Embracing Faith: Baptism and the Mystery of the Trinity
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
"We are so excited to celebrate some baptisms today. We've got three baptisms, starting with a young guy that's been through our basic beliefs class led by Cheryl, our senior children's minister. And she's got the privilege of baptizing him to show that he believes in Jesus as his Savior and Lord. So Cheryl, I'll let you take it from here." [00:10:09]
"And Elizabeth was sharing with me this week as we talked in preparation that she's been a follower of Jesus. You can have a seat. She's been a follower of Jesus for a while and hadn't been able to get baptized and decided that it was just time to get it done. Right. And you trust in Jesus as your Savior and Lord. All right, my sister, why don't you put that hand right there? Yeah. That will face up. There you go. Well, based on your profession of faith, it's my honor to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. You're buried with Christ." [00:10:55]
"Then we have Marie. Marie was recently at our Becoming a Member class where we talk about baptism and what it means and why it's important once you've trusted in Christ. And I think that might have been kind of the deciding factor for you, right? You trust in Jesus as your Savior and Lord. All right, my sister, well, based on your profession of faith, it's my honor to baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Buried with Christ." [00:11:37]
"Well, that was a prayer by St. Patrick. And what most people associate St. Patrick's Day tomorrow, what most people associate it with are like leprechauns and shamrocks and wearing green so you don't get pinched. But I want you to know about the real St. Patrick and the real purpose of the day. The legacy of St. Patrick is much more inspiring than what most people know. He is actually a hero of the Christian faith. And while St. Patrick's Day now is seen as a celebration of all things Irish, the origin of this holiday was actually about spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ." [00:32:15]
"Patrick wasn't actually Irish. Patrick was born in Britain in the late 300s AD. But as a teenager, he was captured. He was kidnapped and taken as a slave to Ireland. Eventually, he found freedom. He was released, or he escaped rather. And he actually felt led by God to go back to Ireland. And there, he spent the rest of his life as a missionary for the Lord Jesus Christ. Like I said, he's a hero of our faith. And one of the things that Patrick is well known for is using a shamrock to explain the Trinity." [00:32:55]
"ways to appreciate the Trinity, and I'll share some of those with you in a little bit. But at the same time, even with all the things that we have and all the ways we try to understand the Trinity, the reality is the beauty of the Trinity defies explanation. The Trinity defies explanation. There are just some things about God that we cannot know, because if we could understand everything about God, then that would make us God, right? There's just some things about God we can't know, and that's a good thing." [00:35:21]
"So any method that we use to try to explain the Trinity can eventually be picked apart, because we as humans trying to comprehend God is very much like an ant trying to comprehend Abraham Lincoln. It's a tall order. But today, as we think about Patrick, as we think about his focus on the Trinity, that focus on the Trinity that compelled his love for the Irish people to know Jesus, let's try our best today to understand the beauty of the Trinity. And I will begin by just humbly admitting I'm just an ant, but even my best attempt to explain the Trinity will be imperfect as well." [00:36:06]
"The word for Trinity was first used in the 100s AD, and it's a helpful word that describes what God is and who God is. So it tells us what God is and who God is. I'll say it this way. If you're looking at your notes, your digital bulletin, you see the Trinity describes what God is. He is one God. He is one God. He is not three separate gods. You know, one way that people have tried to explain the Trinity, they say, well, the Trinity is like an egg. There's the shell and the yolks and the white, but those are separate parts of the egg." [00:37:27]
"And although the word Trinity is not found in the Bible, the concept of the Trinity, the truth of the Trinity, is all over Scripture. I saw that one pastor made a list of 75 times that the concept of the Trinity is implied in the New Testament alone. And for me, two of the most clear places, most powerful places where we find the Father, Son, and Spirit are in the Gospel of Matthew. In Matthew chapter 3, we see where Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended on him, and the Father spoke from heaven to affirm Jesus as God the Son." [00:39:52]
"And so the reason we desperately need to better understand the Trinity is so that we can love God more fully so that we can love him more deeply and we can serve him more passionately. So with all of that in mind, let's now dig deep into this doctrine of the Trinity and let's look to God's Word, to the Bible, to discover who each person of the Trinity is, what each one does for us, and why our triune God is so marvelous and worthy of worship." [00:40:59]
"To follow Jesus doesn't mean you're perfect. To follow Jesus doesn't mean that you get it right all the time. To follow Jesus doesn't mean that you will never sin again, but it does mean that we learn more and more to submit to Him as Lord because we've received Him as Savior. Here's how we're told to live. Here's how we're told to do it in Colossians chapter 2, verse 6." [00:51:08]
"Now again, even drawings like this cannot fully explain the trinity or help us. First! make full sense of it. And that is a really good thing, because when we reach the end of our knowledge, we're reminded that we are not God, and He is. And this God who is so mighty and great that He's beyond comprehension, He loves us personally by name. And though we don't understand fully how God can be three in one, we can worship Him anyway. There is beauty, there is wonder, there is awe in the Trinity." [01:02:42]
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"And Elizabeth was sharing with me this week as we talked in preparation that she's been a follower of Jesus. You can have a seat. She's been a follower of Jesus for a while and hadn't been able to get baptized and decided that it was just time to get it done. Right. And you trust in Jesus as your Savior and Lord. All right, my sister, why don't you put that hand right there? Yeah. That will face up. There you go. Well, based on your profession of faith, it's my honor to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. You're buried with Christ." [00:10:55]
"Then we have Marie. Marie was recently at our Becoming a Member class where we talk about baptism and what it means and why it's important once you've trusted in Christ. And I think that might have been kind of the deciding factor for you, right? You trust in Jesus as your Savior and Lord. All right, my sister, well, based on your profession of faith, it's my honor to baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Buried with Christ." [00:11:37]
"Well, that was a prayer by St. Patrick. And what most people associate St. Patrick's Day tomorrow, what most people associate it with are like leprechauns and shamrocks and wearing green so you don't get pinched. But I want you to know about the real St. Patrick and the real purpose of the day. The legacy of St. Patrick is much more inspiring than what most people know. He is actually a hero of the Christian faith. And while St. Patrick's Day now is seen as a celebration of all things Irish, the origin of this holiday was actually about spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ." [00:32:15]
"Patrick wasn't actually Irish. Patrick was born in Britain in the late 300s AD. But as a teenager, he was captured. He was kidnapped and taken as a slave to Ireland. Eventually, he found freedom. He was released, or he escaped rather. And he actually felt led by God to go back to Ireland. And there, he spent the rest of his life as a missionary for the Lord Jesus Christ. Like I said, he's a hero of our faith. And one of the things that Patrick is well known for is using a shamrock to explain the Trinity." [00:32:55]
"ways to appreciate the Trinity, and I'll share some of those with you in a little bit. But at the same time, even with all the things that we have and all the ways we try to understand the Trinity, the reality is the beauty of the Trinity defies explanation. The Trinity defies explanation. There are just some things about God that we cannot know, because if we could understand everything about God, then that would make us God, right? There's just some things about God we can't know, and that's a good thing." [00:35:21]
"So any method that we use to try to explain the Trinity can eventually be picked apart, because we as humans trying to comprehend God is very much like an ant trying to comprehend Abraham Lincoln. It's a tall order. But today, as we think about Patrick, as we think about his focus on the Trinity, that focus on the Trinity that compelled his love for the Irish people to know Jesus, let's try our best today to understand the beauty of the Trinity. And I will begin by just humbly admitting I'm just an ant, but even my best attempt to explain the Trinity will be imperfect as well." [00:36:06]
"The word for Trinity was first used in the 100s AD, and it's a helpful word that describes what God is and who God is. So it tells us what God is and who God is. I'll say it this way. If you're looking at your notes, your digital bulletin, you see the Trinity describes what God is. He is one God. He is one God. He is not three separate gods. You know, one way that people have tried to explain the Trinity, they say, well, the Trinity is like an egg. There's the shell and the yolks and the white, but those are separate parts of the egg." [00:37:27]
"And although the word Trinity is not found in the Bible, the concept of the Trinity, the truth of the Trinity, is all over Scripture. I saw that one pastor made a list of 75 times that the concept of the Trinity is implied in the New Testament alone. And for me, two of the most clear places, most powerful places where we find the Father, Son, and Spirit are in the Gospel of Matthew. In Matthew chapter 3, we see where Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended on him, and the Father spoke from heaven to affirm Jesus as God the Son." [00:39:52]
"And so the reason we desperately need to better understand the Trinity is so that we can love God more fully so that we can love him more deeply and we can serve him more passionately. So with all of that in mind, let's now dig deep into this doctrine of the Trinity and let's look to God's Word, to the Bible, to discover who each person of the Trinity is, what each one does for us, and why our triune God is so marvelous and worthy of worship." [00:40:59]
"To follow Jesus doesn't mean you're perfect. To follow Jesus doesn't mean that you get it right all the time. To follow Jesus doesn't mean that you will never sin again, but it does mean that we learn more and more to submit to Him as Lord because we've received Him as Savior. Here's how we're told to live. Here's how we're told to do it in Colossians chapter 2, verse 6." [00:51:08]
"Now again, even drawings like this cannot fully explain the trinity or help us. First! make full sense of it. And that is a really good thing, because when we reach the end of our knowledge, we're reminded that we are not God, and He is. And this God who is so mighty and great that He's beyond comprehension, He loves us personally by name. And though we don't understand fully how God can be three in one, we can worship Him anyway. There is beauty, there is wonder, there is awe in the Trinity." [01:02:42]
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