We will devote part of the service Sunday, February 26, to baptism. So, what’s up with baptism? 
Being born into a Baptist preacher’s home, being educated in a Baptist college and seminary, and having pastored three Baptist churches, the word “baptism” is as familiar to me as the word “Chiefs” is to NFL fans. 

But, the word might not be familiar to you. The whole thing might seem weird. 

Think of baptism as a ritual. We know rituals.  
…Opening one Christmas present on Christmas Eve (usually pajamas).
…Hunting for Easter Eggs.
…Giving your kid a thumbs up when you drop them off at school. 
…Storytime with your child before they turn out the light and go to sleep. 

Well, baptism is a ritual. An act with meaning.
What meaning does it hold for you?

Some churches require baptism for membership.  
Some churches baptize babies and some condemn that practice as heresy.
I’m not as much into the one-time ritual as I am daily practicing the spirit of baptism.   

I was taught in my high school years that baptism symbolizes my own death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:4-7) - not my physical death but the death and burial of my unkindness, bitterness, prejudice, hate - death of anything that doesn’t look like Love, and then raised to “walk in newness of life” (I need to be baptized everyday!).

When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptizer in the Jordan River, people heard a sound, as if the sky was cracking open with a rumble of thunder. They saw something descending from the sky… it looked like a dove landing on his head. Then they heard a voice saying, This is my son, whom I love, in whom I am well-pleased.”

The message I get from this is that when I am baptized I am:

• Choosing to follow a Dove. The sign given to those who witnessed Jesus’ baptism was not a lion, a bull or a bear. It was not an eagle or a viper. It was a Dove - a sign of peace and nonviolence. To follow Jesus is to follow the way of peace.  
• Hearing my identity. My dad would close most letters he wrote me with these words:  “You are my son, with whom I am well pleased.”

I am warmed by them. I feel secure when I read them.

That’s what baptism means to me.
Baptism is an awareness that we are God’s beloved all the time.

The importance of baptism, to me, is not a one-time ritual, but a daily ritual of the heart. 
I want to live today and everyday in a state of baptism.