we cannot say the devil made me do it
The devil no longer has a hold on the child of God
Sin, no longer has a hold on the child of God
These are wonderful promises & truisms
------------------------
Before Levi is baptised we are going to enjoy a song that has become very meaningful to Levi
ITEM: “Is He Worthy” (John, Lexie, Jess & Jaime)
-----------------
BAPTISM
Levi, would you now confess Jesus “I believe that Jesus is Lord”
Q. Levi, do you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead?
The Scriptures say, “you shall be saved”
That is a wonderful state to be in - you are committing yourself to Christ & He is committing Himself to you
You aren’t living as a disciple of Jesus on your own, but Jesus will be living in you