[Richard Kennebeck] 43 years ago, I made a major commitment in my life to someone who's very special to me, somebody who had grown very special over the previous several years. That person, of course, is my wife, Emma. You know, Emma had the courage to walk up to me in the midst of a bunch of guys standing in freshmen registration line at Ambassador College 43, 45 years ago. You know, some might call that gutsy. I call that a godsend. Forty-three years ago, I made a commitment to love her, honor her, respect her, and cherish her for the rest of my physical life in good times and in bad times. Anyone who makes a serious commitment of marriage realizes that it represents and requires an important change in your life. That change impacts you for the rest of your life. It's a commitment that you can't easily walk away from. You can't come home from a hard day at work and just say, "You know, honey, I'm tired of this. I can't take it anymore. I think I'm going to leave now." Now, I know, unfortunately, that happens too often in this world. But when we marry somebody, it is for your life. It's a covenant that you've committed to for life, you know, and if you commit to that marriage and follow God's way of life, follow His way that God has set before us for marriage, you reap the blessings that come from it.

You know, just two years after we were married, my wife and I made a second, even more, important commitment. Now, I know you think you know where I'm going. Children, right? No. We got baptized. We got baptized. Children's a big commitment that came along later in our marriage. But in 1979, Emma and I kept the face… or kept the Feast of Trumpets in Lexington, Kentucky. And as the sun was setting on that high Holy Day, we both went under the water and raised in baptism. We were raised, a new child of God. That covenant we made in marriage was incredibly important and profound but this commitment that we made at the time of baptism was far more important and far more life-altering. Marriage impacts our life now, our physical life and it's important to us, but baptism impacts not only our life now, but our life eternal, everlasting.

What is baptism? What's the meaning and symbolism of baptism? What did you say or agreed to at baptism? Or if you're not baptized yet, what will be said to you when you are baptized? I'd like to go through some of those things today. This isn't a sermon on marriage at all, but there's a lot of commitment that is in very much alike between marriage and between baptism and our relationship with God. So what is baptism? You know, the first couple of verses of Hebrews 6, and we can begin turning there, we read a list of important doctrines, foundational doctrines that were found in the Christian Church. We'll actually read these doctrines, but I'd like to move back to Hebrews 5, actually. And we'll start in verse 12 through 14. We'll get a bit of the context here. Little bit of the context of these foundational doctrines that are so important to us.

Hebrews 5:12, "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God." You know, the writer here is telling those he's writing to that, hey, you know, by now you should have a better understanding of this way of life, but apparently, you don't. "And you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe." Verse 14, "But solid food belongs to those who are a full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." And now we just continue right on into the next paragraph, Hebrews 6:1-2, "Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, or maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and a faith towards God of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment." Six doctrines of the church. Baptism are listed among them. These are all doctrines that are important for us to understand and we should be able to comprehend their foundations of our belief.

My wife and I listened to a Bible app on the way to and from work. We're reading through the Bible. We've actually, I think, gone through it three times now. And in the book of Genesis, you hear a lot about covenants. Covenants, 23 times, it's talked about in the book of Genesis alone. You hear of covenants between God and Noah. First, that He would save them, and second, that He would never cause a flood to kill everyone on earth. And then you hear of other covenants between God and Abraham, God and Isaac, God and Jacob, and others to name just a few. Well, baptism is a covenant with God. It's the single most important covenant that we as humans will make in our physical life.

It's a covenant by which we accept that we're sinners and that we need God and Jesus Christ in our lives. Through baptism, we accept the life, the death, and the resurrection of the old man that we are, the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ in our lives. And once we make that covenant, we can't turn back without dire consequences. You know, baptism is a symbolic death, burial, and rising, a resurrection from a grave. When we're plunged into that water and it covers us completely, it symbolizes our death and the burial of our old self. It symbolizes the desire to change into a new person, into a new man, a new relationship with our father in Jesus Christ. When you're immersed into that water, you would die if you didn't come up. How long can you hold your breath?

You know, my grandchildren and I used to play this game when we were in the pool or the hot tub, how long can you hold your breath? They were pretty young at the time, maybe 30 seconds, maybe 35 seconds. There I was amazed I could hold my breath for a little over two minutes, but, you know, I couldn't do it much longer than that. My lungs were already burning by that time. If I didn't come up, I would have died. When we're baptized, we would die if we weren't brought back up under that water. Brought up into the air if we didn't rise, but we do rise symbolically as somebody who died and comes up anew.

Let's turn to Romans 6. Paul talks about the change of the old man, the old person into a new man, a new person. He explains that baptism represents the death, the burial of our old self of the old man, of the old woman who lives separate from God, the old self who believed that he couldn't live or that he could live without God. Romans 6:1. Romans 6:1, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" Verse 3, "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death?" Again, going down into that water, pictures the death of Christ and the death of our old self. Continuing to verse 4, "Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also shall walk in newness of life. "Verse 5, "For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection." Coming up out of that water pictures Christ's resurrection and our spiritual resurrection from the old ways of life.

Verse 6, "Knowing this, that our old man, our old self was crucified with Him that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves to sin for He who has died has been freed from sin." Verse 8, "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him." Through baptism and, and laying on of the hands, we can live with Christ as a new person. How do we do this? How do we live with Christ as a new person? What we put on Christ. Just as it says in Galatians 3:26 and 26, "For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ, Jesus." Then verse 27, Galatians 3 says, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

After we put to death that old man through repentance and baptism, we put on Christ by receiving the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands. It is through that that we can become a new person, a new man. You know, the process of becoming a new man doesn't happen immediately. It doesn't happen right after we are baptized. We don't raise up out of that water and all of a sudden feel like we've been changed in a manner that we can tell. It's a process over a lifetime. You know, I grew up in a household that one of my parents kept God's way. And I began thinking about baptism as a young teenager and then an older teenager but, you know, I never felt good enough to be baptized. I continually put it off, put off baptism, waiting until a time when I was worthy of being baptized, I was good enough to be baptized. In essence, I needed to be better and more perfect, I felt before I could be baptized. You know, it took me several years to realize that I was missing a critical, important part of bass baptism. One of the central themes of baptism, baptism wasn't a seal or a testimony that said I was good enough, it was actually a seal or testament that I wasn't good enough. That I needed something else.

It was a statement that I was a sinner and my life was a sinner and I needed to change. And more importantly, that I couldn't do it on my own. That I needed something else, I needed the Holy Spirit. You know, baptism to me was a change from self-reliance to God-reliance. From self-reliance to God reliance, a change from the old Richard who said, "I can do it on my own. I can be perfect. I can be righteous on my own." To a new one that said, "I need Jesus Christ living in me. I cannot do it on my own." There is more to it than just obeying the commandments. There's more to it than just obeying the law. I needed the Spirit. And that no matter what I had done, God could forgive me of it. He could forgive me of it and He could receive me in His arms. It took a long time for me to figure that out as a teen, but it was central to my understanding of why I needed to be baptized.

You know, that leads us to the next question about baptism, is that, should we actually be doing it today? There are some churches who don't baptize today. They feel it's an archaic ritual, no longer needed, but you know, let's take a look at what the Bible, the New Testament has about examples that show us that it is something that we still need to do today. Matthew 28:18-20, the book of Matthew concludes with Christ commission to the church, Matthew 28:18. Because here Jesus is talking to the disciples after His resurrection and giving them the great commission. These are all words that we probably know very well. Matthew 28:18, it says, "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and in earth.’" So this is being spoken with the authority given to Jesus Christ by the father. Verse 19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Verse 20, “'Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”

They were supposed to go out and make disciples. But one of the responsibilities they were supposed to do is not only make disciples but to baptize them. They were to baptize. You know, Jesus Himself shows that you're supposed to be baptized even today. Matthew 3:13-17. Matthew 3:13 shows us an example of Jesus Christ as an adult being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. Matthew 3. We'll actually be turning back to Matthew 3 a few times, so if you have one of those little ribbons, you might want to put it there. Matthew 3 beginning in verse 13, it says, "Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’ But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he, John allowed Him." Jesus was baptized as an example. He didn't need to be baptized. He'd never commit any sin. He was without sin. He didn't need to bury any sin, but He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness, showing what a righteous person should do. But, you know, Jesus also showed in another way that we should be baptizing. You know, Jesus baptized more people than John the Baptist did.

John 4:1. John 4:1 says, "Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John…" Now He didn't do it himself. His disciples did, which is what verse 2 says, "Though Jesus himself did not baptize, but His disciples." So Jesus was showing an example of what His disciples were supposed to do. So when He came to the time of Matthew 28, the disciples already knew how to baptize because they'd been doing it all along to disciples. Jesus set an example and a commission to the church to baptize. So how did Jesus and John, the Baptist baptized people? How did they do it in the New Testament church, baptizing, new converts? Immersion, sprinkling dipping, pouring? You know, there are several examples in the Bible that show how it was done. John the Baptist was found baptizing at the Jordan River because as John 3:23 says, "Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there."

Acts 8:36-39. We'll turn there. Acts 8:36-39. Another example of much water. Matthew 8… or Acts 8:36, "Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch…" This is the Ethiopian eunuch with Philip “And eunuch said, ‘See, here is water. What hinders us from being baptized?’" You know, this would have been a perfect time for Phillip to say, "Oh, wait, you don't need to be baptized anymore. Christ died, He was buried. That's all gone, done away with. Don't need to worry about it." But no, verse 37, "Then Phillip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’" Verse 38, "So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Phillip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him." Verse 39, "Now when they came up out of the water…" We'll stop there. But there was enough water that they could actually go into it and come out of it. These are just two examples in the Bible of baptism with much water.

You know, the word baptism is a word that was not in most cases translated when the Greek… or when they translate it into the English language, typically it was just made Anglicized. They switched Baptismo or baptizo to baptize, English. That's typically what they did. According to the New Testament, lexicon, King James version baptizo, which is where the word baptism comes from means to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge as in a sinking vessel to cleanse by dipping or submerging. One example of ancient use of this can be found in ancient literature. Some ancient authors, when they're writing about the same time as the New Testament when they wrote about Naval battles, would actually talk about ships being baptized, being sunk to the floor of the sea. They called that being baptized.

Another author, which I found interesting writing at the time close to the early church wrote down a recipe for making pickles. And it actually teaches a lesson about the word baptized. In an article from Bible Study Magazine by James Boice from May 1989, he writes, "The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician, Nicander, who lived about 200 BC. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses two related words." The Greek word, bapto, and baptizo.” Baptizo being the word used for baptism. Nicander says that “In order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be ‘dipped’ which is bapto, into boiling water and then ‘baptized' (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs contain the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptizing the vegetable in vinegar, produces a permanent change.” Likewise, baptism is supposed to make a permanent change in us, not just the temporary change. We're to be completely submerged and made changed. And many passages in the New Testament talk of baptism as being connected to the death, burial, and resurrection. When we go to a funeral and somebody is buried, do we just throw a little bit of sand and dirt on top of the coffin and then walk away? They are completely submerged in the dirt, completely covered in the dirt, not just sprinkled.

Let's look now at who should be baptized. Should babies and small children be baptized, or is it just for adults? You know, many religions practice baptism of children, of infants, quite young. And they usually use three arguments for this. One argument that they use is that baptism replaces circumcision which was done on youth, but we don't see any evidence of that being the case in the New Testament. Another is that they say evidence from the earliest Christian churches, earliest days of the Christian Church, that infants were baptized. But when you actually research into that, we find that those writers come from the 200 years after the last apostle died. One other thing they use for it is that Christ picked up the little children and blessed them. But, again, we see no connection between that in baptism.

Now, what does the Bible teach? Bible teaches that it has to be somebody who is old enough to comprehend and believe in what they're doing, to understand repentance and baptism. You know, Jesus Christ is our example. He was without sin, but yet He was baptized as an adult. There is no indication He was baptized as a child. We can go to Acts 2:37-38. This is the Pentecost sermon. We can see in this, some of the requirements of being baptized. Acts 2:37-38, Peter says, or rather there's a multitude he's speaking to. And as he just finishes his speech, his sermon, the multitude assembled asks, "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men, and brethren, what shall we do?'" Verse 38, "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’"

In multiple places in the New Testament, we see that repentance is connected to baptism. Obviously, babies don't understand repentance. I mentioned to you earlier that I was raised in a household where one of my parents was in the faith. My father was a Lutheran. So when I was a tiny little baby, I was taken to the Lutheran church and I was sprinkled. I don't remember anything about what happened. I've got a little certificate, a little book that has all the information about it. I could not repent of anything. I had no idea what sin was. I didn't know anything that I had done wrong. In fact, I was so young, besides crying, I couldn't even communicate with anyone. I knew nothing about these things that are important, to be baptized. It requires an individual with a level of maturity and understanding and commitment to count the costs that you're being asked to make. Baptism is reserved for people old enough to understand and to may able to make a decision and a commitment to a way of life that will lead to eternity.

Let's go to Hebrews 6. I'd like to take a look at a word in Hebrew 6:1-2 that you may not have noticed before, you might have. It took me a few years to really notice this word because I missed a word in Hebrew 6. Read right over. Didn't really pay attention for many, many years. Let's go ahead and read it. “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith towards God," verse 2, "And of the doctrine of baptisms." Did you notice that? There's an S on baptisms. It's plural. Actually, it's even more than plural. There's more than one type of baptism.

So let's take a look at those types of baptisms. Let's go back to Matthew 3. Matthew 3:7. We're back here with John the Baptist baptizing again, just before the time that Jesus Christ is baptized. Matthew 3:7, because we'll see the three different baptisms here. Matthew 3 starting in verse 7, "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit worthy of repentance,’” now let's drop down to verse 11. "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. I will baptize you… or He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Did you catch the three different baptisms that are referred to in Hebrews 6:2? Baptism of water and to repentance, baptism with the Holy Spirit, and baptism with fire. We all should want the first two, repentance with water and the Holy Spirit. You don't want to be baptized with fire. John, the Baptist was baptizing with water. That's the same baptism that we are baptized with today, that we receive today. We repent and we're baptized, but we also have something additional that we are baptized with. In verse 11, John, the Baptist says that one that comes after him, Jesus Christ, would also baptize with something additional that would go beyond what John the Baptist was baptizing with. Jesus would add the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

You can go ahead and hold your place here. Let's turn to Acts 1:4. Acts 1:4. These verses in Acts 1 take place after Jesus was resurrected and before the time of the first Pentecost. Jesus has given additional instructions to His disciples here. Acts 1:4 says, "And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, 'you have heard from Me.'" Jesus had spent quite a bit of time on Passover evening before He died talking about the promise of the comforter from the Father. In verse 5, we see the connection with baptism. Verse 5, it says, "for John truly baptized with water,” that's that first baptism that was talked about in Matthew 3, the baptism with water and to repentance. "For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

That's the second baptism that John mentioned, John, the Baptist on Matthew 3, and that we find in Hebrew 6. The baptism with the Holy Spirit, the immersion into the Holy Spirit, that's what the disciples were going to receive on Pentecost. A few days later when they were filled with and baptized by the Holy Spirit. We can also take part in that. We can also be baptized with the Holy Spirit today. When we're baptized, come up from that water, and hands are laid on us and the Holy Spirit enters us through the laying on of hands and the prayer. We can receive that. But what about the baptism of fire? What is that? What's that third baptism that John the Baptist talked about? Let's go back to Matthew 3 again.

You know, some people say that you want the baptism of fire, that it's a good thing. It's maybe the baptism of the trials that we get that mature us. You know, you hear once a while baptism of fire, those trials, we may go through, fiery trials. Some people think it's speaking of tongues, some people think it's those cloven tongues of fire that rested on the apostles on that Pentecost. But, you know, let's let John explain it, Matthew 3:11 because he immediately explains it. "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." And then he explains the baptism of fire in verse 12, "His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." That's the baptism of fire. It's reserved for those who will not repent, will not obey God, refuse to the very end to obey God. They will be burned up like chaff. If they fix their life on the world and on ungodly ways and contrary to God and will not change, they will be baptized with fire, with the immersion into the lake of fire, that second and eternal death.

Let's now move on to the baptism ceremony itself because you may have been baptized one year ago, 10 years, 20 years, 30, 40 years ago. I mean, how many remember what was said at your baptism? You know, I'm sure we don't. We typically would forget those sorts of things. You know, and there are some here who may be looking forward to baptism and are wondering, you know, "What is it like? What happens at baptism? What is said at baptism? What do I have to agree to at baptism?" Well, let's actually go ahead and read the ceremony of baptism as it's performed within United Church of God. And its essence hasn't changed at all through the probably 40, 50, 60 years of the Church of God.

Typically the individual prior to the ceremony has gone through counseling to help them understand what God is looking forward to in this new child that He is going to have, that He's called. And that person is counseled, help him understand. And then you have the ceremony and the ceremony goes like this. The minister asks, "Have you repented of your sins?" And the person responds “Yes.” The minister asks, "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior?" And the person responds “Yes.” And then the minister states, "Since you," and you can put your name in there. "Since you, Richard Kennebeck, have repented of your sins, which are contrary to and against God's holy righteous and perfect law and since you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, your Lord and your Master, your High Priest and soon coming King, I now baptize you, not into any sect or denomination of this world, but into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. I do this in, by, and through the name and authority of Jesus Christ for the remission of all your sins. Amen.”

That's the beginning of your new life, of a new creation, of a new man, of a new woman. That's what you agreed to, that covenant with God that you agreed to or will agree to if you haven't been baptized yet. And when we look at that, we see three things, that we affirm, that we repented of our sins, not only of the ones that we know about but of a lifestyle, of a way of life, of our sinful nature. A second thing is we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. And thirdly, that we are baptized into the family of God, not into a denomination, not into a Church, but into the family of God. And then after we're immersed in the water, we rise up out of that water, the Holy Spirit enters us through the laying on of hands and the prayer for that Holy Spirit. And it's at that time that we are baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Let's turn to John 14. John 14. This is that Jesus' last Passover again. And as much to tell the disciples before His crucifixion, and He's talking about the comforter, the Holy Spirit that is going to come to them. John 14:16, "And I pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees it nor knows it; but you know it for it dwells with you and will be in you." Let's drop down to verse 23, "Jesus answered and said to him, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our homes with him.’" This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit living within us, Jesus Christ and God, the Father, making their home inside of us through their Spirit, through the laying on of the hands.

But you don't become perfect right away. When you come up of water and the Holy Spirit enters you, we don't immediately become perfect. It's a process. I remember when I was baptized, I felt so clean. I felt like a newborn babe. Forgiveness, forgiven of all the sins, starting out a new and fresh life. I felt great. And then I sinned. And I asked for forgiveness and then I sinned again and I asked for forgiveness again and then I sinned again. You know, I wondered if it took. It worried me a little bit. To be honest, I felt a bit discouraged. But then I began to understand more about what had happened, more about how God was working with me and I was encouraged to understand that God was growing inside me, a new child, a new creation that yes, it took time, but it was a new Richard. It was a Richard that He wanted to have in His family for all eternity.

That repentant process that you have before baptism is an ongoing process. It's lifelong. It doesn't start and end with baptism. That's just the beginning. You know, we must continually ask God to reveal those things that need to be changed in us. We need to submit to Him more. We need to ask for His help. We need to ask for His Holy Spirit, for more of His Holy Spirit. That process is going to take us a lifetime that we've committed to, to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We need to continually ask for repentance, continually look at our in inner heart to resist the evils of this world, ask for their Holy Spirit, become more like our Father in Jesus Christ.

You know, baptism does not guarantee salvation. We've got to do our part. We've got to run the race to the end. Baptism is an outward center symbol of an inward commitment that we are and have made as a Christian. It's the beginning of the salvation process, a process that will culminate in the change of these physical bodies into spirit bodies like Jesus Christ. Baptism isn't a one-time event. It doesn't end with the final prayer at that baptism ceremony. It's just a wonderful beginning of a process. The process of becoming the son of God or a daughter of God, a new creation that will be part of the very family of God. You know, going down into that water pictures the death of Jesus Christ and of our old person, the person we once were. Coming up out of it pictures the resurrection, Jesus Christ's resurrection, the resurrection of our physical bodies to a spiritual way of life, to a new person, to a day, to a time when we walk from that day forward in newness of life.

You know, my wife and I had our children at home with the assistance of midwives. What a wonderful time that was, to be part of that process of this young child coming into this earth. The joy we felt with the birth of those children. You know, looking down at that newborn baby and holding that precious life in our hands was a profound experience, incredible experience filled with deep joy, the potential of that child. But, you know, I have to say it was more exciting when I saw my children be baptized, to be born into another family, the same family that I had been born into as physical new creations in the family of God, looking forward to a spiritual birth as a spiritual member of His family. That was far more exciting to see that happen. You know, what a wonderful blessing it is that God gave us a ceremony of baptism, the laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit that He wants to live within us to have us baptized with water and with the Holy Spirit. And it's a major step in building an internal relationship with our Father and with Jesus Christ. I'm sure they watch with great joy as each of us comes to repentance and baptism into their name and become part of their cherished family just as I saw so much potential in my young children. They look at us as we go through that process and see even greater potential in us.