Category: Sacramental Theology
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Baptismal Exhortation: The Watery Doorway
In baptism, water is poured or sprinkled over a person in the Triune name. Why does baptism use water? To grasp the full meaning of baptism, we need to grasp the meaning of water in the Scripture. Water was chosen for a reason, having to do with both its symbolism and its practical uses. Water…
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Baptism as Sign and Seal
We are gathered here today to celebrate the sacrament of baptism. In Reformational theology, baptism is considered a sign and seal. Signs in the Bible are mighty works of God. The plagues God put on Egypt are called signs. Jesus’ miracles are called signs. Baptism is called a sign because circumcision was called a sign;…
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Baptismal Exhortation: Types and Shadows of God’s Salvation
To understand baptism, we cannot just look at a few NT passages that mention baptism explicitly. The apostles clearly believed there were events in the OT that prefigured Christian baptism. For example, Peter says the flood, in which Noah and his family were saved by water in the ark, was a type, or foreshadowing of…
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The TPC Baptismal Liturgy
This is an email I send out to our congregation occasionally to instruct them about our practice of infant baptism — not just why we baptize infants, but also why we baptize the way we do, why we use the liturgy we do, etc. This is a good opportunity for me to remind you where…
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Do I Believe in Baptismal Regeneration?
I’d have to do some research on my hard drive or in my old email folders to be sure, but I think this essay was probably written about 2004 or 2005, when the Federal Vision controversy was raging. Because this essay has been one of my more commented-on baptismal essays, I thought it would be…
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The TPC Baptism Font – Design and Placement
This is an email I sent to the TPC congregation in October 2009 explaining why we have our baptismal font at the doorway into the sanctuary and why we do our baptisms from the location rather than from the front of the sanctuary. It has a few other details about liturgical practices that might be…
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The Baptism of a Baby Is a Beautiful Thing
There are many beautiful things about baptizing a baby — besides the baby herself! For one thing, in an infant baptism we get to see God’s covenant promise come to fulfillment before our very eyes. God’s promise to Christian parents is “I will be God to you and to your children” (Gen. 17:7; Acts 2:39). In this case, God…
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Baptismal Exhortation: Baptism as Holy Week in Sacramental Form
Today, these parents have come to claim God’s promises to and about their children. God says to us, “I will be a God to you and to your children.” In baptism, we claim that covenant pledge and God acts to make good on that pledge. In baptism, parents give their children to God, and God…
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Palm Sunday Baptismal Exhortation
One of the most interesting aspects of Palm Sunday is the role children play in the event. As Jesus makes his triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, children join in singing praises to Jesus. We just sang about that in our opening hymn, “All Glory, Laud, and Honor”: “all glory laud and honor to…
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As if on Thrones: A Meal Fit for Kings
One question that comes up from time to time is “Why does TPC take communion seated?” This may not seem like a big deal, but the proper posture for the Lord’s Supper has caused serious debate in the history of the church, and continues to be an issue over which different Christian traditions are divided.…
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