Acts 2:36-41

The stage is set at the feast of Pentecost—an agricultural festival observed 50 days after Passover.

• It was a time of celebration and of bringing first fruits to the temple in Jerusalem.

• There were people from allover the Jewish world in the city….

• The disciples had been gathered in the upper room of a house in the city while they waited as Jesus had instructed them to—with prayer….

• The Holy Spirit comes upon those gathered in that upper room….

• Peter stands on the rooftop and preaches the first great sermon….

• 3000 people were baptized and added to their number that day (v.41).

The birthday of the church….

At the end of Peter’s Holy Spirit inspired sermon, “The promise is for you and your children….” (v.39).

• What of small children…? Is the promise really for them, or did God and Peter mean something else?

• But, how can a very young child “repent and believe?”.

• Repentance and faith are abstract concepts. Certainly, a small child could not understand correctly….

• Small children were in Sunday school. As Easter approached, the teacher asked, “Does anyone know what special Sunday it is today?” A little girl stood and proclaimed, “It’s Palm Sunday!” “Right! Said the teacher, “And what special Sunday is next week?” “Easter Sunday,” the girl continued. “Right again! And what makes Easter so special?” “It’s the day that Jesus came out of his tomb,” said the girl. “And if he sees his shadow, he has to go back in for 6 more weeks!”

But really, if salvation depended upon understanding completely, none of us would be saved.

• There is a promise of salvation and we can try to understand it. We have simplified it so that we can….

• But the promise of salvation is claimed, not by understanding, but by faith—by trust….

• In Ephesians, Paul writes, “…it is by grace you have been saved through faith….” (Eph 2:8).

• As Methodists, let me emphasize that we believe in grace. Grace is the promise of salvation working in our lives, and calling us to the faith whereby salvation is ours.

Today we are baptizing these infants as a sign of our faith—our trust—in the power of God’s amazing grace to save. We are claiming God’s promise for J&A.

In this Baptism, there is faith.

• It is not the faith of the children, but of the parents and in each of us.

• We know that our faith will not save them, but our faith is in the promise; our faith is in God’s grace….

• Sometimes the faith of another person in God’s power to save us is an even greater faith. I saw the testimony of singer gone bad. His father prayed for him always. One day in the man’s prayer the room grew dark and the voce of Satan proclaimed, “Give up old man. Your son is mine!” But, at that instant the room was flooded with light and the voice of God came to the old man, “Pray, and watch my power to save.” Needless to say, the man’s son was led to that point where he received faith….

In this Baptism, there is a cleansing.

• It is not the cleansing of guilt from willful sin….

• Rather it is a cleansing of the claim that Satan has upon the soul of humanity…upon these children.

In this Baptism there is a covenant.

• Baptism is the sign of a covenant made with God Almighty. This covenant is not made today by these children, but by their parents, and by each of us.

• We are promising to be instruments of God’s amazing grace in these children’s lives….

Today, we are laying claim to the promise of God for our children—for these children.