One Baptism

Hello All! I had a great church service today and thought I would share. I hope everyone had a blessed day as well:)

One Baptism-Biblical Precedent
* One of Jesus' last commands to His Disciples was to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19)
* At first Proclamation of the gospel on the Day of Pentecost immediately following Jesus burial and resurrection about 3000 "accepted this message and were baptized." (Acts 2:38-41)
* Upon hearing the gospel, an Ethiopian man asked, "Why shouldn't I be baptized?" The evangelist Phillip immediately baptized him. (Acts 8:26-38)
* Being confronted by God about his persecution of Christians, Saul had his sights restored through the ministry of Ananias. Later as Paul recounted the moment, he reported that after restoring his sight, Ananias said "And now what are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized and wash your sins, calling on the name of the Lord." (Acts 9:3-18)
* A Roman centurion heard the gospel through Peter whom God had prepared to deliver the message. Witnessing the outpouring of God's Spirit on Cornelius and his family, Peter asked, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water?" He then instructed that they be "baptized in the name of Jesus Christ." (Acts 10:9-48)
* Lydia, a business woman, listened to Paul proclaim the gospel on a riverbank in Philippi. As a direct result, "she and members of her household were baptized." (Acts 16:13-15)
* Being miraculously released from jail, Paul rescued the jailor from suicide. As a result the jailor asked "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Paul said, "believe in the Lord and you will be saved." Then the Bible says,.."immediately he and all his family were baptized." (Acts 16:25-34)
* A Jewish leader living in Corinth, Crispus heard the good news Paul preached. He with his entire household along with many other Corinthians "believed and were baptized." (Acts 18:7-8)
* Paul found a group of disciples in Ephesus who had never heard of the Holy Spirit. When Paul inquired about their baptism, they replied they had received "John's baptism" Paul explained the meaning of John's baptism. They were immediately "baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts 19:1-5)

**This is one of my favorite Bible scriptures on baptism...

"...having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you ALIVE with Christ. He FORGAVE us all our sins..." (Colossians 2:12-13)