Note: The following charge has been prepared for First Baptist Church of Ticonderoga, NY for a baptism service on September 7, 2025. I have made this public in advance for our church family to review before the baptism. I have removed the baptism candidate’s name and replaced it with “our Brother” for privacy.
I want to briefly discuss our responsibility as a church family to our Brother in preparation for our baptism service this afternoon. We often view water baptism as one-sided. We see the commitment of the individual, but we forget that this is an act of the church as well.
This is a charge to First Baptist Church that comes from Matthew 28:18-20:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18–20
We know the passage. This was Christ’s final commission (command) before he was taken up to the Father’s right hand. In it we find our basis for what we will do this afternoon. I want to draw some important observations from this passage before we baptize our Brother.
As we baptize our Brother, we are actively saying as a church family that we are submitting ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We truly believe that he has all authority in heaven and on earth, and we are again showing submission to his authority by obeying his command to make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
This means that this baptism service is an act of worship. We are worshiping our Triune God for his miraculous work in saving us from sin. We are obeying him as an act of worship.
We are also saying that we believe that our Brother is a disciple of the Lord Jesus. Only disciples are to be baptized. Disciples are made through the preaching of the Gospel, and they are publicly identified through water baptism. We, as a church family, are publicly identifying our Brother as a fellow believer, and this is biblically how we are to add him to our number in fellowship (Acts 2:41).
We are also publicly taking responsibility for our Brother to teach him to observe the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s not only the pastor and deacons who are taking this responsibility. All of us as disciples are taking that responsibility. We are taking responsibility for as long as our Brother is part of this church family to care for him spiritually in teaching him the commands of the Lord Jesus and helping him obey his commands.
We are also publicly and officially recognizing God’s work of rescuing him from sin. When we immerse him in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit we will be praising the Lord that he has joined our Brother to himself in salvation from sin through the work of Christ.
We are also recognizing the Lord Jesus’ presence with us according to his promise that as we make disciples, he is with us all the way to the end of the age.
So, our confession as a church as we baptize this disciple of Christ is this – We believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. He has died for our sins, has risen again, has ascended, and is seated at the Father’s right hand. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. In the meantime, he is with us as we follow him in this present age and expectantly look for the blessed hope of his return.
We are also confessing that we believe that our Brother has repented of his sins and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of his sins. We are also confessing that we believe that he seriously wants to obey the Lord Jesus’ commands as his disciple.
Our commitment before God as we baptize our Brother is that we are committed to partnering with him in Gospel mission. We are committed to teach and help him follow the commands of Christ as we await his coming. We are committed to care for him and receive care from him as followers of Christ. We are also committed to holding him accountable and to be held accountable by him as parts of the local church.
So, I ask you, “Church, is this our confession and commitment before God this afternoon?” If so, please respond by saying “Yes, it is!” (Vocal response from the congregation – “yes, it is”).
Our Brother is being baptized as his own public agreement with God that Jesus Christ is Lord. He is giving testimony that he believes that the Lord Jesus has died for his sins and risen again and he is united to Christ in his death and resurrection through faith. In conversion, Christ has given him the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the Father has called him to himself. This is his own public commitment before God and the world to follow Christ in fellowship with our church family. Is this your public confession and commitment, Brother? (Vocal response from baptism candidate – “Yes, it is.”)
Photo by Ryan Loughlin on Unsplash.
Bible Living Blog 