Flipped: Baptism and New Life in Christ

Aug 23, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: From Persecutor to Preacher: The Flip That Changes Everything

Paul’s life transformed from holding coats at Stephen’s stoning to writing letters of hope. His story reveals that encountering Jesus doesn’t just tweak priorities—it reverses them entirely. The same power that flipped Paul’s hatred into devotion still reshapes lives today. Baptism declares this radical shift: death to old ways, resurrection to new purpose. Every testimony of faith is a ripple from the stone Jesus dropped into history’s pond. [17:04]

“But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”
(Acts 9:1-2, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you sense Jesus inviting you to “flip” an area of resistance into surrender? How might your story of transformation encourage someone still in darkness?

Day 2: Fuel for the Journey: Prayers That Propel Purpose

The Colossian church thrived because Paul prayed relentlessly for their spiritual wisdom. Fuel isn’t stored in tanks but in knees bent and pages turned. Just as a car stalls without petrol, faith falters without prayer and Scripture. God’s Word isn’t a textbook to study but a love letter to ignite. [21:26]

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”
(Colossians 1:9, ESV)

Reflection: What “empty tank” in your life needs refilling through prayer? Who could you persistently pray for this week, believing God will fuel their faith?

Day 3: Buried to Bloom: The Fruit Hidden in Water’s Depths

Baptism’s dunk isn’t theater—it’s a funeral for the self-made life. Going under the water means letting old habits, grudges, and lies drown. Rising up signals fruit growing in sunlight: patience, joy, endurance. Fruit isn’t forced but forged in daily surrender. [29:04]

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
(Romans 6:4, ESV)

Reflection: What “dead seed” needs burying so Christ’s life can sprout? Where have you seen unexpected fruit grow from seasons of surrender?

Day 4: Qualified by the King: Your Receipt of Redemption

No resume earns heaven. The Father qualifies rebels by transferring them from darkness to His Son’s kingdom. Redemption isn’t a coupon—it’s a courtroom verdict declaring “debt paid.” Baptism’s water can’t save, but it shouts the cross’s “It is finished!” [27:12]

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
(Colossians 1:13-14, ESV)

Reflection: What shameful “receipt” do you still clutch, forgetting Christ tore it up? How would living as royalty change your choices today?

Day 5: Inheriting Light: Walking Worthy Without Weighing Scales

Walking “worthy” sounds like earning, but it’s really receiving. The saints’ inheritance isn’t a trophy case—it’s a daily feast of grace. God’s strength fuels our steps; His patience covers our stumbles. Baptism isn’t graduation but a first step into lifelong dependence. [26:33]

“Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
(Colossians 1:12, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you confuse “working for” with “walking with” God? What inheritance gift (peace, purpose, belonging) do you need to unwrap today?

Sermon Summary

Colossians 1:9-14 brings baptism day back to the heart of Christian life: a life that has been flipped by meeting Jesus. Paul had once wanted the church destroyed, with believers dead, jailed, or chased away, but Christ met him and turned persecuting into preaching, destruction into dedication. That same flip gives shape to the six baptisms, because baptism is not a nice religious add-on, but a public sign that Jesus has changed the whole direction of a life.

Paul begins with fuel. Colossians shows that Christianity is relationship before it is rules: people pray to God, and God speaks through his word. The fuel for walking with Christ is being “filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” God’s word makes God known, not as a vague idea, but as the God who defines love, shows patience, and gives understanding that turns into action. Paul had never even visited the church in Colossae, yet he continually prayed for them, and that makes prayer for newly baptized believers a serious and loving work.

Colossians then moves to fruit. The text calls believers “to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,” but it does not say, “scrub your life up, and then God might love you.” The fruit of good works grows from God’s strength, not from human effort trying to impress him. God strengthens according to his glorious might, gives endurance and patience with joy, and qualifies his people for the inheritance of light. The Christian life is real obedience, but it is obedience held up by grace.

Colossians finally lays the foundation. God has delivered his people from the domain of darkness and transferred them to the kingdom of his beloved Son. Redemption means the debt is paid, sins are forgiven, and the record is cleared as if it never happened at all. Christ lived the perfect life that sinners would never live, then gave his life willingly on the cross as a sacrifice in their place. Baptism pictures that gospel: going down into the water as death to the old life, being buried, and rising again to new life in Christ. The water does not create the flip, but it shows the world that Jesus is Saviour and Lord, and that from now on he directs the path.

Key Takeaways

1. Jesus truly flips a life. Paul’s story shows that no one is too hard, too hostile, or too far away for Christ to turn around. The change from persecuting the church to building it up was not self-improvement, but an encounter with Jesus. Baptism makes that same kind of change visible: the old direction is named as dead, and a new allegiance is declared. [17:35]
2. Prayer is love with backbone. Paul had never visited Colossae, yet he gave himself to praying for believers there. Prayer is not a soft extra around the edges of church life, but one of the ways God strengthens people who have just stepped into open obedience. Newly baptized believers need more than applause; they need a church that remembers them before God. [23:21]
3. God’s word fuels real obedience. Spiritual wisdom is not just knowing religious facts, and spiritual understanding is not just having nice thoughts about God. God’s word reveals who he is, then trains believers to act in step with what he has shown. The fuel comes before the walk, because God makes himself known before he calls a person to bear fruit. [23:50]
4. Grace grows fruit, not pride. Colossians calls for a worthy walk, but it refuses the lie that people must scrub life up before God will love them. God strengthens, God qualifies, and God gives endurance with joy. Christian obedience is not a performance to earn acceptance, but fruit growing from a life already held by Christ. [25:17]
5. Baptism pictures gospel burial and life. Going under the water points to death and burial, not just a moment of religious emotion. Coming up from the water points to new life given generously by Christ. The picture says that Jesus is not only Saviour from sin, but Lord over the path ahead.

## [28:39]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[14:09] - Back With the Church Family
[15:20] - Baptism and Big Questions
[15:48] - Colossians 1:10, the Verse for the Year
[16:13] - Fuel, Fruit, Foundation, and Flipped
[17:04] - Paul’s Life Turned Around
[18:40] - God Speaks Through His Word
[19:48] - Reading Colossians 1:9-14
[21:26] - Fuel: Filled With God’s Will
[22:30] - Christianity as Relationship, Not Rules
[23:21] - Praying for the Baptism Candidates
[24:56] - Fruit: Walking Worthy by God’s Strength
[26:55] - Foundation: Delivered Into Christ’s Kingdom
[28:39] - What Baptism Pictures
[30:07] - The Light That Changes Lives

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Colossians 1:9-14
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” [19:48] [21:26]

Acts 7:58
“Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.” [17:10]

John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” [27:34]

Observation questions

In Colossians 1:9-14, what does Paul say he keeps doing for these believers, and what exactly is he asking God to give them? [21:26]
According to Colossians 1:10-12, what kinds of fruit or results show up in a life that is walking in a manner worthy of the Lord? [24:56]
What words in Colossians 1:13-14 describe what God has done for his people, and how many of those actions are things God does rather than things people do for themselves? [26:55]
What does baptism picture about the old life and the new life in Christ? [28:39]

Interpretation questions

Paul prays that believers would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will “in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” How does that help explain that Christianity is more than just knowing facts or following rules? [22:30]
Paul says believers should “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,” but he also says they are “being strengthened with all power” by God. How do those two truths fit together without turning the Christian life into either laziness or self-salvation? [25:17]
Acts 7:58 shows Saul standing near the murder of Stephen, yet Colossians comes from Paul the apostle encouraging the church. What does that change say about how far the grace of Christ can reach? [17:35]
Colossians 1:13-14 speaks about being delivered from darkness, transferred into Christ’s kingdom, and forgiven. How does that help explain why baptism is a sign of a changed life rather than just a religious ceremony? [29:38]

Application questions

Paul did not merely admire believers from a distance; he prayed for them. Who are one or two Christians right now—especially younger believers or those taking new steps of obedience—that could be remembered regularly in prayer this week? What would specific prayer for them sound like? [23:21]
God’s word is the fuel for knowing him and walking with him. What does that honestly look like in daily life just now? Is Scripture mostly an occasional extra, or is it actually shaping the way decisions, reactions, and priorities are handled? [23:50]
A worthy walk is not about scrubbing life up so that God might love someone. Where is the temptation strongest to try to impress God, impress other Christians, or hide weakness instead of leaning on God’s strength? [25:17]
God has delivered his people from the domain of darkness and transferred them into the kingdom of his beloved Son. Where does darkness still seem to tug hardest—old habits, guilt, fear, bitterness, secrecy, pride? What would it look like to live more honestly as someone who now belongs to Christ’s kingdom? [26:55]
Baptism pictures death to the old life and rising to new life in Christ. For someone who has already been baptized, what part of the “old life” still needs to be treated as buried rather than kept alive? [28:51]
Jesus is not only Saviour but Lord, the one who directs the path ahead. In what area of life is it hardest just now to let him set the direction—relationships, money, time, private habits, future plans, or something else? [29:38]
Paul’s story shows that Jesus can flip a life completely. Is there anyone who seems too far gone, too cynical, too hostile, or too uninterested to ever change? How might this truth reshape the way that person is prayed for and spoken to? [30:07]

Sermon Clips

52s

#FromDarknessToLight

“How can this be? When he talks about going from darkness to light and living in this inheritance of the saints of light, what does that mean? How do we live that way? Well, the last two verses tell us. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. That's Jesus, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. This is the gospel. This is a thing that if you hear anything... I think I've said that twice, but keep hearing anyway. But if hear anything, hear this. That at the very foundation of Christianity is the truth. That the hope that we have is found in not what we've done, in what Jesus has done.”

56s

#JesusTheLight

“If you have never been baptized, if this is your first time in church, then this is your opportunity to see what's taken place, to listen to their testimonies, and to think for yourself, who is this who changes lives from being destroying the church to devoted to the church, from persecuting the church to preaching for the church. And our prayer is that you will discover he is the light that shines in the darkness, In your darkness, the world's darkness, he is the one who makes a way for us to have that wonderful relationship with him, to live in the beauty of his love, and discover what it means to live in life everlasting. Living life that is abundant, in its fullness, in its beauty, the way you are made to live.”

57s

#ChosenAndQualified

“God who could have abandoned us, left us, ignored us, has committed himself to be for us and strengthening us and to be our very hope that we have. He has, verse 12 says, qualified Not because you're good enough, but because God himself has qualified How can this be? When he talks about going from darkness to light and living in this inheritance of the saints of light, what does that mean? How do we live that way? Well, the last two verses tell us. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. That's Jesus, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

43s

#BaptismNewLife

“We're going see a picture of that when we go into this water in a moment. We're going to see the the candidates going down into the water, which is a symbol of them dying to their old life. They're saying, I've been flipped. I no longer want to live for myself. I now live for Christ. When they are flat in the water, not for long, but when they're flat in the water, it represents that they've been buried. Their old life is gone. And when they come back out of the water, it's a representation of new life, as they now have this new life found only in Christ, but given to them generously and graciously by him.”

66s

#TransformedLikePaul

“Paul at one point was a man who who the one thing he wanted to see was the church destroyed. The one thing he wanted to do was find every believer in Jesus and either put him in jail or he held the coats because he didn't wanna get his own hands dirty. But in Acts, we're told that the fact that he held the coats in Acts seven as the mob stoned Stephen, the first recorded Christian martyr, to death. That was his desire, to see them dead, imprisoned, or chased away. That was his longing. And yet we're about to read a letter that he wrote to a people in Colossae, which came to be known as Colossians, the letter of Colossians, to encourage them in their faith. What happened? That this man went from persecuting to preaching, and from destruction to dedication. But what happened in his life is he met with Jesus, and everything changed.”

40s

#WalkWorthily

“That's not the language that we see here at all. It's also not what we see revealed in His Son, Jesus Christ. But see the language being used here. He says, Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. You were ready for that one. Right? Walk like you're meant to walk. You expected that, but look at the next part. Bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge, being strengthened with all power. Not in your own strength, but being strengthened by God, who, according to his glorious might, according to his strength, has committed himself to you.”

50s

#RelationshipNotRulebook

“Similarly, as Paul is writing, he's writing to encourage the church here in Colossae. He's explaining again to these two things that you hold onto. The thing I want you to notice, particularly if you've never really known much about Christianity, I want you to notice the two things. They're spoken, aren't they? We pray to God, and God speaks to us by his word. Biggest thing I'd love you to take away about Christianity is that it's a relationship. It isn't about rules, but we'll talk a bit about fruit in a minute, which has to do with rules. It is ultimately about a relationship between us and our creator, who made us and loved us intentionally, and has made himself known to us through his wonderful word.”

41s

#CommittedToJesus

“As you watch this, as you hear the testimonies of six people who have been flipped for the Lord, here are some questions you might want to think about. For our six, today is a special day of obedience. You are committing, you are testifying as you declare that you want to live for Jesus. You are agreeing that he is both your saviour, the one who died for you, but also your lord. From now on, he directs your paths. For us as a church, we have been reminded of those who have been baptized that this is a commitment we made, and it is just as real today as it was when we went through that water of believers' baptism.”

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