So now to our sermon text in Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16, beginning in verse 1. Now, when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices that they might come and anoint him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us? But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right hand, and they were alarmed. But he said to them, do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you. So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, but they trembled and were amazed, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Now, when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept, and when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After that, he appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either. Later, he appeared to the 11 as they sat at the table and they rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we are no better than those who heard this message in the first place. If those who loved the Lord Jesus Christ, knew him in the flesh, and been told through his own word that he would rise again the third day, and they neither expected nor actually believed it when it was true, then Lord, what can we do? But we are thankful that there is also the third person the Holy Spirit who is able to open our eyes and our ears, and we pray, Lord, that we would see him at work among us this day, and that we would be granted a new heart, and that we would be granted open ears and willing hearts that would receive this good news that Christ indeed has risen. We pray your blessing and help in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, good morning, and it's my joy to preach to you the good news that Christ is risen. Now, as Christians, we remember his death and his resurrection every single Lord's Day, Sunday after Sunday. But this is the particular day that is traditionally celebrated, more or less, as the anniversary of the resurrection of Christ. And we're very glad to take that opportunity to remember because, of course, a resurrection is not just one thing among others, it is the very substance of the gospel. Paul, when he reasons, he is a wonderful theologian, and he is logical in the way that he lays things out. But he reasons in 1 Corinthians 15, and if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God. Because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up. This is the hypothetical idea, if there is no resurrection. If indeed the dead do not rise, for the dead do not rise and Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins. So it's not at all the idea that, well, even if the historical facts didn't happen, then at least it's a nice story and we can have hope. I guess there are sentimental people who believe that way, but Paul and Christians who think about these things carefully, of course, don't say that at all. Our faith is founded on this central reality of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And apart from that, we have no good news. But in it, we have every good news. It's very good news. You see, the reason why Christ arose from the grave is that the payment which he came to pay was accepted. He didn't die by accident. He didn't die even naturally because he wasn't a sinner. There's a connection between sin and death. Death was not God's original plan for this world. It was only that we sinned and fell, and then therefore death entered in that there would ever be any kind of death at all. And for the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no sin on him at all. He was put to death for someone else's sins. Whose? Well, for all of his people. Our sins were laid upon him. He willingly bore them. He suffered and died, but he didn't stay dead because his payment was accepted. It was found to work. All those sins were paid for in full, and then death could not hold him. He came springing out of that tomb on the third day. And so the resurrection is proof positive that the whole thing works. And so of course it's good news. Just as it is today. And doubly so for them back then. Not only is it good news, and again theologically, but first and foremost just relationally for his friends who loved him. The one that they were grieving was alive. The one that they expected never to see again, they saw. He was no longer dead. Now strangely, and here's the strange thing, not one of his disciples took him at his word that he was going to rise again on the third day. And even when they heard that good news from people they knew and they trusted, they didn't immediately receive it. It's as if they were prejudiced against receiving it. And as we're gonna see, even the women themselves who were among the most faithful in this story, they didn't have in their hands the welcome back Jesus sign they should have. They had the embalming kit for a corpse because they didn't really believe his word either. And beyond that, beyond this unbelief, there's fear. Some of them are too afraid to say anything. When they leave that tomb, they leave as those who are frightened rather than rejoicing. What a strange thing for there to be so much fear and unbelief and uncertainty on such a day of good news and rejoicing. But beloved, we know it's like that today. We know that wherever this gospel is preached, there are some who receive it in fear and unbelief, as well as those who receive it with joy and faith. Well, friends, notwithstanding, this is objectively good news. Christ is risen. Rejoice with me. Receive that news. Well, the sermon's gonna be arranged along these lines, because in Mark chapter 16, we know that of course all four gospels speak of the resurrection, but what seems to be the emphasis in Mark 15 is the fact that there is this fear as well as faith on Easter day. So children, I hope it's easy enough for you. It's fear and faith on Easter, got it? Fear and faith on Easter. Okay, and three points. The women, Mary Magdalene, and the disciples, right? The women, Mary Magdalene, and the disciples. So let's see this fear and faith mix strangely on Easter Sunday, the first one. Our first point is the women. Now when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome, brought spices that they might come and anoint him. Again, remember, these were not gullible people, not one of them. We have in our mind that somehow we are so wonderfully scientific, and back then they just believed anything at all. These women had embalming kit precisely because they were utterly convinced that Jesus was wrong when he said he was going to rise again the third day. And they were coming to embalm him. Now, that was the first thing that they were wrong about. Lots of people are gonna be proven wrong in the course of this, but they were wrong about their expectation. They're not going to be able to use that embalming kit. They just wasted their money. Maybe they can get a refund, I don't know. But carrying on in verse two, very early in the morning on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us? Because remember, it is very large. When they looked up, they saw that the stone, strangely, had been rolled away, for it was very large. And then during the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe, sitting on the right hand, and they were alarmed. Again, I don't know if it strikes you. It's a little strange. You're not afraid to come to this grave of someone who'd recently died, a decomposing corpse, which they're willing to, as much as they can, embalm with their own bare hands. Yet, they see the angel, who is gloriously not dead, Gloriously radiant as all angels are, perfect, not decomposing and smelling, but perfect and beautiful. And now they're afraid. Strange, isn't it? But the angel tries to reassure them. Angels do that sort of thing. They tell people the good news and they almost always are saying, fear not, fear not, fear not. And he says to them, do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified, was, past tense. He is risen, current tense, present tense. He's not here. So he's correcting them, you made a mistake. I, as an angel, angels are not omnipotent, okay? And they're not omniscient, so they don't know everything. They didn't know for certain exactly what the response of the disciples were. They heard Jesus' word. They knew that he was rising again the third day. They had their assignments and they were doing their thing. Oh, well, I see you weren't expecting Jesus to be risen, but don't worry, he is. He was crucified, you're right. You know, kind of taking it step by step. He was crucified, but he's risen now. So you don't need that kit, you can lay it down. He's risen, he's not here. You're looking for him here, but he's not. This is a tomb, this is where dead people are. He's not here, okay? See the place. Oh, you don't believe me? Come see the place. And so this is, among many, the objective evidence that's being presented to someone who doesn't really believe. Come see the objective evidence. See where he was laid. He's not here. See the place where they laid him. And then he gives them some instructions. But go tell his disciples and even Peter, that one who denied that he even knew the Lord Jesus Christ. They must have received some special words, some special provision for this very great sinner, Peter. He is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him as he said to you. Because remember, the Lord Jesus said that. He didn't just say in some vague way, I'm going to rise and maybe you'll see me in some strange thing. But no, he said, I'm going to rise again the third day. Don't forget it. And also, I'm going to give you instructions. Meet me in Galilee, because that's where I'm going to next spend some time with you. So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb for they trembled and were amazed. My friends, again, it is not that they were hurrying to tell people because they were so excited like when you and I hear good news and actually believe it completely. It was more like they ran out of the place as children running from a dark place when they think they've seen a monster. That's the way that it first went for them. And they said nothing to anyone, the Bible says, because they were afraid. Now thankfully we know that this refers to their immediate reaction. We know that they eventually recovered their wits and they plucked up the courage to tell the disciples because in Matthew 28 that's what it says. But it seems to be only after one of them actually sees a risen Jesus for herself that that's the case, right? And so that brings us to the second point, which is Mary Magdalene. Now when he rose early on the first day, he's not wasting time, and let me say, he is there for the minimum legal time to establish that he was actually dead. Okay, he keeps talking about three days, but it's not really three days. Right, because it's only just this much of the first day, late on Friday, and then it's Saturday, all of Saturday, but first thing, Sunday morning, he rises again. It's as if death could not hold him, and indeed it could not. And early on the morning, he arose. He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven demons. And she went and told those who'd been with him as they mourned and wept. Now let me say, first of all, we have to see how Mary is herself the perfect recipient of the gospel message. We don't know everything about her, but what we know, she was a sinner. In all likelihood, she was a prostitute, certainly a disreputable woman having no status in society, right? So she couldn't come. She's not like those Pharisees who say, well, I have all of my good works, and you see all the good things that I've done. And therefore, I recommend myself to you, God, that I can earn my salvation. She couldn't do that. And that was a good thing. So she came in her disability rather than her ability. She came in her poverty rather than in her wealth. And she gladly received the Lord Jesus Christ in life. And she is granted the privilege of being the first to see him after he died and rose again. Wonderful thing. But here we learn, interestingly, that in addition, she was possessed by demons, out of whom he had cast seven demons. So both in terms of where she is, she's a sinner, but also in more spiritual terms, we find that she is actually possessed or was previously of Satan. And here again, this is a picture of us as we are in this world apart from Christ. You know, we imagine ourselves as perfectly neutral people. We're calmly and dispassionately evaluating everything in evidence. And, you know, we give our assent to some things and we reject other things based on our dispassionate reception of evidence. But, beloved, nothing could be further from the truth. That's a rather flattering portrait of ourselves. The Bible tells us the truth, that we're born dead in our sins and trespasses. that we have no spiritual wisdom at all, and that we are just simply given over, as it were. We give ourselves to believe the lies of the devil. As I mentioned, the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. And we receive whatever he tells us, as if people in some communist dictatorship receiving from their state news agency. Christ, the life-giving liberator, has freed Mary from all that. made her to be alive, freed her from this dominion of evil spirits, and made her then to be the joyful recipient of much good news. And God can do that today. And as I say, she believed better than some of the disciples. And she actually did tell people like she was supposed to, right? That's the wonderful thing. And the story of that is related in the other gospels, say in Matthew 28 verse nine. They went to tell his disciples, so they've left the tomb, they've heard from the angel, and they go and behold, before they get any further, behold, Jesus met them saying, rejoice. And so they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him. And Jesus said to them, do not be afraid, go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see me. Friends, again, it's don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Because their first response was, in fact, to be afraid. And not really to believe what had just happened. And Jesus' first reaction, the same as the angel, is to say, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. I want to say the same to you. All right, very often people refuse to believe something because they're afraid to believe it. What if it's not true? What if it's not true? And there's a risk involved in believing it. Well, if the angel could reach out his hand and say, don't be afraid, just believe the good news, and I'll show you the evidence he was doing that. It wasn't he's wanting you to believe something that's not true, voicing something on you. He wants you to receive the obviously true good news, because he knows that we're naturally weak and fearful people. And Jesus Christ says to those who love him and are already coming to embrace him by the ankles, Even to them, he says, don't fear. It's okay. Believe the good news. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. That's the second time, of course, or third time that he's said as much on that. And so we're thankful that even in Mary Magdalene, which is probably the most faithful of these, his fear is superseded by faith. Thirdly, we see the disciples, which is even a more dramatic portrait of the fear and unbelief that was naturally in these men. Verse 12, after that he appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And let me say in another form because if you read the story in Luke It was the Lord's will that they not immediately see him in his glory. And of course, because if he kind of unveiled his glory, there would be no way they could but recognize him and see him who he is. He actually wanted to deal with the fact that they simply hadn't already believed his word. And so we find out about this in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24. Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all the things which had happened. So they're talking about these things. And it was while they conversed and reasoned that Jesus himself drew near and went with them. So their reasoning, if you imagine that. A lot of good sometimes our reasoning does because it's not always godly reasoning. Sometimes it's wrongheaded reasoning. But their eyes were restrained so that they could not know him. And he said to them, what kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad? Now this is the opposite of what Jesus wants them to do. They're walking to a place that he doesn't want them to go. They're debating and discussing something that he wanted them to simply believe. And they're sad rather than joyful, right? That's a good picture of pretty much the entire world, right? That's everyone who's in the world. You're going someplace, you're heading to a place where the Lord doesn't want you to go. You're debating endlessly and dialoguing and reasoning about some things that actually he just, for your own sake, would prefer just to receive. And you're sad rather than happy and joyful, all right? At no point do we ever see Jesus saying mourn, be unhappy, be fearful. At what point does he say that? He doesn't. He's always saying, don't be fearful. fear not, and rejoice. All right? Those kind of things. Well, anyways, so they're doing this. And they answer the question this way. And the one whose name was Cleopas answered. We don't know the name of the other one. But the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to him, are you the only stranger in Jerusalem? And have you not known the things which happen there in these days? So he's correcting the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said to them, what things? And Jesus is playing along. He's playing along. Tell me, what things? So he said to them, the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty indeed, and were before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. And that's past tense. We were hoping that he was going to redeem Israel. But that hasn't worked out. And indeed, besides all these things, today is the third day since those things happened. Yes, oh, this other thing. And certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early astonished us. When they did not find his body, they came to us saying that they'd seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Oh, and to add to that, certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see. So on that basis, we were hoping that this Jesus of Nazareth was going to redeem us, but I guess we were wrong. And in all of these things, the very evidence that they have presented with their own lips are precisely the thing that demonstrate that they were right. that in fact Jesus had redeemed them. He had risen on the third day and the evidence was staring them in the face, but they in their unbelief and they in their fear and they in their false reasoning had dismissed these things as impossible. And what does Jesus do? And he said, oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets had spoken. Oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets had spoken. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter in his glory? Meaning it was necessary. All you have to do is read Isaiah and you see it is necessary that our sins had to be laid upon him in order for us to live. The whole of scripture is about that there's going to be a lamb of God. All this Old Testament and all these things having to do with the ceremonial law and about lambs being slaughtered and all the rest of it. It was all pointing to the necessity of Jesus Christ dying. in order that we might live, and in rising again in glory. How they didn't see it, foolish ones, slow of heart to believe. And then back to Mark 16, it picks up the story. After they received this, and after they understand these things, then they went and they told it to the rest, but get this, but they did not believe them either, right? So the women don't believe at first. Finally, they believe after they see the Lord Jesus Christ. They come and tell the disciples. The disciples don't believe it, including those two, Cleopas and the other one. Then they see the Lord Jesus, and they come back, and they say, it was true. You guys, it's actually true. We've seen the risen Lord Jesus Christ. But the other ones give them the same treatment that they gave to the women, and they don't believe either. Later he, that is the Lord Jesus, appeared to the eleven as they sat at table, and he rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen. Well, this is our problem, isn't it? This is the thing that keeps us from Jesus. This is the thing that keeps us from joy. This is the thing that keeps us from life. This is the thing that keeps us in our sin. This is the thing that will ultimately condemn us forever in eternity in hell. It is our unwillingness to receive the good news. We're not the first ones if we unbelieve. But we don't need to remain. And let me say, by the way, before I leave this text, to say, all of these people eventually did come to believe in the end. All right? Even Thomas, doubting Thomas, who said, I'm not going to believe unless I'm able to stick my finger into his wrist and my hand into his side. Eventually, he believed as well. So God can do it. And let me say, he's not asking you to bear the burden of your sins. He's not asking you to die and to rise again on your own. All he's asking you to do is just to believe the good news that he's done it on your behalf. That's it. And that's what I want you to do with this, is first of all, just to believe. And let me say, I know that people are no different today than they were then. They're no more wise, they're no more intelligent, they're no more ready to believe than they ever have been. And some people choose not to believe because, my friends, faith is an act of the will. It's an act of the will. That's why Jesus rebuked the disciples, right? You don't rebuke somebody for something they can't help. You don't rebuke somebody for believing something where they have no good reason to believe it. You rebuke someone because they have every reason to believe and they chose not to do so. They had all the evidence they needed. They had chosen not to believe. And they disbelieved the words of angels and even their own friends whom they knew and loved and trusted. It's no different today. Today, people disbelieve the words of ministers who are appointed by God to tell this good news, and they disbelieve the words of their own friends and loved ones whom they trust. And they know would never do them harm or lead them astray, yet they disbelieve their words as well. Not the first, not the last. And friends, isn't it a good thing we have the Holy Spirit? Because we'd all be in that. And all those people back then, they would never change. Not one of them believed at first merely on the word. that Jesus said he was going to be risen again the third day. Not one of them did, but the Holy Spirit overcame, in every case, their opposition, their fear, their unbelief. Good thing for the Holy Spirit. You know, what's normally heard at this time and this place is the sermon series on Acts, and if we've seen anything, we have seen everyone come to faith. Right, even those who are most violently opposed to the Christian faith. The great enemy and leader of the opposition, Saul of Tarsus. Who do we call him today? Saint Paul, the apostle, right? Because the Holy Spirit's real and he is able to bring even those who are opposed from the very core to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And good thing for us today, because we know from Hebrews that without faith it is impossible to please him. We know that it is requisite to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, I hope everyone knows John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. But listen to the way it goes on in that passage. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he's not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. You see, it's a double condemnation. It's a double condemnation. We're already sinners. We're rightly condemned by God. That is the great human problem. It's not lack of education. It's not the environment. It's sin and the reality that a holy God will hold us accountable for that sin and send us to a place of torment after this world. That's our problem. We are already condemned, but we are doubly condemned if we refuse the gospel. As the Lord Jesus Christ said, The reality is we've not loved God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and we've certainly not loved our neighbor as ourselves. That's the holy law of God. He demands that we do so. But then we condemn ourselves by refusing the only means of escape? That's crazy. Look, there's a time and a place to evaluate things. We're looking at spider lifts for all saints, and there's all kinds of safety things that we need to evaluate and figure out. The military does that with their rescue equipment. That's somebody's job. But friends, if you're in the ocean about to drown, and the rescue helicopter comes and throws you a lifeline, now is not the time to want to check the paperwork, right? To see whether that's really listed for 1,000 kilograms or not. Right? That if you're about to die and that's your situation, you receive the lifeline on faith that it's gonna save you because it's your only hope. And friends, Christ is your only hope. And I wanna say that over time, all of my objections and all of my questions have been answered. And I have more evidence now than I did the first moment that I believed. There's no dark corner of my mind in which I wonder if some aspect might be disproven. It's quite the opposite. I wonder how I ever believed the lies that spoke against the gospel. But the main thing is if you're a sinner, you're in the ocean about to drown. The lifeline has been given to you that Christ has risen. Receive it in faith and you will be saved. The second thing I want us to do with all this is to think about baptism, because we're also gathered here for baptism. And baptism is a joining exercise. It is a joining sacrament. It is something that brings us in union with someone and something. And the someone that we're being brought into union with that is portrayed in this, it is sacrament, is Christ. and Christ and what he underwent and shall undergo. So we are, first of all, baptized into his death. There is a picture, actually, as water comes, of being covered in the grave. There's a picture along those lines. It's only momentary, and it's not the bulk of that picture. But we have to understand that those who are baptized are baptized into the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is a good thing. Because again, his death was an atoning sacrifice. It's what saves us from sin. But mainly, and moreover, we are also baptized into the resurrection. And that's what is said in Hosea, in Hosea 6.1. After two days, he will revive us. On the third day, he will raise us up, that we might live in his sight. That's the good news, that we are unified with Christ. And that this is a picture of us being raised up together with Christ, because that's the way it goes. When you see the snowdrops, I don't know, it's been a couple months, right, since the snowdrops first came out. What are you thinking? Well, look, this one snowdrop is a one-off. This is the only plant that I will see come up forever. Do you think that or do you say, well, tomorrow I'll see 10 other snowdrops and after that they're crocuses and after that everything, right? Something like that? Yes? I hope that's the case. Did I get it wrong? No, it's true, right? So we know how it goes. The first one happens and all the rest of it follow. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's risen and all the rest of us follow. and were baptized unto his resurrection as well. In fact, the Bible says we are already, as it were, raised with Christ spiritually. So that the most important part of us spiritually is already raised with him if we believe. And that the natural and bodily part of us will soon enough follow in the great resurrection yet to come. We're baptized unto his death, we're baptized unto his resurrection, we're baptized unto life, beloved. Because God is the God of the living and not of the dead, and he wants us to live in his sight. He wants us to love and to rejoice. We're not always to mourn. We're not always to live in this reality of death and of this present age, but to rejoice and look forward to what is to come. We are to live in his sight. And isn't it beautiful that this child, this child before us, will begin her life with hope, with the means of eternal life already imprinted on her, Christian baptism, that at any point, all she does is simply receive what she already has in faith, and she is saved. She begins her life not wondering where this will go and trying to find some means of escape of a situation would rather begin her life engaged to be the Lord's. Engagement ring already on her little finger. What a beloved, what a lovely and wonderful thing that is, beloved. So let's pray. Heavenly Father, we know the good news that Jesus Christ is risen. We rejoice in this and ask, Heavenly Father, that we'd receive it all in faith. And everyone from the youngest to the oldest, indeed, will do what happened eventually With those women, with the disciples, that even in the midst of their fear and their unbelief, may it long last for the power of the Holy Spirit reach out their hand as it were and receive the news and faith, and they were saved. And Heavenly Father, we pray that you'd enable us to receive in joy the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We pray it in Christ's name, amen. Well, we turn now to this blessed sacrament of covenant baptism for Tabitha Grace Lawley. And we know that baptism is public. It is a visible sign given to the entire community of those professing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, it is done publicly among the Lord's people. And as this is being done, I would exhort you all to remember and to consider the meaning of your own baptisms. Now according to the Westminster standards, baptism is a sacrament wherein the washing of water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost doth signify and seal our engrafting into Christ and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace and our engagement to be the Lord's. It does not by itself regenerate or work automatically, but rather it signs and seals that which must be received by faith. either before or after its administration. Now to whom is baptism to be administered? Baptism is not to be administered to any who are out of the visible church until they profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him. But infants of such as are members of the visible church are to be baptized. God made his covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17. He said, I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you and their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your descendants after you. And therefore, the sign and seal of that everlasting covenant is given to the infinite children of believers as their engagement to be the Lord's. Let's pray. Lord, we are thankful for this sacrament. We're thankful for a sign and seal. For we who are so weak, Lord, you know that we need something along these lines. And so you've given to us, as well as an audible word, you've given us this visible sign. Indeed, it is something that can be touched and felt. And so Heavenly Father, how we pray that you'd enable us to administer covenant baptism aright, and that yes, it would be received. by Tabitha in faith soon enough in days to come. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.