All my life shall surely follow me, And in God's house forevermore My dwelling place shall be. People of God, we come now to the reading of the confessions for this morning. What we typically do in the evening, but if you would open to Forms and Prayers in the Forms and Prayers book, page 275, and then following that we'll turn to Acts chapter 16. We will continue our Mark series this evening, Lord willing. However, When considering what might be appropriate to accompany baptism, look ahead and we see that Article 17 of Heads 3-4 of the Canons of Dort, speak of the means of regeneration, speak of sacraments, this was appropriate. Mark Chapter 6 is about a prophet not being welcome in his hometown. It was a little less difficult to see how that would be appropriate, so we'll We'll look at Mark this evening and we'll look at Candace of Dorden Acts chapter 16 this morning. So article 17 there on page 275. It is a lengthier article. I will then read it individually. It will be a little bit difficult to stay together, so I'll read article 17. God's use of means in regeneration. Just as the almighty work of God by which he brings forth and sustains our natural life does not rule out but requires the use of means by which God, according to his infinite wisdom and goodness, has wished to exercise his power, So also the aforementioned supernatural work of God by which he regenerates us in no way rules out or cancels the use of the gospel, which God in his great wisdom has appointed to be the seed of regeneration and the food of the soul. For this reason, the apostles and the teachers who followed them taught the people in a godly manner about this grace of God to give him the glory and to humble all pride, and yet did not neglect, meanwhile, to keep the people by means of the holy admonitions of the gospel under the administration of the word, the sacraments, and discipline. So even today it is out of the question that the teachers or those taught in the church should presume to test God by separating what he in his good pleasure has wished to be closely joined together. For grace is bestowed through admonitions, and the more readily we perform our duty, the more lustrous the benefit of God working in us usually is, and the better his work advances to him alone. both for the means and for their saving fruit and effectiveness. All glory is owed forever. Amen. Our scripture passage is from Acts chapter 16. If you would turn to Acts chapter 16, that's page 1177 in most of the pew Bibles. Paul and Silas have been in Philippi. They have seen already the fruit of their preaching in the conversion of Lydia. They have cast out a demon of a young girl, and for this and for their preaching, they have been thrown in prison. And so we come to Acts chapter 16, verse 25 and we will read through verse 34. Acts chapter 16 beginning at verse 25. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, Do not harm yourself, for we are all here. And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household. And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house, and he took them that same hour of the night and washed their wounds and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them and he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God. So far, the reading of God's holy word. dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The preaching of the word, the sacraments, and especially church discipline, seem not only to be ordinary kinds of things, but also old-fashioned. Why, in the age of technology, when even the menu at McDonald's is a moving video board, would a body of believers gather together to hear the spoken word? Why in a day and age when one can comfortably order food and have it come to their own doorstep would a body of believers gather together to share in a particular kind of sacramental meal? Why, in a day and age when it's not even popular for parents to discipline their children, would a body of believers unite and hold to the truth that church discipline is a real thing? In other words, why in a day and age when it's unpopular for adults to discipline children, would a body of believers agree that it's appropriate and right for adults to discipline other adults? These things are old-fashioned. They are ordinary. It's just a spoken word. It's just a piece of bread. It's just water. It's discipline. But these means, these avenues, these instruments, these ways of doing things, the preaching of the word, the administration of the sacraments, the exercise of church discipline. These are what God has ordained for His church. And these means, which are often called the ordinary means of grace, they are what God has ordained. They are what God has commanded. They are also what God takes pleasure in when they are done. according to his will for God is pleased to build up the body of believers through the use of ordinary means. And that's what we'll be considering together this morning. God is pleased to build up the body of believers through the use of ordinary means. So we'll look at this first asking, what are the means? Second, why these means? And third, when to use these means? So first, what are the means? It has been said on the internet where way too many things are said, that Calvinism teaches, how shall they believe if they have not been regenerated? While Christianity teaches, how shall they believe if they have not heard? That is a quote from Romans But this is, of course, a false distinction, or to use the technical term, it's a false dichotomy. This is not an either-or, this is a both-and, and Calvinism, or biblical theology, clearly teaches this. There must be both regeneration by the Spirit and the preaching of the Word, the means which God is pleased to use. God is pleased to use the preaching of the word to call people to faith. Indeed, how shall they believe if they have not heard? This is true, though God works through preachers who are themselves only ordinary men, weak jars of clay, as the apostle says in 2 Corinthians 4. but this is what God is pleased to use. This is what God has commanded. And the term means of grace or means of regeneration, it doesn't exactly say means of grace in article 17, but these things are closely related. We might say means of regeneration is the less common, more particular term. These terms are then a helpful one because means, means the meaning of means is that these are the intermediaries. These are the ways in which God is pleased to accomplish his purpose. This is the instrument that God uses. These are the methods which God wants us to use. And so while the term means of grace is not found even exactly in our confessions or particularly those three words together in scripture, the church has long spoken of these things in this way. It is a helpful reminder that there are certain ways, certain means in which God works and in which God wants us to work as his people. But no term is perfect and the term means of grace. can perhaps be a little bit confusing because it can be used in a narrow sense or in a broad sense. So in the most narrow sense, it is the preaching of the Word and the sacraments. That's, we might say, the capital M means. Those are the main means of grace. And then very closely following on those heels, the third one mentioned by Article 17, because it speaks about by means of the holy admonitions of the gospel, under the administration of the word, the sacraments, and discipline." So our confessions add discipline. The Westminster, a shorter catechism we can use, does use the term means of grace and speaks a little bit more broadly. Westminster Shorter Catechism, number 88, what are the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption? And there the answer is that the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances, especially, so you see how they're leaving room for some broader things, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer. So their prayer is mentioned. all of which are made effectual to the elect for salvation." In other words, this term is useful, but we can talk about those things which are especially the means, we can broaden out to include prayer and discipline and then even some other means as well. In other words, we can put it this way, God is able to work in whichever way he wills. The spirit can blow however it wishes. John 3 verse 8. but there is still a narrow sense in which we can talk about the means God has even ordained for the church, given explicitly for use in building up the body. And we see this even in the conversion of the jailer in Acts chapter 16. You might say, well, this doesn't seem very ordinary. There's a miraculous earthquake which frees the prisoners from their cells. Well, yes, that's not ordinary, but what is used to bring the jailer to the point of conversion? That is the spoken word. It's not the earthquake which saved the jailer. The earthquake God used to prompt the jailer to ask the question, how might I be saved? But then the actual means, the actual declaration of the gospel was through words. Verse 31, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. So even in Acts chapter 16, when we have this miraculous earthquake, we still see the use of ordinary means, spoken word. Some of you have perhaps lived through an earthquake or more than one. Some of you have maybe never experienced an earthquake. All of you have heard a spoken word. I dare say you hear a word spoken every single day of your life. Perhaps some of the elderly who do need particular care, they might go a whole day without hearing a single word. But basically, we all hear a spoken word. And if an elderly person doesn't hear a spoken word in the course of a whole day, that can be a means of loneliness, can it not? Earthquakes are rare. The spoken word is something we hear all the time. And it's the spoken word, spoken in a particular way, pointing us toward Jesus Christ, that ordinary thing which God uses to show the jailer how he might be saved. This is what God is pleased to do. And so God uses these means, and he uses these means, which can be spoken of in narrower terms or broader terms, he uses them to build up the Church of Christ, both in the sense of gathering in believers, so he builds up the church by building it up in numbers, and by growing believers in maturity. The Word of God is used for both of these things. See how Article 17 words this. Around the middle of Article 17, the means of regeneration are both, this is early middle, so about six lines down, appointed to be the seed of regeneration and the food of the soul. In other words, both the initial seed of supernatural conversion and the food by which the convert is matured week by week and day by day. It's both of these things. It builds us up in number. It's these means which are used to bring people into the church and it builds us up in maturity. It's both then. It's the seed and it's the food. These are the means. God is pleased to use. So what is the application for us then, people of God? Well, we have been blessed, many of us, to hear the testimony of multiple missionaries this year. It ended up being the year of the summer of missionaries coming to give a report. And it's common to ask a missionary How many people are present? What is the number of people in your gatherings, in your church, in your building? And this is not an unimportant question. And the continual presence of a person in worship is itself a sign of a certain level of maturity and a sign of the church being built up numerically. Let us not only ask the missionary how the church is being built up in numbers, let's ask the missionary how the church is being built up in maturity. Are your people growing in maturity? Are there those who are coming to a deep knowledge of who God is and what he requires? Perhaps the question about maturity, probably the question about maturity, is more important if we're wondering how many people will be in that church 50, 60, 70, 80 years from now. And then, these are not only questions for us to ask the missionaries, these are questions for us to ask ourselves. If the Lord is pleased at this moment to not build us up in number, May the Lord be pleased to build us up in maturity. In other words, may it be our desire and our prayer, Lord God, build us up in number. You are the one who gives the increase, but if you do not build us up in maturity, week by week, day by day, those of us who gather in your name, build us up in maturity that we may be rooted in you forever and shine forth the glorious of your grace more clearly. Let us come then to our second point, why these means, and we've hinted at this already, but these are the means which God has commanded. Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season. Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Take, eat, this is my body which is for you, drink of it all of you. Do you hear all those command words? 2 Timothy 2.2, Matthew 28.19, 1 Corinthians 11.25 and 26. These things are commanded, not merely in the sense of some specific commission, We'll, Lord willing, tonight look at a commission which has some specific aspects to it in the light of the Galilean preaching tour and the cross of Christ looming on the horizon. But these are not commands in the sense of a specific commission. These are a part of the Great Commission and a part of the very identity of New Testament preachers and churches. In other words, these commands are to be part of the very heart of those who are called the Bride of the Risen Savior. Simply put, then, we must be identified by these means, even though they're called ordinary means, even though there are many who would not desire these means, even though we ourselves can be tempted to think of these as ordinary and old-fashioned and even boring. But this is what God has commanded, and this is the way, ordinarily, by which God works benefits. The second to last sentence there, for grace is bestowed through admonitions, and the more readily we perform our duty, the more lustrous the benefit of God working in us usually is, and the better His work advances. And again, we can think of this both in that most narrow sense and as we think of the means of grace in a broader sense. So we can add to the above, to the preaching and to the sacraments, also the true administration of church discipline, Matthew 18, 18. And even if we think of the means of the grace, and again, a broader sense, Perhaps the closest scripture comes to speaking of this in an exact way is regarding prayer. Hebrews 4 verse 16. What is the way, what is the means in which we are to find grace and mercy and help in times of need? Let us then, Hebrews 4 verse 16, with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Prayer is a part of the means by which God strengthens his people even in time of need. These are then the means of grace. This is what God has commanded. And surely what God has commanded we must do. This is what God has commanded. This is what God takes pleasure in. It is part of his good pleasure for these things to be done. So even today, this is about halfway down, so even today, a little more than halfway. So even today, it is out of the question that the teachers or those taught in the church should presume to test God by separating what he, in his good pleasure, has wished to be closely joined together. We see that in the very fact that he has commanded it, but also God rejoices to restore his people. That was part of the language of Jeremiah 33, right, that we read for our assurance of pardon. This is what God has commanded. This is what God rejoices in. It's His pleasure. It's His joy that these things would be done. So what then does this mean for us? Well, surely what is pleasing to God should be pleasing to us. Do you take pleasure in these ordinary means? If these ways are good enough for God, surely they must be good enough for us. So it's more than just that they're commanded and we must do what is commanded. It is that God takes pleasure and joy in these things. We, too, must take pleasure and joy in these things. Is it a pleasure to hear the preaching of the Word? Is it a pleasure to celebrate the sacraments? Is it a pleasure to pray and live in the Word of God in the broad sense as well, not only week by week, but day by day through joys, through struggles? Is church discipline something that we take pleasure in? We could focus in on that at this point. It would probably make us a little uncomfortable because I fear too often... Remember, church discipline is against those who are mature and show that they really are rebelling against God and His people, right? I fear too often church discipline, though, is just like when children are disciplined. Because what happens when children are disciplined? One child is disciplined and that child doesn't rejoice in it, but his five and seven-year-old siblings might rejoice in it. In other words, in the context of a home, when adults are disciplining children, what's the tendency? What's the natural reaction? The one disciplined doesn't like it, but maybe the siblings even like it, like, oh, look, now my brother's getting it. My fear is that perhaps it is the same way with discipline in the church. We're okay, maybe, with others being disciplined, although maybe not even that, but we're certainly not okay with being disciplined ourselves. This is a difficult thing to, even in any sense, take pleasure in. God is pleased to use these things. We must do these things as he has commanded. But what about baptism? Let's focus in on baptism. How can we take pleasure in baptism? I think this is a little bit easier to speak about, isn't it? Surely baptism is a pleasure to celebrate, is it not? It's a pleasure for the parents who bring forth the child to receive the sign that this child is indeed marked out by God. It's a pleasure for the whole congregation to join together as brothers and sisters in Christ as part of our form, right? It includes a question to the congregation. This is something which we all participate in. It's a pleasure then not only for the family of faith, but also the family of generations, which sometimes comes from miles around to celebrate as the family of faith and as the family of generations together. It's a pleasure to do this. It's a pleasure for the pastor to to baptize and to put the water onto the head of the one who is now being embraced, shown as, yes, a member of the body, a member of our family. Sometimes a number of those pleasures are all wrapped up into one together. That's quite something. These are the means which God has commanded. Let us follow the commands of God. These are the things which God takes pleasure in. Let us then rejoice in these things. And we see this also in Acts chapter 16, do we not? There are a number of things which are spoken of in the singular, but the rejoicing is in the plural, the entire household, verse 34. And this brings us to our third point, when to use these means. When do we preach? When do we speak the good news? Well, remember, Paul and Silas are in prison. They are in prison because they have spoken boldly, because they are not afraid to speak the name of Christ. but they will not stop them from doing it again by any means. Instead, when their door swings open miraculously, when their chains are loose from the walls, are they concerned with their escape? No. Instead, they look out from the dark dungeon, and they see up, and that's kind of the image And we kind of have a number of clues combined with what we know about ancient Macedonian prisons. And we get an image. This prison is underground. The prisoners are looking up out of the darkness. So when the prisoner comes down, he has to bring lights. The house of the jailer is something that they go up into. So we get the image of the jail being below ground, of the house of the jailer being above ground. It may be that it was directly above. It's possible kind of like even even not too long ago in this nation, it would be common for the shop maker to own the shop and then to live above it. Even in the jail it would be that way sometimes. That's kind of the image we get here. So the jailer wakes up and he goes to the gate of the jail and they can see him because they're looking up out of the darkness. They're looking from the darkness into the light of the moon. They can see the jailer standing there. He can't see down into the dark dungeon. He doesn't know they're still there. And so he's about to commit suicide. But what are Paul and Silas concerned about? Are they concerned about getting away? No, they are concerned both for the physical and for the spiritual life of the jailer. So Paul stops the jailer from taking his life. He cries out, do not do this. We are all here. And then the jailer, gathering the lights, he comes down and he falls down before them. What must I do to be saved? And then what do Paul and Silas say? They don't say, well, let us leave and God will bless your good deeds and give you salvation. No, not at all. They preach the gospel. Yes, this is an apostle, one who has an official authority, but we can read this text in light of the command to all the people of God, always be ready to give a reason for the defense that is within you. Always be ready to give a defense for the hope that is within you. So they speak of Jesus Christ. Because in Jesus Christ is life and hope. That the jailer might not only be saved from physical death, but saved from eternal death. Notice that he comes in a state of confusion. You know, there are times in scripture when a person bows before another person or bows before an angel, and they are corrected, right? You cannot bow to anyone except for God alone. What do Paul and Silas do? They know this jailer is confused. He's just tried to commit suicide. He doesn't know what's going on, but he has come in a state of humility. He calls them sirs. So they don't correct his bowing down. They'll save that for, you know, two days later at this moment. They speak the name of Jesus Christ. Now perhaps you may not receive such a direct question, but perhaps those around you, knowing that you are a Christian, you might receive such a question in your life. What must I do to be saved? save the correction of particular misunderstandings for later. Speak Jesus Christ and the essential truth immediately. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. When do we speak the word of God? Then week to week, day to day, whenever we have opportunity. And Lord willing, we'll consider that even more particularly tonight, and what does opportunity mean? But we speak the word, whether we're in the basement of a dungeon, although maybe they came out of the dungeon before they spoke it, or whether we're on the highest skyscraper, anywhere in between. Life in Jesus Christ. And so the jailer binds their wounds, the one who hours before showed no concern for these men who had been beaten that day, now he shows concern for them physically. And he binds their wounds, shows care and concern for Paul, for Silas. He has a change of heart now shown in multiple ways. and so the jailer becomes the servant of the prisoners. He does this personally in verse 33. This is when it is time to preach. Does Acts 16 also tell us something about when it is time to baptize? Now we live in a day and age when our Baptist brothers and sisters are increasing in number, and so these questions perhaps even come up more than they once did. And these household passages, there's a number of household passages, have brought about many different interpretations. Sometimes it's said that these passages are neutral to the question of infant baptism, because we cannot know for sure if any infants were in the household. There's a certain level of truth to this. The word oikia, and there's three different words related to family, house, household, here in a matter of four or five verses. These words would almost always include children. Certainly they would include children if there were any present, and there were almost always children present. But it is true. We don't know for absolute certainty that there were infants there. So in that sense, it is neutral. But some have gone beyond this, and they have even said that household baptism passages are a good proof for adult baptism because the order is always belief followed by baptism. and that belief is attributed to the entire house. But we cannot say that belief is attributed to the entire house here. Notice what is in the singular and what is in the plural. In verse 31, it's a singular, you believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household. Household is, of course, a word that implies plurality. But then the listening, in verse 32 and the joy in verse 34, those are plural. Entire household rejoices and the entire household hears. Because the word is spoken to him and to all who are in his house, verse 32. So it might be said, well, verse 31, it speaks about belief in the plural, but that's emphasizing that each person must individually believe. But verse 34 does the same thing. Because in verse 34 belief is also in the singular. And he rejoiced along with his entire household. That's plural. Everybody's rejoicing. But belief is singular again because he had believed in God. These verses only make sense in an adult Baptist sense if you assume they, they're only a defense of adult baptism if you assume they have to be read that way. They are barely neutral. They would point us in the direction of there is a singular person believing and there are many rejoicing and many hearing. You don't have to be old to hear. You don't have to be old to rejoice. When everyone around is rejoicing, a two-year-old shares in that joy. You can hear already in the womb. They all rejoiced because he had believed. So we can say with Simon Christomacher, the former commentator, Paul and Silas indicate that salvation is extended to all the members of the jailer's household, including the servants. But in passing, I point out that although God saves individuals, wherever applicable, he brings salvation to a person's family. God works through families, for they are the building blocks of the church. Let us then also note, since we are in the book of Acts, there is an echo of Acts 2.39. Acts 2.39 says, For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord God calls to himself. Hear the echo of that language in Acts 16.31. You will be saved, you and your household, you and for your children, you and your household. This is an echo. So it is that Acts 2.39, which is itself an echo of Genesis 17.7, using the exact language and then adding, yes, it's for all who are far off, and now we see, yes, for all who are far off, and then when they believe, it's for their household as well. This is the natural progression of the book of Acts. from Jerusalem to Judea to the ends of the world. And so we see these means which God is pleased to use. They are commanded by God and the effectiveness itself also comes from him. Is baptism ever an absolute certainty of salvation? What is the last sentence of Article 17? To Him alone, both for the means and for their saving fruit and effectiveness, all glory is owed forever. Amen. God has commanded it. We leave to Him the absolute effectiveness of it. But these are the means which He has given. Let us then do them. Let us even take pleasure in them. These things are pleasing to God. Let them be pleasing to us. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, our Lord, Your name is great. And so what You have commanded, let us do. What you have ordained, though yes, we can use the word ordinary to explain these means, let us not get caught up in human inventions, but let us remain in what you have commanded. Let us take pleasure in what you have commanded. May this then be used by you to build us up to build up your people. This we pray in Jesus' name, in whom salvation alone is found, amen. People of God, our song of response, number 190. Let us stand together to sing number 190. ♪ All the mercies of the Lord ♪ ♪ Are given unto thee ♪ ♪ Of last night numerous days and days ♪ ♪ Thou be our savior ♪ Believe the promised grace, and be his child to God. Blood, water, seals, a blessing now, it once was sealed with blood. Jesus, the Ancient, faith confirms to our foreboding ♪ He calls the heirs of heaven home ♪ ♪ For the pain of all are His ways ♪ ♪ His love endures the same ♪ ♪ More than the promise of His grace ♪ Thus to our kindness and our gentleness our hymns we raise, and the eternal love. your congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ. What the Lord has revealed to us in his word, I'll invite you to turn to page nine in the Forms and Prayers book, sorry. Page nine, Forms and Prayers book. As we come together, to hear or to see the gospel proclaimed in the sacrament of baptism. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, what the Lord has revealed to us in his word about holy baptism can be summarized in this way. First, baptism teaches that we and our children are conceived and born in sin. This means that we are by nature children of wrath, and for that reason cannot be members of Christ's kingdom unless we are born again. Baptism, whether by immersion or sprinkling, teaches that sin has made us so impure that we must undergo a cleansing which only God can accomplish. By this we are admonished to detest ourselves, humble ourselves before God, and turn to Him for our cleansing and salvation. Second, baptism signifies and seals to us the washing away of our sins through Jesus Christ. For this reason, we are baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When we are baptized into the name of the Father, God the Father testifies and seals to us that He makes an eternal covenant of grace with us and adopts us as His children and heirs. Therefore, He promises to provide us with everything good and protect us from all evil or turn it to our profit. When we are baptized into the name of the Son, God the Son seals to us that he washes us in his blood from all our sins. Christ unites us to himself so that we share in his death and resurrection. Through this union with Christ, we are freed from our sins and accounted righteous before God. And when we are baptized into the name of the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit assures us by this holy sacrament that he will make his home within us and will sanctify us as members of Christ. He will impart to us what we have in Christ, namely the washing away of our sins and daily renewing of our lives. As a result of his work within us, we shall finally be presented without the stain of sin among the assembly of the elect in life eternal. 3. The covenant of grace contains both promises and obligations. Having considered the promises, we now consider the obligations. Through baptism, God calls us and places us under obligation to live in new obedience to him. This means that we must cling to this one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We must trust in him and love him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. We must renounce the sinful way of life. We must put to death our old nature and show by our lives that we belong to God. If we through weakness should fall into sin, we must not despair of God's mercy, nor use our weakness as an excuse to keep sinning. Baptism is a seal and totally reliable witness that we have an eternal covenant with God. Our children should not be excluded from baptism because of their inability to understand its meaning. Just as, without their knowledge, they share in Adam's condemnation, so are they, without their knowledge, received to grace in Christ. God's gracious attitude toward us and our children is revealed in what he said to Abraham, the father of all believers. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your offspring after you. The apostle Peter also testifies to this with these words, for the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. Therefore, God formally commanded that children be circumcised as a seal of the covenant and of the righteousness that comes by faith. Christ also recognized that children are members of the covenant people when he embraced them, laid his hands on them and blessed them. Since baptism has replaced circumcision as the sign and seal of the covenant, our children should be baptized as heirs of God's kingdom and of His covenant. As children grow up, their parents are responsible for teaching them the meaning of baptism. In order that we may now administer this holy sacrament of God to His glory for our comfort and to the edification of the Church, let us call upon His holy name and prayer. Almighty, eternal God, long ago you severely punished an unbelieving and unrepentant world in holy judgment by sending a flood. But in your great mercy, you saved and protected believing Noah and his family. You also drowned the obstinate Pharaoh and his whole army in the Red Sea, and you brought your people Israel through the sea on dry ground. In these acts, you revealed the meaning of baptism and the mercies of your covenant in saving your people, who of themselves deserved your condemnation. We therefore pray that in your infinite mercy, you will graciously look upon this, your child, and bring him into union with your son, Jesus Christ, through your Holy Spirit. May he be buried with Christ into death and be raised with him to walk in the newness of life. We pray that he may follow Christ day by day, may joyfully bear his cross, may cling to him in true faith and firm hope and ardent love. Comfort him in your grace so that when he leaves this life and its constant struggle against the power of sin, He may appear before the judgment seat of Christ, your son, without fear. We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit and the one only God lives and reigns forever. And now beloved in Christ the Lord, as you have now heard that baptism is given to us by God to seal his covenant to us and our children, we must therefore use this sacrament for the purpose that God intended and not out of superstition or mere custom. That it may be clear that you are doing what God commands, you are to stand at this time and answer the following questions sincerely. First, do you acknowledge that our children, who are conceived and born in sin, are subject to the misery that sin brings, even the condemnation of God, are sanctified in Christ and so, as members of His Church, ought to be baptized? Do you acknowledge that the teaching of the Old and New Testament summarized in the Apostles' Creed and taught in this Christian church is the true and complete doctrine of salvation? And third, do you sincerely promise to do all you can to teach this child and to have him taught this doctrine of salvation? We do. Jude Casey Freswick, I baptize you into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Now, people of God, do you, the people of the Lord, promise to receive this child in love, to pray for him, to help, to care for his instruction in the faith, and to encourage and sustain him in the fellowship of the believers? Amen. Let us then come before God in prayer of thanksgiving. Almighty God and merciful Father, we thank and praise you that you have forgiven us and our children all our sins through the blood of your dear son, Jesus Christ. You received us through your Holy Spirit as members of your only begotten Son and so adopted us as your children. You sealed and confirmed this to us by holy baptism. We earnestly pray through your beloved Son that you will always govern this child by your Holy Spirit. May Jude Casey Freswick be nurtured in the Christian faith and in godliness and grow and develop in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grant that he may see your fatherly goodness and mercy, which you have shown to him and to us all. May he live in all righteousness under our only teacher, king, and high priest, Jesus Christ. Give him the courage to fight against and overcome sin, the devil, and his whole dominion. May he forever praise and magnify you and your Son, Jesus Christ, together with the Holy Spirit, the one and only true God. Amen. People of God, it is time now for our morning gifts and offerings. This morning it's for the building fund. Following that, our benediction, and finally, our doxology, 572. Yeah. Yeah. If you would now stand, if able. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, you