Well, let me welcome you now to this baptising service. We have waited a while in anticipation and we look forward joyfully to this time, not only as a family, but also as a church here in this place. Well, let's commence then by turning again to the Lord in prayer. Let us stand for prayer. O gracious God, we do thank thee for the gospel. We thank thee for the Lord Jesus Christ and the blessings in and through him. We thank thee we who love thee here this morning, we were convicted of our sin, brought to the feet of Jesus, shown the suitableness of him, given faith, and love was put within his well. Lord, as we have heard those words this morning, we would renew our love to thee. Forgive us our sins. May we focus on Christ. We thank thee for dear Joanna, bless her. We thank thee for thy providential dealings with her in her life. We thank thee for coming to her in the saving way and drawing her unto thyself. And we thank thee for the desire she has had to follow thee in the waters of baptism and to seek to so live her life for thee. particularly for her this morning, that she might know that help, that she might know that blessing. May she know abundant peace as we thought of this morning. May she know much peace in her life. May she be brought closer and closer unto our beloved Saviour. Bless her today and bless her always. May she be a shining example these things. Take special note and be pleased here this morning. Hear our prayers. We do rejoice in thee. Thou art worthy, blessed Lord. Hear us for Christ's sake. Amen. We turn to Psalm 25. Psalm 25. We're going to sing verses 1 through to verse 5. To thee I lift my soul, O Lord, I trust in thee. My God, let me not be ashamed, nor foes triumph over me. Let none that wait on me be cut to shame at all, but those that without cause transgress, let shame upon them. We're going to sing Psalm 25, verses 1 through to verse 5. Then after the baptism, we're going to sing from verse 6 through to verse 10. Psalm 25, the tune is, Welcome, voice, to thee I lift my soul. To Thee I lift my soul. To Thee I lift my soul. O Lord, I trust in Thee. My Lord, let me not be ashamed. ♪ For first triumph over me ♪ ♪ Let man that wills on thee ♪ ♪ Be burnt in shame as o'er me ♪ ♪ But those that with a golden dress ♪ ♪ Let shame upon them fall ♪ ♪ Show me thy ways, O Lord ♪ ♪ Thy counsel teach thou me ♪ And do Thou lead me in Thy truth, there will my teacher be. For Thou art God that comes to me, And I have only all the day expecting to attend. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day they were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common, and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man hath need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. We see there on the day of Pentecost, a work of grace was done. There was conviction of sin, and then men and women fled unto the Saviour. They believed in him, and then they publicly testified of their faith and went through the waters of baptism. But just before we come to the baptising service, I thought it would be helpful just to read one or two things concerning baptism, and this comes from our church constitution, and it's of baptism. The proper subjects of baptism are those who have repented and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and who give satisfactory evidence of true conversion. Baptism is to be administered publicly by total immersion in water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. By baptism, believers are admitted into the visible Symbolised in baptism is our union with Christ in his death and resurrection, the washing away of our sins and newness of life. We see there what is symbolised. In this ordinance we give ourselves to the Lord. Baptism is a command of our Lord Jesus Christ. While not essential to salvation, it is observed in obedience to that command. And we just think of those words, in this ordinance, we give ourselves to the Lord. We want to publicly testify of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And we so want to follow him. We so want to live for him. And I've highlighted this because we who have been baptized, let's look back. and consider that we so wanted to publicly testify of saving grace and to follow him. And we who observe the baptism here today renew your promise to Jesus. You come for a baptising service. It's a means of grace, as is the Lord's table, as is the preaching, the singing and the praying. It's a means of growth. Let this baptismal service be a means of grace for you in love to Jesus and in desiring to follow him. As you observe Joanna being baptised, you who love the Lord, renew your love to Jesus. You've come to witness the baptistry, baptising, but have you not also come that you might be caused to grow in grace? So as you observe these things, may it be a blessing to you, dear brethren, that Christ draws you nearer to him, that you rededicate your life to him and so desire to serve him. In this ordinance, we give ourselves to the Lord. Just briefly back late last summer, I was given a letter from my dear daughter, Joanna. And it's the type of letter that makes her dad cry. and it was a blessing to read of what the Lord has done in her life. And I read of her testimony, what the Lord had done. Well, having read and rejoiced over it, I prayerfully committed it to the Lord. And then having spent some time with Joanna, she made known to me that she wanted to be baptized. So in the early part of the autumn, Having prayed about it, I went to the office bearers of the church and presented Joanna's desire, and they were in agreement that I should take it to the church. And so, on the 12th of October, the church was informed, and with thankfulness, all were in agreement that Joanna should be baptized. And since that occasion, over the last few months, Joanna has attended a few discipleship classes with me. She's attended the pastor and come to be helped by the pastor. But I'm also conscious that I was her dad. We talked on various subjects, ranging from being saved, what baptism means, coming around the Lord's table, being part of the local church, living for Christ in these days. And I was encouraged with Joanna. At this point, I'm going to ask Joanna to come forward. She's going to give her testimony prior to her being baptized. God bless you, Joanna. Be assured of the pastor's prayers for you and his great love. Thank you, Joanna. I was brought up in a Christian home with loving and godly parents. At the age of two, I had meningitis. I was very ill and nearly died from the illness. It was a miracle that they even survived. I recovered. The only signs I have left from having meningitis is a scar, and I have a right-sided weakness all the way down. I went to church, read the Bible, and prayed from an early age. But I didn't think seriously about spiritual things until I was about 9 or 10 years of age, probably. I don't know the precise date when I came to faith in Jesus, but I remember one day I felt my sin, and I had sinned against God. I felt terrible about it. I asked the Lord to forgive me. I had come to believe in, trust, and love the Lord, who had saved me. When I was 11, my family and I went through a difficult and sad time. I know I couldn't have gotten through those two years without the Saviour at my side. He did help me through that time. Last year I went on a Christian camp and the Lord's presence was known there and that year the Lord in His Word came more real to me than ever before. Later that year I've just been asked by Joanna just to finish this off. Later that year my dear granny became rapidly very ill with cancer and passed away in December. at a time of leaning more on my Lord and Saviour and trusting in Him. Granny gave this verse to me and my sister to keep us. It's from Psalm 46. God is our refuge and strength for very present help in trouble. I now have the hope of seeing Granny again because of Christ and what He has done for me and because of my faith in Him. I will one day see Christ, the one who has done it all for me, who has forgiven me and helped me, and times in my life. I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications. I have become fruitful of having Christ as my own personal saviour and to know always well with my soul. Let's turn again to the Lord in prayer. heart. We thank thee for a testimony clear concerning what thou hast done and we do pray for Joanna. Bless her now, O Lord, may she know that surrounding love of thee, may she know that strength and peace and bless her as she seeks to publicly testify again of thee and as she seeks to be obedient to our Saviour and Lord. Hear us now, help us, O us now. Be mindful of us. May we know that accompanying joy at this time. Hear us for Christ's sake. Amen. I'm just first of all going to read some verses of scripture. It's found in Acts chapter 36. And as they went on their way, they came into a certain water. And the eunuch said, see, here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the child to stand still. and he went both down into the water, both Philip and Eunoch, and he baptised him. Could I ask the congregation now to stand. Joanna, let me ask you again, prior to being baptised, do you from your heart publicly testify of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and I believe in him as my personal saviour. Upon hearing your testimony of faith, in remembrance of the command of the King and Head of the Church, Jesus Christ, in the sight of our Triune God and before this congregation, I baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy O gracious God, we thank Thee for what Joanna has done in obedience to Thee. We thank Thee for what it symbolises and we thank Thee for the blessings. O Lord, bless dear Joanna. May she know that abundant joy and that abundant peace. We thank Thee for her and the work of grace that Thou has done in her life. Be with her from this day. In all that she faces in her life, may she so seek to follow Thee. Bless her when she's brought to the green pastures. Bless her when she's brought to the valleys. May she remember this day, and may she know such comfort. We thank Thee for the wonderful Gospel. O blessed King, we adore Thee, we love Thee, and praise Thee. Hear our prayers for Jesus' sake. Amen. I'm just going to charge now, Joanna, if you could remain standing while I just charge Joanna. Joanna, you have publicly testified of your faith in Jesus Christ this day and have obeyed him in being baptised. Therefore, it behoves you to seek within the Lord's enabling grace to live your life as a valiant follower of Jesus for the glory of God. Two verses I'd like to give to Joanna at this time. Ephesians 5, verse 1 and 2. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children, and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us, and have given himself an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling Saviour. Romans 15, verse 13. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the holy ghost. Joanna, may the Holy Spirit fill you with such joy and peace in your life. There'll be times when you will weep, but may there be times of joy in view of the precious blood of Jesus and that wonderful forgiveness. We'll turn again to Psalm 25. Psalm 25, we're going to sing from verse six through to verse 10. Thy tender mercies, Lord, I pray thee to remember. Loving kindnesses for they have been of old forever. My sins and faults of youth, do thou, Lord, forget. After thy mercy, think on me, and all thy goodness great. Psalm 25, we're singing from verse six through to verse 10. Thy tender mercies, Lord. Thy tender mercies, Lord. I pray thee to remember. And loving-kindness day to day, And being of love forever. of you, do not, O Lord, forget. After thy mercy, King of King, and Lord, thy goodness great, ♪ For truth and uprightness ♪ ♪ The way his sinners show ♪ ♪ The weak in judgment he will guide ♪ ♪ And make his heart to know ♪ The truth and mercy sure, To those, and to His covenant King, And testimonies pure. O gracious God, we thank Thee for making known salvation to Joanna. We thank Thee for making known salvation to we who love Thee here this morning. O, we value it, and we love Thee, and we rejoice in Thee, blessed Saviour. For any without Christ, O eternal God, if it please Thee, show them Thy ways. Show them the ways of the gospel. Lord, we pray, and bless us all draw us nearer to thee, blessed Saviour, at this time. May we all go in peace, knowing Christ. May we go desiring to so live for Christ, today and all the days of our life. Be with Joanna, bless her now. Hear our prayers, we love thee, we give thee the praise for Christ's sake. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit.